December 22nd, 2025

Supertouch Selects Centric PLM to Slash Testing Timelines, Ensure Compliance and Optimize Workflows

Leading UK workwear and PPE brand targets faster time to market, centralized data and sustainable product development with Centric Software

CAMPBELL, Calif., December 23, 2025 – Centric Software® is pleased to announce that Supertouch has selected Centric PLM™ to boost compliance readiness, eliminate data silos and accelerate decision making. Centric Software delivers innovative, integrated, end-to-end AI-powered enterprise solutions to take products from concept to commercialization. Fashion, luxury, footwear, outdoor, home, consumer electronics, food & beverage, cosmetics & personal care as well as multi-category retail teams can plan, design, develop, source, comply, buy, make, price, allocate, assort, sell and replenish products to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Founded in 1996, Supertouch is a leading manufacturer and supplier of workwear and PPE. Its range of products—including high-visibility clothing, gloves, safety footwear and flame-retardant gear are renowned for quality, safety and excellent value. The Supertouch brand is ISO 9001:2015 certified, trusted by customers across a wide range of industry sectors and distributed through a loyal network of safety equipment resellers. The family-run company is headquartered in Smethwick, Birmingham with manufacturing based in Pakistan.

Stringent UK and EU safety compliance regulations mean that Supertouch products are subject to lengthy auditing, testing and certification cycles. The average time to develop and test products ranges from 12–18 months, with final production averaging six months. Teams struggled to reduce time to market and respond to rapidly changing regulations without a centralized data source and streamlined product development.

“One of the biggest issues we face is keeping up with constantly shifting safety requirements and ensuring manufacturing suppliers are compliant,” comments Ben Smith, Product Director at Supertouch. “Lengthy timelines are also an ongoing challenge. We have to meet very specific standards for everything from warmth to luminance to tear protection—and if something fails, we need to redesign. For example, if a hi-vis jacket fails to meet Class 3 visibility, making the necessary adjustments can add another month to the whole process.”

Supertouch selected Centric PLM for its ease of use, capacity to manage multiple product types and single, reliable source of truth. A positive prior experience with the platform from a team member also played a role.

“On the product development side, we want to bring data and workflows into one place,” explains Smith. “It will be an enormous benefit to have things like costing and certification information visible to all team members, whether they’re here in Birmingham or at the factory in Pakistan, without needing to send hundreds of emails and attachments.”

In addition to real-time access to product data, Supertouch expects to streamline communication with manufacturing partners and improve accuracy across compliance data, tech packs and product documentation.

“We sometimes have multiple factories producing the same glove to meet volume demands,” elaborates Smith. “But if each factory is working from slightly different information, consistency becomes a real challenge. That’s why the accuracy of our tech packs is so important—to avoid costly rework and guarantee every product meets the same standards. Centric PLM will eliminate that risk by bringing everything into one place, so everyone’s working from the same up-to-date source.”

Ensuring label accuracy is a key priority for Supertouch, alongside reducing duplicated effort for teams. “It’s essential that our product labels show the correct standards and sizing, however, errors can easily creep through when we’re updating each product individually,” says Smith. “With Centric PLM, we can make a single change and apply it across all relevant items—saving time and reducing mistakes.”

Looking to the future, Supertouch is committed to expanding sustainable product development and meeting the upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements. “Customers increasingly want more detailed sustainability and sourcing information,” adds Smith. “Right now, it would take me a week to pull everything together—but with PLM, that process will be much faster.”

Smith concludes, “We’re aiming for more circular product development, starting with at least 50% recycled polyester. Centric PLM gives us the visibility to make smarter, more sustainable material choices moving forward.”

CEO of Centric Software, Fabrice Canonge, adds, “We’re thrilled to welcome Supertouch to the Centric Software family. Their commitment to producing the highest-quality PPE and workwear that protect people every day is vital and we look forward to a successful implementation.”

Learn more about Centric Software

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