Centric Software Introduces Quality Module

Centric 8 PLM makes quality management easier for luxury, apparel, consumer goods companies.

CAMPBELL, Calif - Quality teams looking to streamline the quality control process while significantly improving cost effectiveness now can do so quickly and easily with the introduction of Centric Software's Quality module.

Centric—a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) for makers of hard and/or soft lines in the luxury, fashion and consumer goods industries—is introducing the module to its Centric 8 PLM suite to enable easy creation, use and management of tests. Teams can readily compare and contrast multiple test runs for a variety of samples of a same product or material. According to Chris Groves, president and CEO of Centric, the new module provides valuable visibility, delivering reporting and metrics after testing for decision-making and traceability.

"With these capabilities, the Quality module increases efficiency and improves cost effectiveness of important quality functions, directly impacting brand integrity," says Groves. High-end fashion, apparel and other fast-moving consumer goods companies must reinforce and defend their brands at every point in the product development process, he explains. "The Centric 8 Quality module helps these companies ensure the quality and safety standards for which they are known."

Key uses of the Quality module include:

1. Easily create, use and manage tests: Easy-to-create tests and test templates allow companies to capture the results of testing against product and material samples. Quality teams can move quickly, using stand-alone tests or configurable templates that they define for needed testing protocols. Centric8 stores quality, or safety and compliance, test results, and with simple accessibility, provides a "single version of the truth" for everyone involved. Product teams can avoid repeat testing for the same criteria, and avoid extended searches for test results.
2. Compare and contrast multiple test runs: Creating consistent test definitions allows teams to add and subtract test variables, track results against those test definitions, and compare results of one versus the other as needed. If the outcome of a test is unexpected or unacceptable, the Quality module makes it easy to ask a supplier to repeat the test with a defined variation.
3. Enhance decision-making through improved visibility: Rapid and easy access to reporting and metrics after testing completion results in better decisions and traceability. Ultimately, it improves the products that a company delivers to its customers.

"The Centric 8 Quality module assures that quality functions can be managed easily but thoroughly," says Groves. "Companies can test to assure a product will successfully meet the real-world rigors for which it was designed, or those that oversight agencies require. And consumers can buy the brands they value with confidence."