UK womenswear brand Hush has invested in a new PLM system to strengthen its supply chain management and support its growth strategy.
The fashion and lifestyle brand has implemented Centric Software’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution after rapid growth of the business led to a need to update or replace its previous systems.
Founded in 2003, Hush is today a GBP30m (US$39.1m) business that sells clothing, footwear and accessories online and through 33 concessions via the UK department store chain John Lewis.
“With the business growing quickly, our previous ways of working and systems could not easily cope with the increased complexity associated with more internal stakeholders, a broader supply base and a greater number of seasonal collections, as well as our plans for future growth,” explains managing director Rupert Youngman.
“There was a lot of inefficiency with manual workarounds and duplication of effort, as well as opportunity for error. We decided that investing in a PLM solution would help make the whole management of the supply chain from range planning through design to production more robust and would also support our growth plans.”
Hush considered options from several PLM vendors before choosing Centric Software’s PLM solution.
“We wanted a system that would meet our immediate and future needs,” Youngman adds. “Centric stood out from the competition, not just because of the quality and scope of the product, but because of its scalability.”
The investment, Youngman says, will make the business more agile, making it better able to meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities that the next few years will present.
“We expect PLM to improve efficiencies, help us implement new and better ways of working, enhance communication internally and with our suppliers, and ultimately help us provide a better product to our customers.
“The choice of partner in any system implementation is very important and we believe Centric will help us keep up with rapid changes in the fashion sector through access to platform enhancements, additional modules and a wealth of industry knowledge.”
