GAINING GLOBAL VISIBILITY
HOW TARGUS POWERS UP PRODUCTDEVELOPMENT WITH CENTRIC PLM©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

SOLUTIONS FOR WORKERS ON THE MOVETargus was formed in London, UK in 1983 and counted emerging computer giants such as IBM among its first customers. Known for producing
the original laptop case, Targus has been in the business of providing equipment and accessories for the mobile workforce ever since.
Today, Targus is a US-based global brand that makes ranges of laptop bags, tablet cases, backpacks, computer peripherals and docking
stations to support workers on the go across the world. Targus aims to advance the mobile accessories category with cutting-edge, qualitymade, productivity-boosting solutions to support large enterprises and end users alike.
Targus now has 45 offices worldwide, coordinated from company headquarters in Anaheim, California, and has thriving B2B and B2C channels
with direct distribution in over 100 countries. Since 2016, Targus works with 90% of Fortune 1000 companies and is the case manufacturer foreight of the world’s top ten laptop computer Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

SEEKING CENTRALIZATION
The ability to work across many regions is a key element of Targus’success. However, it brings unique challenges.
“We began conversations about the need for Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) at Targus about six years ago,” explains Prashant
Urkudey, Director of IT at Targus. “While most product development
happened in our US headquarters, regional offices also did some of
their own product development. Everything would go through ourcentral procurement team, based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, who
had to juggle and prioritize projects across all of our regions.”“WE k N E W TH AT TH E right
PL M provi der woul db e a b le to share bestpractices from theire x periences with“other partners an d

C entric has a wealth of
specialized knowle d ge.
“We needed a central tool to give our procurement teamvisibility of all the projects in development globally and we began
researching PLM solutions. However, we soon realized that there
were significant differences in our operations across the globe
and it would be difficult to immediately bring in a standardized
software solution.”
Targus created an interim homegrown solution as a steppingstone on the journey towards PLM. People got accustomed tothe discipline of using a central digital location, and based on thatexperience, Targus began the search for a PLM solution that could
handle the company’s globalized structure and variety of products.
As Urkudey says, “There were several challenges we aimed to solvewith PLM. We wanted to bring global practices in-line across ourregional teams. There will always be some regional differences
but we wanted to create as much commonality as possible. We
needed a single source of the truth for product information, which
could vary for the same product across different regions. Critically,
we wanted to get a handle on our raw materials and suppliers bybuilding a materials library.”©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

CHALLENGES+ Product development occurring across 5

regional offices+ Procurement team had to juggle projects

across regions with competing demands
and priority+ Needed a single source of truth forproduct information+ Wanted to manage raw materials andsuppliers with a materials library+ Accountability and visibility

APPAREL HAS THE ANSWER
Targus researched a variety of systems and quickly realized that many wereprimarily intended for manufacturers. Targus designs and develops products
but works with suppliers on the manufacturing side.
“We realized that the answer lay in the apparel world,” says Urkudey. “Developing
footwear or outdoor gear, for instance, is similar to our product development
operations in terms of design complexity, material variety and communicatingwith suppliers.”
A leader in PLM for apparel quickly emerged: Centric Software.
As Urkudey notes, “We knew that the right PLM provider would be able to share
best practices from their experiences with other partners and Centric has awealth of specialized knowledge. When we selected Centric, we asked them toquestion us constantly to make sure we were optimizing the system. Centric
PLM’s configurability, user-friendliness and flexibility were other key factors inour decision.”

CENTRIC DRIVES COLLABORATION
Targus kicked off their implementation of Centric PLM in early 2017 and went live
during a time when the company was also reorganizing their business structure.
Targus’ new global product management and development teams research anddevelop products as a central effort and regional product teams curate fromthe global roadmap, only launching a portfolio based on regional needs. Global
product teams are now able to work more closely with procurement teams ingetting the products developed, leveraging PLM as the common tool.
“This is where Centric PLM has really made a difference,” explains Ron DeCamp,Vice President, Global Product Management & Development. “Because teams
collaborate across 5 major offices in 4 different time zones plus all the regionalsales offices, days were lost in the past waiting for replies to emails and updated
spreadsheets. Now, once information is uploaded in PLM, it appears instantly
for our users everywhere. There is a single source of the truth, eliminating
discrepancies in product descriptions and codes that crept in when regional
teams worked separately. It saves us time and reduces the redundancy of
creating the same product in multiple places.”
Crucially, Targus’ procurement team has gained better global visibility of all theitems in development at any time across regions and the related priorities.
“Centric PLM supports our procurement team in prioritizing projects based ontimelines, material availability, sampling decisions and other criteria in order
to avoid bottlenecks,” says DeCamp. “The team does not have to manage
competing demands of regional markets in the dark or combine five different
spreadsheets from five different offices for complete portfolio.”
Urkudey concludes, “We had a long journey to PLM and we still have many
steps to take on the road ahead, but with the global visibility and support thatCentric gives us, we can meet these challenges with clear communication, fasterdecision-making and confidence.”©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

RESULTS+ Teams collaborate efficiently acrossdifferent 5 regional offices in 4 timezones+ One single source of truth, no moreproduct information discrepancies+ Saves time as data entry andredundant double entries are
reduced+ Integration with Line of Businessapplications receives latest datafrom single source+ Procurement team has gained

global visibility to prioritize projects

ABOUT TARGUS
You work hard and we know it. At Targus, we spend hundreds of hours a year learning about how people work, where they work, andwhat they need to perform at their best. With a heritage rooted in the mobility of on-the-go-professionals, we strive to advance the mobileaccessories category with cutting-edge, quality-made, productivity-boosting solutions — carrying cases, tech accessories, and peripherals —that enable an ever-changing workforce to perform at their best anytime, anywhere.
Since our founding in 1983 with the debut of the original laptop bag, we’ve grown to become a global brand — with 45 offices worldwide anddirect distribution in more than 100 countries — that supports large enterprises and end users alike Targus. Everywhere You Work.

ABOUT CENTRIC SOFTWARE
From its headquarters in Silicon Valley and offices in trend capitals around the world, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation
Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods. Centric Visual Innovation Platform(VIP) is a visual, fully digital collection of boards for touch-based devices like iPad, iPhone and large-scale, touch-screen televisions. CentricVIP transforms decision making and automates execution to truly collapse time to market and distance to trend. Centric’s flagship productlifecycle management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, businessplanning, quality, and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB packages extended
PLM including innovative technology and key industry learnings tailored for small businesses.
Centric Software has received multiple industry awards, including the Frost & Sullivan Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award inRetail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM in 2016 and Frost & Sullivan’s Global Retail, Fashion, and Apparel PLM Product Differentiation ExcellenceAward in 2012. Red Herring named Centric to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

www.centricsoftware.com©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved. Centric is a registered trademark of Centric Software.
All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.