How to Build a Business
Case for PLM
Highlighting the benefits ofimplementing a PLM solution.
Part One: Define Your Challenges
1©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Let’s set the scene. Your legacy PLM is failing to meetthe expectations it promised – streamlined processes,
improved communication and faster speed to market,
instead it’s just slowing everyone down. Or perhaps
you’re simply still relying heavily on paper and email
based processes and know things need to change sothat you can take your business to the next level.
If this sounds familiar then it sounds like you needa new and modern enterprise Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) solution.
In order to convince everyone that investing in a
new PLM, you need to present a business case thatjustifies why implementing a PLM is a crucial andbeneficial step for the business; how will PLM help
the business continue to grow and how quickly can areturn on investment be made?
We’ve put together this three-part ebook to help you
get the company-wide buy-in needed to get your PLM
project off the ground.

2©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Define The Challenges
To start putting together a business case that will help you to get thebuy-in you need across the company for a new PLM solution, you firstneed to outline the current challenges before you acknowledge thesolution to address them.
Be as honest as possible and ask each department to compile
their own lists – don’t just presume or guess the difficulties that
other people may be facing. Here are some typical issues thatcompanies face prior to implementing PLM or when they are using
an outdated system. Are you facing one or many of these challenges?
If you’ve ticked one or more of the challenges on this list, then a modern
PLM solution will definitely be a useful tool for your business – PLM wasdesigned to overcome these frustrating pain points and make life a loteasier. With your list specific to your business ready, it’s now time to divein to How to Build a Business Case For PLM: Part Two.

Challenge
checklist
Departments are overwhelmed with paperwork and organization
is opaqueTeams rely on excel spreadsheets and it is getting harder and harderto keep track of what information is the most up to date and wherethe info you need isPassing information across departments or even within teams is atime-consuming task with no clear process. It can feel like information
is being repeated over and over again
You spend a LOT of time chasing information and it gets frustrating
Data errors are a common occurrence and have the potential tocause major problems in the business such as ordering the wrong
material for a product or not meeting minimum order quantities
External communication with suppliers is a struggle and is slowing
you down
Teams are less productive and can’t spend as much time
as needed on their actual jobs. Creativity is limited, as admin is taking
up too much timeTeams are feeling stressed because they can’t access the information
they need
There is pressure to cut costs or go faster, but you don’t haveaccess to accurate information to make decisions to achievethese goals
You are making mistakes that are beyond your control because thecurrent system is not working

3©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Build a Business
Case for PLM
Highlighting the benefits ofimplementing a PLM solution.
Part Two: Research and Identify Alternative Solutions
4©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Welcome to our second installment of How to Builda Business Case for PLM. By now you should have asolid list that outlines all of the challenges your businessis experiencing, if you don’t, then you’ll need to skip backto Part One: Define Your Challenges.
In this chapter, we’ll be exploring some of the types ofPLM solutions currently available on the market and theimportance of weighing up all solutions available to you,in your business case.

5©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Research and Identify Alternative Solutions
Now that you’ve identified what things are slowing teams down, it’s importantto evaluate various solutions to these challenges and to understand whichis the best fit for your company. The decision-makers reading your businesscase will feel more confident that you took your time in carefully evaluating
which solution is best rather than just rushing into a decision without anyother considerations. You don’t need to add all this information to your final
business case document but it’s very useful to have if you are questioned
about other options. We explore some of these options on the next page.

Centric Software PLM is defined as
an all-encompassing modern PLM
solution from design to planning
tomerchandising,manufacturing
atretail.

development,andCentricpresentation
offersanew

generation of PLM specifically for
fashion,apparelandconsumer

goods so is designed for a fast
time

tomarket,overlapping

seasons, multiple SKUs and otherconditions

specificindustries.

Centric’s

drivenapps

solutionallow

youtoandto

thesemarketmobile

accesstheinformation no matter where you
are in the world.

6©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Research and Identify Alternative Solutions

7

Modern PLM

Old PLM/PDM

A modern PLM solution is one that is cloud-based, market-driven,mobile, completely configurable and is innovation & best practiceoriented. It will use the best available technology and industry best practices
to give guidance on processes and lend structure that is needed to set thefoundation for future growth and scalability. A modern PLM brings efficiency
and leads to benefits such as ensuring products get to market on timeand helping to achieve higher product margins anywhere at anytime. It will also improve creativity and collaboration between departments
and external suppliers. It looks at the entire end-to-end product lifecycleof a product and will offer additional features such as mobile apps tofacilitate contributions from all teams/partners and allow you to capitalize
on information that is typically outside your immediate eco-system or isgathered by hand (like fit session feedback, capturing design inspirations
and more). And it keeps teams stress-free and happy!

Old or frozen, as we like to call them, PLM and Product Data Management(PDM) are legacy solutions that were born from a need to store CAD/CAMfiles and other drawings related to product design. They originated to meetthe needs of the automobile and aerospace industries designed for complex
engineering-based products with multi-year lifecycles. These solutions andthose industries don’t look at the entire product lifecycle of a productin the same way that modern, fashion/apparel focused PLM does.
You don’t have years to develop new products, do you?

©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Homegrown PLM system
Building your very own PLM system is also an option that some companies
explore. It’s important to remember that a homegrown solution will take a
lot longer to build, be a lot more expensive and implement than an out-ofthe-box solution. It will also require additional resources to manage so
you may need to hire another person to manage the solution or you could
face difficulties if the system stops working. Creating your own IT solution
can also be very expensive and limit your flexibility.

Configuration vs Customization?
What’s the difference between a configured
and a customized PLM solution?
The goal of each is to get the system to work the way you
want to work as opposed to changing your process to workwithin the confines of the software. But there is a very, very
important difference between the two approaches.
With a customized solution, the technology vendor is
responsible for coding their solution for you – essentiallybuilding parts of the solution from the ground-up – justlike a homegrown PLM system. This is generally seen
as an old-fashioned approach because it severely limits
the flexibility of the solution; upgrades become slow
and expensive to roll out, and coding takes a lot of time
not to mention the testing and trial and error involved.
By the time the customizations are ready to use, yourbusiness will likely have changed thus potentiallyneeding to start again.

Now that you’ve explored the different types of PLMsolutions, you’ve probably narrowed it down to one typeof PLM system. Within this type, there may be a number ofvendors to consider. Having a 1-1 demo of each solution isthe best way to see each tool in action, you’ll quickly be able
to make a judgment on its capabilities, functionalities andhow intuitive and easy to use the platform is. Before making
a final deciaions, we recommend reading How to Build aBusiness Case For PLM: Part Three.

A configured solution, on the other hand, means that thebase platform already exists but the interface and functions
are configured for your requirements. Think of it like a bunchof switches that you turn on or off, depending on how you
want the software to work and what kinds of best practices
you want to adopt. Centric is the only fully configurable
PLM solution on the market today because we invented
the technology to do so! Configurability is key for fashion &consumer goods companies because these industries arechanging very quickly. Agility is fundamental when scaling abusiness or even adapting to the digital transform that retailis experiencing.

8©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

How to Build a Business
Case for PLM
Highlighting the benefits ofimplementing a PLM solution.
Part Three: Understanding ROI
9©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Your business case now defines your challenges, youhave explored the various solutions and outlined which
type of PLM solution is the best fit for your business.
All PLM systems are designed to help improve
communication and speed to market whilst reducingerrors. Though it’s obvious that these benefits will bringvalue to the business and solve the challenges you haveidentified, you must be able to show clearly how thebottom line will be affected.
Calculating a projected Return on Investment (ROI) at
this stage may sound like a tricky task but once you
understand how each benefit can be quantified as costsavings or business growth then you truly determine thevalue of PLM.

10©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Operational Savings
PLM helps to lower operational costs due to improved efficiency and boostingoverall productivity. Here are some examples where you could lower costs:

1. Create more accurate tech packs
Using a PLM to create tech packs significantly reduces errors being madeand improves communication with your factories. This results in less productsamples being created which means less money spent.

2. Meet minimum order quantities and optimize orders
PLM improves the visibility of your products so that you can better forecast
quantities and minimum order quantities and avoid over-ordering material.
You can also better negotiate prices and terms with suppliers and reducerisk of late deliveries.

3. Better logistical planning
A modern PLM will give you the ability to see an overview of your productlifecycle calendar so that you can add deadlines to make sure that theproduct has moved along the chain at the right time. E.g. you can reduce air
freight costs when logistics are planned well in advance and you don’t haveto pay extra for a last minute shipping to a supplier.

4. Staff efficiency is improved
Having a PLM in place increases staff efficiency and productivity for anumber of reasons including reducing the number of hours spent searchingfor information or manually pulling together detailed reports and limiting
the amount of time needed to fix errors associated with manual data input.
Teams will be happy to spend less time in spreadsheets and more time
doing their jobs!

11©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Operational Savings
To convert hours into ROI, the following steps can be taken:

5. Higher staff retention

1. Work out how many hours are being spent yearly on thefollowing by an employee who would likely adopt PLM:

Keeping hold of existing staff has huge value for a business as the cost ofrecruitment and training is always high. A modern PLM solution is proof
that your business is investing in technology – a key factor for millennial
employees when searching for jobs and it also makes everyone jobs easier –another reason to stick around.

•Searching through emails for information•

Cleaning up mistakes in information•

Manually inputting data into multiple data entry points•

Preparing reports•

You can of course estimate these numbers and you will see how
quickly they add up

2. Calculate the value of an hour:
Average salary of employee/number of hours worked yearly = hourly
rate cost.

3. Quantify value of hours wasted
No. of hours wasted x hourly rate cost = cost saving (per person).

4. Final cost saving
Cost saving (per person) x expected no. of PLM users = final cost saving.

12©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Of course employees will still come and go but it is still extremely useful tocalculate how much you spend annually on recruiting new staff and consider
lower staff turnover rates.

6. Increased knowledge retention
PLM acts as a knowledge database. A history of all work is maintained as well
as all results and also best practices via the structure that PLM brings. This
shortens ramp up time for new employees. It also helps keep teams moving
while people are out of the office. It keeps you from reinventing the wheel
and allows you to learn from the past. In addition, you can use historical
data to evaluate performance such as supplier quality, product design, cost
fluctuation and more.

Business GrowthBusiness growth is one of the main ways that a company makes profit
and having a PLM in place provides the tools and knowledge you needto do just that. Here are some ways in which PLM can help you growyour business:

1. Faster time to market
PLM helps you get your products to market quicker by enabling you to makemore informed and faster decisions, setting reminders for deadlines andfreeing up people’s time so that they are focused on doing their jobs andnot letting key deadlines such as getting a tech pack to a supplier slip behindschedule.
Successfully getting your products to market quicker can impact company
profits in the following ways

13•

Having your latest product or new collection in front of consumers before
your competition launches theirs means you can start making sales before
consumers have too many options to compare•

When a product goes to market quickly, you have more time to assess how
well it’s doing and make decisions or changes if needed to boost profits orsave costs. When a product arrives to the market late, you don’t have time todo this•You can release more collections or seasons with the extra time available andmore products sold means more money made©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Improved product quality
There are various reasons why PLM helps to increase profit throughout thesupply chain too. Having full visibility of your supply chain provides you withthe knowledge you need to see where your business can reduce costs at
various points throughout the product lifecycle. The PLM vendor you areconsidering should be able to provide benchmarks to help you estimate
savings/growth in profit due to the following factors:•Ability to add more SKUs/collections without adding additional resources•

Better supply chain visibility allows you to achieve a lower material yield•

Costing scenario function allows cost and margins to be altered before making
commitments to customers•

More timely decisions can be made about killing poor performing products
before they go to market

Business Growth
3. Ability to expand more efficiently
Growing your business through additional channels, categories orinternational markets is further supported by PLM through its ability tomake the product lifecycle and everyone’s jobs easier and more efficient.
Here are some examples of how companies are able to expand using PLM
as a backbone.
•14

Moving from a direct to consumer brand to a wholesale brand or, vice versa, awholesaler becoming a direct to consumer. All information can be streamlinedin PLM•

Opening new stores – PLM provides the link to make this more seamlessby linking warehouse and store data and the ability to get products tostore quicker•Launching an e-commerce platform©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

•Ability to take international orders (selling internationally adds complexity:
ability to comply to different regulations, labelling, language/currency, costingmodel, ability to handle returns). Each database in PLM can be aligned perinternational market•

Increase the number of collections to adapt to different markets. For example,
you can’t sell the same collection in Sydney and London in January! In PLM you
can add products quicker, and select which market and what time they aresold•Increase the number of categories- PLM provides the extra resources youneed to expand your offering and benefit from the additional revenue•Increasing the number of seasons results in further business growth because
customers have more reason to shop with your brand more often when
there’s new products to seeSummaryYour business case should now clearly identify the challenges faced by thebusiness and the reasons why a modern PLM will provide the best solution
to keep on growing your business.
There may be factors that hinder a decision being made such as initial costs,
even if you have been clear about the expected ROI. Modern PLM vendors
will be able to provide a personalized solution for your business, as well as
offer additional modules and tools that empower your workforce such as
mobile apps.
If your business case is successful, don’t delay in getting started in the next
step of your PLM journey.

15©2018 Centric Software Inc. All rights reserved.

Now that you’ve explored the different typesof PLM solutions, you’ve probably narrowed it
down to one type of PLM system. Within thistype, there may be a number of vendors toconsider. Having a 1-1 demo of each solution
is the best way to see each tool in action, you’llquickly be able to make a judgment on its
capabilities, functionalities and how intuitiveand easy to use the platform is. Before making
a final deciaions, we recommend reading PartStill need help writing a business
Three of our eBook: Understanding ROI.

case for PLM, or want to find out
more about Centric’s PLM offering?
GET IN TOUCH

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.