“Our users were dissatisfi ed and frustrated with our legacy PLM system. We faced a decision as a company. Should we continue on with the scheduled upgrade, or take a step back and re-evaluate our options?”
Steve Chastain, Global Head of IT at Volcom, remembers the pinch point when the company had to make a decision about their existing Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Signifi cant portions of the product lifecycle were handled outside the system, and customization required complex coding and change management. Users were struggling.
Volcom’s brand vision is focused on turning obstacles into opportunities, and they decided to take a bold step forward. Working within a short timeline, the company evaluated and implemented Centric 8 PLM.
Today, a task that used to take two weeks now takes a day and a half. Volcom has achieved greater visibility across their product lifecycle, and teams now communicate and collaborate through Centric PLM in a streamlined product creation and launch process.
How did Volcom and Centric work together to create success?
INSPIRED BY CREATIVITY AND PASSION
Volcom is a global apparel brand, rooted in skate, snow, surf, music and art. They design, produce and distribute top-quality apparel, outerwear and accessories for men, women and kids. Volcom creates product that is simultaneously durable, sustainable, fashionable and functional.
Founded in 1991, Volcom is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California and has over 900 employees worldwide. Volcom has grown from a mainly wholesale business into a multi-channel wholesale, retail and e-commerce business, with over 115 branded retail stores globally and a thriving online channel.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHANGE
As Chastain explains, Volcom is committed to pursuing exciting opportunities, but the tools and systems they had in place were preventing users from reaching their full potential.
“We see a lot of opportunities to design durable, sustainable, functional and innovative apparel, creating meaningful products for a broad spectrum of people who persistently follow their passions,” he says.
“We’re also experiencing a lot of changes in our business as we transition from a primarily wholesale to a multi-channel retail brand. Greater visibility through our tools is a necessity, and as we become a global brand, we need tools that will grow with us and help us to reach multiple customer bases and regional markets.”
Volcom selected and implemented a PLM solution six years ago, but experienced challenges that, ultimately, resulted in leading them to consider a replacement system.
“The system was super customizable and scalable, but that presented its own challenges, as it needed a lot of complex coding,” Chastain explains. “The designers weren’t really part of the initial implementation, so they ended up doing all of their work outside the system. Other portions of the product lifecycle, such as costing, planning and sourcing, were being managed separately. There was an overall lack of user satisfaction and a sense of frustration.”
Realising that they could either continue with a system upgrade or take a totally diff erent direction, Volcom decided to revisit a company that had been a finalist last time they looked for a PLM solution – Centric Software.
EXPERTISE AND ENTHUSIASM
“It was a huge challenge to switch a major system, but part of our brand DNA at Volcom is to attempt the impossible,” says Chastain. “We saw an opportunity, and we decided to go for it. We invited Centric in, and we saw how they had matured and grown as a company over the years.”
