Centric Software's Tech Packs Reduce Delays and Costly Mistakes for Companies with Apparel Programs; Tech Packs Manage All Variations in Product Details in Seasons and Collections to Articles.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Centric Software, the leading provider of Product Intelligence solutions for the extended enterprise, today announced the immediate availability of "Tech Packs" that provide companies with apparel lines of business and their global partners with flexible management of product information, such as artwork, fabric, color, and trim, from the collection or season level, through families, down to individual styles. Tech Packs reduce delays and costly mistakes through the exchange of relevant technical product details between companies with apparel programs and their external partners. Links between different secure, online views with different levels of detail manage the propagation of changes so all global team members have a current view and can continue parallel execution of tasks to accelerate development and delivery.

"As consumers demand more rapid turnover in the fashions available on the store shelf, apparel companies and those with apparel lines of business are launching more products, on tighter schedules with inflexible deadlines, with the same number of people," said Chris Groves, chief executive officer at Centric Software. "Given the increasing demand for variation in product choices and many more options for colors, sizes, styles, or other product details, Tech Packs improve the efficiency of existing staff, providing visibility across the process, from suppliers to product managers to the executives who track progress of collection development and introductions."

Centric's Tech Packs offer a higher-quality, more efficient time-saving alternative over spreadsheets or other systems used to track and manage the development of apparel collections. As manufacturers introduce more products and bring more global partners into the process, the spreadsheets that many product teams use can no longer manage the volume of information. Tech Packs display product information in different views for different users, removing proliferation of spreadsheets via email, manual maintenance of change orders, inconsistencies in data, possible confusion and costly delays.

With full security based on the role of the user, this enterprise-class solution has the flexibility to manage highly complex levels of detail. Product managers can filter or add product features, such as suppliers, colors, fabrics, and accessories at any level, creating product descriptions that track details unique to each product deliverable. In addition, through an easy-to-use interface, distributed team members and global development partners update information as needed.

About Centric Software, Inc.

With Product Intelligence solutions from Centric Software, global executives and multidisciplinary teams collect all relevant information for any product or capital program initiative, decide on the appropriate action, execute on the initiatives, and assess progress against business goals. Global enterprises, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coleman, Emerson, Moen, Hamilton Sundstrand, Siemens, Timex, Volvo, Iowa State University and others, use Centric's solutions to achieve top line revenue growth, direct cost reductions and insight into capital programs. Customers represent multiple industries, including aerospace, automotive, consumer goods, AEC/owner operator, life sciences, consumer electronics and universities.