437 Takes the Plunge into Digital with Centric PLMTM

Direct to customer swimwear and activewear company drives efficiency into their workflows

CAMPBELL, Calif., May 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 437, the swimwear and activewear company, has selected Centric Software^®'s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home décor, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.

Based out of Toronto, Canada and founded in 2017 by Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio to satisfy the need for swimwear that flatters more than just the perfect body. 437 has been featured in Forbes, Vogue, The New York Times and Hypebae. In addition, they have a strong social media presence with celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Gabrielle Union-Wade and others having been spotted in 437's swimwear and recently launched activewear line.

Jennifer Ginor, Director of Design at 437 describes how they want to streamline their specifications and have a more consistent fit across all their styles and fabrications. "Right now, we have everything living on Google Sheets. It's really hard to find our source of truth. We have certain styles that have been living with us from the day of inception and to be able to copy those fits over, can be challenging as those specs are living all over the place."

With suppliers and production scattered around the globe, 437 is looking to simplify collaboration with their vendors and reduce the number of errors in tech packs. The company turned to PLM. With respect to the requirements, Ginor says, "We need something that's easy to use, quick to integrate. And that we can grow with." 437 considered a few PLM vendors, but after the initial demo that Centric did, they were sold.

Ginor notes, "It's very early for us to be adding PLM—we're only 4 years old—but you can either hire more people or have a better process. With a better process, we have that one source of truth, fewer errors, streamlined BOMs and the ability to make more data-driven decisions. We're such a marketing-forward company that we want to respond quickly to our customers. Having a system like PLM is going to allow us to integrate into our other platforms to get the right feedback from a sales perspective to offer the products that our customers really do want from us."

Switching gears, Ginor talks about their environmental efforts. "One of our biggest initiatives for the year is to become more sustainable. We're starting with fabrics and then moving on to production practices."  Being able to see an overview of where their products and resources are facilitates more strategic sourcing instead of leaving it up to each individual factory.

"Any new fabrics are going to be made from recycled materials if possible. Where we can't, we would choose those with Fair Trade associations. Sustainability is such a broad spectrum—there's a lot of 'greenwashing' out there. So we're trying to be super intentional with our choices and be as transparent as possible with our consumers," says Ginor. They are looking to be more socially responsible. "It could mean using a small family run factory where they employ fair working conditions and it directly supports that family."

437 didn't really have any tools that organized the environmental practices that Ginor spoke of. "We've moved sourcing from the factories to internally. We're mandating mills that align with our eco-goals." Centric PLM enables the management of the certifications and materials.

"One of the most interesting things about working with Centric is we can learn from them. We are a young team and the guidance from Centric has been super helpful thus far. Centric being at the cutting edge of technologies in the industry is beneficial to us as we continue on the sustainability path. We feel that working with Centric will help us reduce unnecessary work."

Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software says, "I am very pleased that 437 has selected Centric PLM as their digital foundation. It is a smart move to add PLM early in the history of the company, setting them up for continued success as they continue on their growth curve."

Learn more about Centric PLM

Request a Demo

About 437 (www.shop437.com)
We're 437—a luxe swim and activewear brand driven by a desire to create product that doesn't compromise on style, quality, or fit.

Founded in 2017 by best friends Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio, we've been expanding our product offering which started with swimwear but now includes activewear, beachwear, and accessories. In the last 4 years since launch, we've built a strong, loyal community that has helped us grow 5x year over year.

437's iconic styles have now been worn by everyone you follow on Instagram — from Kylie Jenner, Megan Thee Stallion, Jennifer Lopez, and Addison Rae.

Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com)
From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software^® provides a Product Concept to Consumer Digital Transformation Platform for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor, consumer electronics and consumer goods including cosmetics and personal care and food and beverage. Centric's flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric PLM^TM, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and product portfolio optimization innovations specifically for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (CVIP) offers highly visual digital board experiences for collaboration and decision-making. Centric Retail Planning is an innovative, cloud-native solution powered by Armonica Retail S.R.L., that delivers an end-to-end retail planning process designed to maximize retail business performance. Centric Software pioneered mobility, introducing the first mobile apps for PLM, and is widely known for connectivity to dozens of other enterprise systems including ERP, DAM, PIM, e-com, planning and more as well as creative tools such as Adobe^® Illustrator and a host of 3D CAD connectors. Centric's innovations are 100% market-driven with the highest user adoption rate and fastest time to value in the industry. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs. 

Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D digital mock-up and PLM solutions. 

Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. 

Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 

SOURCE Centric Software