British clothing company, Joules, has invested in a new Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution, to support its expansion objectives and bolster sustainability initiatives.

PROOFED Joules has chosen Centric Software's Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform to improve supply chain visibility and awareness, as well as provide a single source of truth for product development.

Joules is a high-end lifestyle retailer that creates and distributes branded apparel, footwear, accessories, and homeware for the entire family. As Joules adapted to the post-pandemic new normal, the company realized it needed to boost its agility and transparency across the board. During the pandemic, increased costs and lengthier deadlines in global freight necessitated that all items be developed in the most efficient and cost-effective manner feasible.

Kellie Hubbard, senior program manager at Joules, said that Joules has grown very swiftly and continues to do so. The business that originally scoped and deployed the historical PLM system we use today is no longer the same. They knew we needed to modernize this fundamental system in order to offer our teams the tools they needed to fulfill their future growth goals.

Hubbard explains it was critical for Joules to have a single system that covered as much of the development process as feasible. To have that single version of the truth for product data, which is so important to product teams and the rest of the company. They looked at other providers with greater industry experience but thought that the complexities of their processes would be better navigated and supported by a fashion industry expert.

Joules' whole revenue now comes from digital sales, which account for 70% of the company's total revenue. Nick Jones, CEO of Joules, said that they conceive of themselves as more of a digitally-led platform. Stores remain an important aspect of their multi-channel strategy and approach. They not only generate revenue and attract new customers, but they also effectively express their brand and values. Looking ahead, they envision physical sales playing a more important role in supporting the digital growth we foresee.

Joules prioritizes Corporate Social Responsibility as a brand that is highly influenced by the environment. Thanks to Centric PLM's ability to connect with systems like TrusTrace, a digital platform for product traceability and supply chain transparency, the company has set ambitious sustainable materials targets and is striving to achieve unprecedented levels of visibility and awareness across the supply chain.

Centric PLM will assist Joules in achieving these objectives by standardizing workflows, providing a single version of the truth in product development, and providing visibility into processes, all from a single, online platform. The company anticipates that those elements will come together to make them more productive and efficient while keeping the focus on delivering outstanding products for their clients.