Just Drinks Excellence Awards 2024: Centric Software

Centric Software has won in two categories, Business Expansion and Innovation, in the 2024 Just Drinks Excellence Awards.

The Just Drinks Excellence Awards celebrate the greatest achievements and innovations in the beverage industry. Powered by the business intelligence of GlobalData, the programme recognises the people and companies that are driving change globally.

In the Business Expansion category, Centric Software was recognised for adding new customers from the beverage industry to its digital solutions portfolio, particularly its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tool, Centric PLM™, during the award consideration period.

In the Innovation category, the company was recognised for using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide advanced technology tools for beverage companies. Centric Software’s AI-driven enhancements in product development have played a critical role in reducing development time and resources, especially for formulation optimisation.

AI-driven solutions transforming product development

Centric Software’s innovative application of AI in the beverage industry has been pivotal in streamlining operations and significantly advancing product development and compliance. The company’s AI solutions have been instrumental in reducing the time and resources needed for product development, with particular benefits in formulation optimisation.

One of the key innovations that contributed to Centric Software’s award for innovation is the option of least cost formulation (LCF) algorithms. These algorithms utilise the company’s proprietary data to ascertain the most cost-effective ingredient combinations while maintaining high quality standards. The AI-assisted approach expedites the development process, enabling scientists to focus on refining and testing formulations, thus boosting productivity and shortening time to market.

Moreover, Centric Software has revolutionised data management by enabling efficient access to and utilisation of historical data through AI-powered similarity searches within its PLM system. This maximises the value of existing data and avoids duplicative efforts.

The company’s innovations also extend to regulatory compliance and merchandising. Partnerships with companies such as FoodChain ID are instrumental in identifying potential legal and allergen issues with ingredients, ensuring compliance across various regions. Additionally, analysis of sales data and product characteristics supports the creation of merchandising plans that are financially sound and optimise sales strategies, leading to more informed and effective decision-making.

The formulation capabilities of Centric PLM system and integration with popular third-party Genesis R&D have made AI an essential tool that enhances team efficiency and fosters innovative problem-solving. By automating routine tasks, teams are free to pursue new ideas and tackle challenges creatively. The flexibility of Centric Software’s PLM platform, with its open API and integration capabilities, demonstrates the company’s strategic foresight in harnessing AI’s potential while carefully managing its limitations.

Catalysing digital transformation and global expansion

Centric Software’s accolade in the Business Expansion category reflects its success in enabling companies like Gruppo Montenegro and a major Chinese beverage brand to achieve their digital transformation ambitions. The company’s innovative PLM solutions have streamlined product development processes and facilitated the management of global expansion complexities with remarkable efficiency.

Centric Software’s adaptability to the dynamic consumer market has been crucial in enhancing productivity and simplifying workflows, thereby increasing client profitability.

For instance, Gruppo Montenegro, an Italian food and spirits manufacturer, has centralised product data and optimised its entire product lifecycle through its partnership with Centric Software. The swift three-month implementation of Centric PLM™ has improved team coordination and collaboration, embodying a ‘single version of the truth’ approach that has been vital in streamlining operations and spurring innovation in product and packaging processes.

Similarly, a rapidly growing Chinese beverage brand’s collaboration with Centric Software illustrates the company’s expertise in fostering business expansion. The brand, a significant force in the domestic market, embarked on a PLM project as part of its international expansion strategy. Centric Software’s customised solution was operational within three months, covering multiple business units and product lines. This successful deployment not only marked Centric Software’s entry into the beverage industry but also underscored its capacity to meet the needs of a swiftly evolving consumer market.

Company Profile

Silicon Valley-based Centric Software provides an innovative product concept-to-customer platform for producers, brands and retailers of all sizes in the food & beverage industry, food service and grocery retail sectors. Centric Software works closely with customers to achieve more efficient project management and safer product development, execute a competitive retail and product strategy, increase agility, speed time to market and get closer to consumers, resulting in maximised revenues and margins.

All solutions are highly configurable and built hand-in-hand with market-leading companies:

Centric PLM™ streamlines product development, procurement, formulation, specification management, regulatory compliance, nutrition labelling, quality assurance, packaging & artwork proofing, sustainability, and product portfolio management.
Centric Visual Boards™ improves team collaboration and optimizes range category management to get closer to consumers, be more competitive.
Centric Planning™ delivers best-in-class, easy-to-use and visually driven financial, merchandise and product portfolio planning as well as store & vendor forecasting for seamless and fast, pre and in-season execution.
Centric Pricing and Inventory™ leverages AI to drive margin and revenue improvement by influencing demand via price and inventory optimisation.
Centric Market Intelligence™ is a market insights platform for data-informed decision-making on competitor offers and pricing. Provides consumer trends and buying behaviour as well.

Centric Software proudly maintains a 100% go-live rate. Awarded for excellence by Just Food 3 times, by Frost & Sullivan several times and the recipient of many other regional accolades, Centric Software is proud to provide the best solution, backed by the best team and to partner with the best customers.

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

Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software, Inc. in the US and other countries. Centric PLM, Centric Planning, Centric Pricing & Inventory, Centric Market Intelligence and Centric Visual Boards are Trademarks of Centric Software, Inc. All third-party trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners.