Five specialties.
Product line strategy, supply chain structure, commercialisation, brand fit, and mentoring. Most engagements begin in one and touch two or three.
Five specialties.
The five things brands and manufacturers come to Richard for. Most engagements start in one and end up touching two or three, because the questions are connected: where an item sits in the line decides what it can be made from, and that decides where it can be made.
Product Line & Item Strategy.
Where each item sits in the line, what it replaces, and what it has to earn. The commercial case comes before the sketch.
Line architecture · Assortment · Tiering · Price and margin targets More on line strategy
Supply Chain Structure.
Where to make it, and how to run it once you do. Structure first, factory by factory.
CN · VN · TW · KR · TH · MX · Active relationships since 1989 More on supply chain structure
Product Commercialisation.
Concept to commercialisation. The programme that turns an approved idea into boxes on a truck.
Packs · Luggage · Tents · Sleeping bags · Apparel · Hardgoods More on commercialisation
Brand Ethos in the Product.
Whether the item belongs to the brand selling it. Ethos read into materials, construction and price.
Brand fit · Category extension · Materials and finish · Positioning More on brand ethos in the product
Mentoring & Cross-Cultural Leadership.
Preparing a team to work with factories across cultures and time zones, including when and how to say no.
Cross-cultural · Supplier collaboration · Leadership · Saying no More on mentoring and leadershipWhat gets made.
The categories a programme covers, from the first sketch to the first container. Each one has its own factories, its own materials, and its own way of going wrong at the tooling stage.
Where it happens.
Sample rooms, cutting tables, mills, and the loading bay at the end of the line. The work is done in these rooms, not in a slide deck about them.
Photographs: Timelab (Unsplash), Mick Latter (Pexels), Yevhenii Dubrovskyi (Unsplash), Jędrzej Koralewski (Pexels), Hans Ott (Unsplash), Ed Wingate (Unsplash), Rahul Pandit (Pexels), Alex Moliski (Unsplash), Sage Friedman (Unsplash), Charlie Merrow (Pexels), Adrien Olichon (Unsplash), Ries Bosch (Unsplash), Diego F. Parra (Pexels). Free-licence stock, to be licensed before launch.
Three ways to engage.
Most relationships start as one shape and become another. The first conversation is always free, and is usually the one that determines what the right shape is.
Retainer.
Monthly engagement. Ongoing advisory and fractional executive support. The shape that suits brands navigating active supply chain restructuring, product programme launches, or interim leadership gaps at the VP level.
Best for: brands in flux. Six to eighteen month engagements.Project.
Defined scope, defined timeline, defined deliverable. Sourcing audits. Diligence packages for PE deal teams. Programme rescues. A fixed engagement window with a clear answer at the end.
Best for: specific decisions on a known clock.Expert call.
Single-call advisory through GLG, Guidepoint, AlphaSights, Third Bridge, Dialectica, and Coleman Research. PE diligence, brand-side competitive intelligence, expert review of a sourcing or product question.
Best for: one-hour answers to the right question.Limited capacity for new retainer clients each quarter. Diligence support and expert calls are available now.
Retainer · Project · Expert call“CenterEdge was a keystone sourcing and design partner. Rich's leadership consistently improved quality and margins across nearly all targeted growth categories. I highly recommend him.”
“CenterEdge LLC has been a keystone design and sourcing partner during my outdoor career from 1995-2013. Kelty Packs, Pearl Izumi, Patagonia, and Prana were all recipients of the leadership of Rich Amodio and his talented team. As CEO of each of these firms it was always so comforting to know that I could rely on CenterEdge to work hand in hand with my inside operations and design team to come up with the optimum sourcing prescription. I am proud to say that in each of the company engagements we were able to increase quality and margins in almost 100% of the growth categories we focused on. Rich is a trusted professional and is highly recommended.”
“Their deep experience and knowledge, combined with thorough execution, has been invaluable in launching our ambitious line of new products. They know the process, and how to get things done.”