WHY MADE TO ORDER MANUFACTURING MATTERS? COMBATTING THE FAST FASHION MOVEMENT

“It’s well documented that fashion waste has a problem and that a move towards more sustainable practices is warranted, especially since the worldwide revenue for the fashion industry is predicted to grow to $712.9 billion by 2022. But how many fashion retail companies are taking real, measurable steps to improve their environmental footprint?” - PRINTFUL

GUEST ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF PRINTFUL

The concept of sustainable fashion is everywhere lately.

Retail campaigns, news articles, and social media hashtags are referencing it more and more. The term lends itself to broad interpretation and encompasses a wide range of related themes, from rethinking how clothes are produced and what textiles are used to combating the fast fashion movement and reducing supply-side social injustice.

SEO software suite Ahrefs estimates the average monthly number of searches for the keyword sustainable fashion at 40K globally, with sustainable fashion brands and what is sustainable fashion following close behind. While this catchall term may translate to clickable content, it’s unclear whether or not sustainable fashion’s buzzword status is having a true impact where it matters: on the companies themselves.

It’s well documented that fashion waste has a problem and that a move towards more sustainable practices is warranted, especially since the worldwide revenue for the fashion industry is predicted to grow to $712.9 billion by 2022. But how many fashion retail companies are taking real, measurable steps to improve their environmental footprint?

Although there are a number of ways that companies can change course (using textiles made from recycled materials, relying on less toxic pigments or treatments, repurposing scraps, among others), few big retailers have explored a shift to the made-to-order model.

Made-to-order (MTO) is a manufacturing method where items are made only when an order is placed. This means it requires little to no inventory, which greatly reduces overproduction and waste. Let’s dissect what this alternative model can offer retailers in the way of increased sustainability.

The status quo

Clothes are a necessary part of life, but our ever-expanding wardrobes are damaging to the planet. Even though most people haven’t worn at least 50% of the clothes in their closets in the last year, excessive buying is at an all-tim high. What’s worse is that EU consumers discard 5.8 million tonnes of textiles every year, according to the European Commission, and 75% of that ends up in landfills or is incinerated.

For their part, fashion companies drive overconsumption habits with increased product offerings and output. While companies do their best to predict what’s going to sell, they routinely miss the mark. “One of the greatest drivers of waste is… producing the wrong items, often due to poor forecasting.” Yet excess production isn’t merely a by product of overestimating consumer demand. Many actually believe it’s a “precise calculation of profits and losses.” Meaning, it’s cheaper for manufacturers to overproduce. Producing too much and disposing of excess product after the fact is a more cost-effective model for many retailers (especially since recycling excess inventory would require additional manpower and spending). As a result, fashion retailers are grossly overproducing their wares, with enormous amounts of leftover stock either being disposed of or burned without ever reaching consumers.

Globally, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) estimates that up to 85% of textiles go to landfills every year. By 2030, the projection is that we’ll be discarding a staggering 134 million tonnes of textiles a year.

Part of the solution

The European Environment Agency recommends moving to ondemand production one of the solutions to combat textile waste. The made-to-order model represents “a far more ethical and sustainable approach because there is no over production, reducing the risk of excess unwanted stock going to landfills.” MTO companies don’t overproduce, so product waste is limited to production scraps, damaged pieces, or returns.

Made-to-order fashion isn’t a novel concept. Custom-made clothing was the norm until the onset of mass-produced fashion in the latter half of the 20th century. Since then, the MTO model has generally been used for luxury goods, bespoke pieces, or couture fashion with a high price point aimed at upscale consumers.

More recently though, smaller fashion labels are attempting to bring MTO clothing back to the mainstream and combat the idea that this model can only be used for high-end pieces. “Labels across the price spectrum are finding success with made-to-order presenting it as an “alternative to mass retail and off-the-rack designer clothes.” Many emerging “digitally native brands” who are gaining popularity through Instagram and other social media sites are able to “operate on a fully custom mode as a way to avoid excess inventoryl and provide the personalisation customers crave.”

It’s understandable that the made-to-order market is generally made up of “smaller, indie labels,” but what about bigger companies relying on MTO fulfillment? Ecommerce has steadily increased in recent years (especially under lockdown) and as bigger retailers increasingly rely on online sales, innovative production models are becoming more of a possibility. In fact, in May 2021, Ralph Lauren became one of the firt big name brands start using the MTO model. The company introduced The Cutom Polo, made to order  program, stating that “as traditional manufacturing processes give way to new technologies” they are focusing on “a revolutionary new approach” that offers “both immediate and long-term benefits, including reducing product inventory.” With the ability to limit waste and move towards more sustainable practices, this model of production is clearly gaining traction.

More than sustainability

Aside from reducing excess stock and cutting down on waste, the MTO model can offer additional benefits to bigger companies, especially if they rely on an on-demand supplier.

In the past, the MTO process has meant slower fulfillment times, making it harder to scale. But if companies were to rely on an on-demand supplier, that wouldn’t be the case — it should actually boost production lead times. Instead of having to wait 3 to 4 months to receive bulk inventory from factories on the opposite side of the world, companies would be able to fulfill orders in 2 to 7 days using an on-demand supplier, shortening the time between when an order is placed and when the manufacturer completes the order, and avoiding excess stock.

Another plus is that it decreases time to market: if a company has a new idea or a product they’re interested in testing, it can be done relatively quickly. If the product doesn’t do as well as anticipated, it can just be pulled from stores without losing much investment. Faster time to market means a competitive edge over other retailers.

Made-to-order also has the potential to move production closer to where customers live, depending on the on-demand supplier you use. For example,81% of orders fulfilled by Printful, a leading print on demand company, are produced in the same region as the end consumer. With strategically placed fulfillment centers, brands that partner wisely have the possibility of offering global fulfillment, reaching customers in a variety of different markets.

And fashion houses that don’t want to cut down on the number of collections they produce don’t have to. On-demand fulfillment enables product catalog scaling, which means companies can offer an infinite number of products without ever even handling them. Plus, their product offering has the potential to be more size-inclusive than off-the-rack lines, with new technologies being developed to improve fits and timelines. Just look at New York’s Lab 141 which licensed its “patented fit-garment technology to help luxury brands produce made-to-order clothing in 48hrs”. Ultimately, these advances not only improve corporate sustainability but allow for bigger retailers to offer fashion that’s better tailored to customers’ needs.

Making it happen

The EEA asserts that “harmonised product standards” and “efficiency requirements and labels” can help support the move to an MTO business model.

These are important policy measures that will lay the groundwork for more retailers to implement made-to-order in the future. Right now, though, companies can start exploring what a shift to MTO would look like for their business.

A simple cost-benefit analysis of how integrating an on-demand supplier into your business model could help eliminate overproduction and reduce waste would be a useful first step.

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