WILL SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES HELP DRIVE MAJOR CHANGE IN THE APPAREL MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY
“The problems were there back then, but they were exacerbated and brought to the forefront due to pandemic-related issues. With all the supply chain noise, we wondered whether there would actually be meaningful solutions soon, and/or whether reshoring and digital production would be accelerated.” - Cary Sherburne - What They Think
GUEST ARTICLE WRITTEN BY CARY SHERBURNE OF WHATTHEYTHINK
Before the pandemic, I never dreamed I would be writing about supply chain so often. But then, before the pandemic things were different…or were they?
The problems were there back then, but they were exacerbated and brought to the forefront due to pandemic-related issues. With all the supply chain noise, we wondered whether there would actually be meaningful solutions soon, and/or whether reshoring and digital production would be accelerated. A Forbes article on the topic sheds some light here:
In December of last year, Forbes’ Walter Loeb published an article entitled Why Supply Chain Management Strategies Must Change. It highlighted many of the issues, including closed factories, overloaded ports, lack of containers, and more, along with skyrocketing costs of shipping and transportation—from Asia to the U.S. and Europe—as well as trucking transportation to get goods to their final destination. Delays were rampant; in fact, the article reports that in December, Halloween costumes were just arriving at Western ports!
The article states: “There is a need to reduce excess production because that can lead to more efficient use of resources throughout the supply chain with benefit to everyone involved. It means that raw material use can be reduced if demand is more realistic; that avoids heavy markdowns and reflects more responsible environmental behavior at the same time. Orders should be written to reflect realistic need—anticipating the customer’s needs and wants.”
It also notes that at least 75% of apparel production takes place in these countries: China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Morocco, India, Egypt, and Korea.
One way to reduce excess production is to rely more on digital technologies, especially digital fabric printing and automated cutting. This allows brands to order smaller quantities more quickly, with the potential of significant reduction in what ends up on the discount rack or in landfills. That approach is most effective when manufacturing can happen closer to the point of need, thus reducing the requirement to fill expensive ships with way too much stuff that takes forever to get to the port, and then longer to transport to its final destination. The rub there, of course, is the lack of sewing talent in the U.S. market—maybe not so much of an issue in Europe, but I’m not really sure about that.
The good news is that there are several initiatives in place to create high-volume manufacturing of small quantities here in the U.S., as well as a number of programs that are training sewists. I found it interesting that Kirby Best’s BMC.fashion factory in Arizona was able to source many sewists in the area that were already trained, creating perhaps one of the first high-function on-demand apparel manufacturing operations in the U.S., a good model for others to follow. If you haven’t viewed our recent textiles webinar on this topic, you should. Not only did we have Kirby on the panel, but we also included Spoonflower’s Kerry King and Jennifer Guarino from ISAIC (training the next generation of textile workers). These are just a few of the thought leaders that are helping to drive the necessary change.
I found it interesting that the Forbes article made no mention of attempts to reshore some of the manufacturing—clearly, it will be a long time, if ever, that critical mass comes back to our shores. But with more digitally-driven manufacturing taking place in North America, we could make a dent in the cost and waste associated with the current supply chain mess, albeit a small one for the foreseeable future.
If you peruse the Textiles & Apparel section on WhatTheyThink, you will find lots of articles documenting efforts to bypass some of the supply chain issues with local production, from Spoonflower/Shutterfly and BMC.fashion to other growing operations such as Raspberry Creek Fabrics. What they all have in common is an innovative approach to manufacturing that flies in the face of “the way we have always done things.” We applaud these efforts and will continue to give them visibility, both to help them continue to grow and to inspire others.
If you have a story to share—about local manufacturing, training initiatives for textile workers, sustainability initiatives or other activities under way that can help transform the supply chain issues, we’d love to hear from you!
The answer to our problems does not lie in this approach, that’s for sure!
About Cary Sherburne: Cary Sherburne is a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant whose practice is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries.
Cary Sherburne is available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. To get more information contact us. Please offer your feedback to Cary. She can be reached at cary@whattheythink.com.
