The fashion supply chain management in the fashion world

How to achieve successful fashion supply chain management in the apparel and textile industry? If you work in fashion and are wondering how best to manage your supply chain, this article is for you.

We have gathered our experience over the last eight years and summarized it into 3 action steps that you can put into practice from now.

Find out how. Continue reading.

The importance of fashion supply chain management

Supply chain management in the fashion and textile industry is a crucial aspect that can make or break a brand’s success.

Understanding the complexities of fashion supply chains and implementing effective strategies to manage them is essential for achieving transparency, sustainability, and profitability.

Supply chains in fashion are intricate, involving many suppliers in the production process.

These suppliers range from producers of raw materials to certification bodies, logistics providers, and retail outlets before finally reaching final customers.

As we delve deeper into the fashion supply chain, the likelihood of sub-contracting increases.

That’s why becomes challenging to trace the origin of materials, components, and each supplier’s contribution to the production of the final product.

The larger the brand, the more complex it can become.

To achieve effective supply chain management in the apparel and textile industry, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the entire fashion supply chain, from raw materials to the finished product.

This process involves supply chain mapping, tracking individual product lots and materials, and ensuring traceability and transparency throughout the entire production process.

Step 1 – Mapping the Supply Chain in fashion

Understanding your fashion supply chain means not only mapping the location of each supplier but taking a further step to track individual batches of products and materials.

Step 2 – The Role of Traceability

First-level suppliers are also known as direct suppliers: their factories and facilities cut, sew, package, and prepare a finished garment, then send it to the brand.

Fashion brands usually have a direct relationship with their first-level suppliers.

When it comes to the traceability of products and materials at levels 2 and 3, the situation changes. Being able to trace the product and materials is the real challenge to having control over your fashion supply chain.

The importance of primary data involving suppliers is the basis for having data quality.

To achieve this, brands must collaborate with suppliers and document all materials that go into a product through the manufacturing process, along with reports and declarations that substantiate the claims at each stage.

Thanks to an interactive dashboard they can take crontrol of all process and kip like Provenance Verification, Shipment Monitoring, Quality Assurance, Supplier Validation, Manufacturing Insight, Origin Certification, Distribution Visibility. Compliance Tracking.

Brands must have a direct relationship and the ability to communicate with their suppliers across all levels they want to trace.

Step 3 – Procurement Platform

Thanks to this level of detail, it is possible to implement a fashion procurement platform for managing the sourcing of materials.

The data traced by reading tags (QR code) will enable you to manage the procurement process of raw materials, and the manufacturing process up to the finished product.

To achieve successful management of your fashion supply chain within a sourcing platform, it is important to have a deep understanding of the processes involved and the ability to collaborate effectively with all suppliers across all levels.

3 key elements for a Supply chain Traceability Platform

Access to Streamlined Data: Centralize all your data in a single, comprehensive traceability system, offering effortless access to essential supply chain and product details. This unified approach ensures that crucial information, such as product credentials (accompanied by verifiable proof) for retail partners, origin data for customs agents, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports on supply chain compliance, is easily shareable and manageable. This consolidation not only streamlines various tasks but also greatly simplifies the process of data management and reporting.

Efficient Audit and Oversight: Utilizing a traceability solution, companies gain the ability to effectively monitor their suppliers’ activities for auditing purposes. This is facilitated by maintaining data in an easily accessible format. Such a system enables real-time tracking of goods throughout the supply chain, ensuring continuous updates on compliance status. Additionally, it provides the capability to identify and document any alterations made to products during the manufacturing process, enhancing oversight and control over the production lifecycle.

Enhanced Supply Chain Optimization: Companies that efficiently gather and analyze data related to their supply chains are empowered to respond to external events more swiftly and adaptively. This heightened agility can lead to significant reductions in operational costs and time-to-market, while also minimizing the risk of overproduction. Such strategic data utilization enables businesses to optimize their supply chain processes, fostering a more responsive and cost-effective operational model.

Conclusion

In conclusion, effective supply chain management in the fashion and textile industry requires a holistic approach that considers all aspects of the process.

By prioritizing responsible and sustainable practices, leveraging technology, and collaborating effectively with suppliers, brands can build a resilient and transparent fashion supply chain that benefits all stakeholders involved.

If you are in fashion and want to know how The ID Factory’s technological solutions can support you, book a free demo call with our specialists.