CARGOCONNECT-MAY23 - Flipbook - Page 26
COVERSTORY
APPAREL SUPPLY CHAIN
SANDEEP JAIN
VICE PRESIDENT–
ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE
SPYKAR
LIFESTYLES
EFFICIENT
PRODUCTION
LOGISTICS ENABLE
A COMPANY TO
OPERATE WITH
CAPITAL EFFICIENCY
F
lexibility is at the
core of a responsive supply chain,
which is not just
reacting to changes
but being proactive as well
In today’s ever-changing market
scenario, the most important
and essential step in goal setting is making the supply chain
functions flexible. You will need
to deploy more and more technology/IT systems to ensure that you
are able to deliver productivity
and also expand the capacity as
per the business’ needs.
There’s a lot that goes into
it behind the scenes in building
a flexible supply chain that can
move quickly and adapt without
losing money — from diversifying
suppliers and carriers, to implementing connected technology
that enables real-time tracking
across the supply chain. Flexibility is at the core of a responsive
supply chain, which is not just
reacting to changes but being
proactive as well.
issue is the inability to enhance
capacity or failing to make
supply chain functions flexible.
With regard to production, it’s a
process which needs 3-5 months
and very difficult to modify once
programmed. Hence, you will
need to have warehouses which
can accommodate everything
(from raw materials to finished
products) and manpower and IT
platforms/technology which can
help the entire system deliver the
desired results.
The supplier side has a practical problem of delivering what
is expected. Besides that, they’re
facing the issue of forecasting in
a proper way because none of us
exactly know how the consumption patterns will develop. In
this environment, which is much
more volatile than what we have
seen in the last 20 years, it is
becoming quite difficult to make
the right bets. Cost pressure will
continue, so suppliers will likely
have to work on the cost side,
and also on their tier-two and
tier-three suppliers in the system.
In this environment, which
is much more volatile than
what we have seen in the
last 20 years, it is becoming
quite difficult to make the
right bets
A company can derive
significant advantage by
enhancing demand forecasting and planning through
business intelligence
When talking about the textile
and apparel industry, the main
In the textile and apparel industry,
there are many things which are
26 | CARGOCONNECT MAY 2023
dependent on manpower and
hence alone technology cannot
help. But having said that, without
technology, manpower alone also
cannot deliver on what may be
expected. Hence, companies need
to invest in a lot of tools that can
assist in demand forecasting and
also help in reducing dependability
on manpower. Since demand planning gives a better understanding
of what a company will need to
order in the future, it can help
improve the supply chain process.
A company can derive significant
advantage by enhancing demand
forecasting and planning to generate better product life cycles and
ROI through business intelligence.
The way apparel organisation
embraces superior serviceability
in shaping its appropriate supply
chain configuration will only
determine the value of its future
business.
We have also adopted a few
tools and software platforms
helping us in demand forecasting, shipment delivery
tracking, warehouse management, etc.
New technologies help businesses
stay relevant and successful. Finding a way to reduce resistance to
change will make goals happen a
lot faster. Everybody knows technological innovation is reshaping
the world faster than ever before.
Digitising the whole supply chain
end-to-end is not just a big topic
for companies but for the entire
industry, as well as for customers from a sustainability point
of view. That’s one of the main
reasons why technology investments for the apparel industry
as a whole is expected to ramp
up. Therefore, to blend with the
objectives, companies have to
transform and adopt more new