International Sourcing Seminar Highlights Supply-Chain Transparency and IT Solutions
Reducing costs and increasing speed to market are just two of the enormous pressures that retailers face in today’s apparel industry, according to Jeff Streader, an operating partner of Marlin Equity, a Hermosa Beach, Calif.–based private-investment firm focused on investment opportunities in the retail, branded apparel and direct-to-consumer sectors.
Streader spoke as part of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising’s Feb. 9 seminar, “Visibility Sourcing and Margins: How IT Collaboration Reduces Costs and Improves Process Management,” hosted by the German company Setlog Corp., a provider of supply-chain management and vendor-collaboration solutions that also has an American office in Amityville, N.Y.
Jill Powers of Gerber Technology and Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Association, were some of the attendees on hand to hear about industry challenges and tools to address them.
The big trend in supply-chain technology right now is cloud computing, Streader said. “[Customers] don’t want all the infrastructure that comes with a traditional system,” he said.
Streader discussed the challenges supply-chain staff face when working with design teams because they often don’t have the ability to “stay on calendar,” and he stressed the importance of design and supply working together with the goal of “servicing design and delivering it to the world.”
Companies are under added pressure because they are often balancing multiple seasons of clothing at once, he said.
He highlighted the importance of retailers taking total accountability by finding reliable partners throughout the supply chain.
“Find, vet, visit,” is the method Streader prescribed for discovering accountable partners.
He stressed that it only takes one mistake by a manufacturer to ruin an order.
“If the sweater is the cherry on top of an outfit and everything else comes in and it doesn’t, you’re done.”
Streader also discussed the importance of tracking face-to-face and phone meetings in supply-chain software instead of email because email correspondence between limited people keeps others in the supply chain in the dark.
Setlog introduced its cloud-based OSCA system, an Internet application that allows for collaboration between retailers and their supply chain, including suppliers, quality controllers and warehouses.
Among other features, the new system helps to cut down on email by sending alerts for a missing shipment, along with a notes field where staff can enter crucial information—for example, why a particular shipment is always shipped out late. This prevents multiple emails back and forth across the supply chain, said Niklas Kirwel, senior manager of customer relations for Setlog Corp.—Deidre Crawford
