Fast Fashion Assessment Tool: A Case Study of a Moroccan Apparel Supply Chain

In order to increase their profit margins and international expansion, many international fashion brands implemented a new supply chain strategy named fast fashion. It is a strategy that aims to rapidly get the trendiest fashion clothes in the stores. Several Moroccan fashion retailers tried to copy the fast fashion business model in order to get a responsive supply chain and a high profit margin. Thus, they need a practical tool to ensure that the fast fashion elements are properly implemented. This paper develops an assessment tool using a maturity evaluation model. This maturity assessment tool has been tested at a Moroccan fast fashion retailer. This pilot test adopted a qualitative research methodology with data collected using semi-structured interviews from a single retailer case operating in Moroccan apparel industry. The fast fashion assessment tool enables fashion retailers managers to have a view of the implementation progression and to eventually locate problems and mobilise other tools and mechanisms to explore them

Supply chain management and retailing

Retailers are now the dominant partners in most supply systems and have used their positions to re-engineer operations and partnerships with suppliers and other logistic service providers. No longer are retailers the passive recipients of manufacturer allocations, but instead are the active channel controllers organizing supply in anticipation of, and reaction to consumer demand. This paper reflects on the ongoing transformation of retail supply chains and logistics. If considers this transformation through an examination of the fashion, grocery and selected other retail supply chains, drawing on practical illustrations. Current and future challenges are then discussed

Supply chain management as the company engine in automotive manufacturing

©2013 International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Originally published in IFAC-PapersOnLine (www.ifac-papersonline.net)The objective of this paper is to define how to create a supply chain management (SCM) organizational structure with roles and responsibilities in a multinational company with a big part of the supply chain inside of the company. SCM means having under control the complete supply chain to decide the global optimal instead of summing up the optimal of each node independently. We propose, based on the systems thinking concept, how to develop an organizational structure where the SCM acts as the engine of the organization. There must be a strategy to create this structure starting from the bottom to the top of an organization. An illustration example is given in a first tier supplier of an automotive supply chain. © IFAC.Ferriols Martínez, FJ.; Mula, J.; Díaz-Madroñero Boluda, FM. (2013). Supply chain management as the company engine in automotive manufacturing. Ifac Papers Online. 7(1):682-687. doi:10.3182/20130619-3-RU-3018.00614S6826877

Zara: international brand image and fashion site launch in Western Europe

Objeto: Zara abrió en España, Francia, Alemania, Reino Unido, Italia y Portugal su tienda online en la campaña otoño/invierno 2010. Se trata de un paso estratégico importante, encuadrado en la búsqueda que el Grupo Inditex realiza diariamente para ofrecer el mejor servicio a los clientes en todo el mundo. El presente trabajo analiza la notoriedad de marca de Zara y las posibilidades que plantea Internet como herramienta de comunicación y como canal de distribución. Diseño/metodología: Se presenta un análisis descriptivo de la experiencia de Zara desde el lanzamiento de zara.com desde septiembre de 2010. Se muestra, además, un análisis comparativo respecto a dos de sus competidores: H&M y Mango. Resultados: Se observa cómo Zara parece estar superando en alcance y en número de páginas vistas a Mango, pero todavía no alcanza los niveles de H&M, a nivel internacional. Limitaciones: Se trata de un artículo descriptivo; no se han podido analizar con detalle los resultados de la venta online de Zara debido a su reciente incorporación en este canal de distribución y a que la política del Grupo Inditex es esperar a que transcurran doce meses de funcionamiento de la tienda virtual para ofrecer los primeros resultados. Implicaciones prácticas: Conocer la estrategia emprendida por Zara y sus competidores para, a través del comercio electrónico, lograr consolidar su imagen de marca internacional. Ello permite perfilar recomendaciones para los gestores y que la incursión en el canal de venta online sea un éxito. Valor añadido: Dada la situación de recesión económica en que nos encontramos y debido al papel protagonista que está tomando el sector textil en la comercialización y venta online en España en los últimos meses, el comercio electrónico en el sector textil resulta un tema de gran actualidad. Además, se centra en una de las empresas españolas que más estudios ha acaparado gracias a su indudable éxito.Purpose: Zara launched its e-store in Spain, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal in the campaign fall/winter 2010. This is an important strategic step; aligned with the search that Inditex daily performs to provide the best customer service worldwide. This paper aims to analyse the international awareness of this notorious fast-fashion firm and the importance of electronic retailing as a communication tool and as a significant growing channel of distribution for fashion merchandise. Design/methodology: A descriptive analysis of Zara's experience is presented, since the launch of zara.com in September 2010. It also shows a comparative analysis on two of its competitors: H&M and Mango. Findings: Zara seems to be surpassing Mango in reach and number of page views, but is still below the levels of H&M, worldwide. Research limitations: This is a descriptive article. We have not been able to provide an in-depth study of the results of the online sale of Zara due to its recent inclusion in the distribution channel and due to the Inditex Group's policy that is to wait for twelve months of store activity to publish its first results. Practical implications: Knowing the strategy undertaken by Zara and its competitors through e-commerce in order to consolidate its international brand image, allows us to provide managerial guidelines for successful retailers when implementing a clicks and mortar strategy. Originality/value: Given the economic recession in which we find ourselves and due to the leading role being taken by online selling in the textile in Spain in recent months, e-commerce in the textile sector has emerged as a very important topic. Besides, this study focuses on a Spanish company that has attracted more studies during the last decades due to its undoubted success.Peer Reviewe

Inventory control policy of preventive lateral transshipment between retailers in multi periods

Purpose: Preventivelateral transshipment can respond to customers who will choose a substitute or to give up when the product is out of stock. Motivatedby the common practice, adecision-making model of preventive lateral transshipment with multi sellingperiods is developed. The purpose of the paper is to explore the optimal preventive lateral transshipment policy with multi selling periods. Design/methodology/approach: With adiscrete-time dynamic programming model, we take a dynamic programming approach and adopt backward induction to analyze two retailers’ preventive lateral transshipment policy. Findings: The optimal preventivelateral transshipment policy is a threshold policy which depends on both theremaining selling periods and inventory level. The above properties ensure thattwo retailers can control inventory with preventive lateral transshipment. Practical implications: The retailer can adjust inventory via the thresholdtype policy. The simple decisionrule which compares on-hand inventory level with the critical inventory level can be used to control inventory by preventive lateral transshipment. Originality/value: A discrete-timedecision-making model of preventive lateral transshipment policy isformulated. This model takes consideration of multi selling periods, whichis different from most existing researches on preventive lateraltransshipment.Peer Reviewe

Inventory redistribution optimization in the fast fashion industry

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 100).Zara is the world's leader in the fast-fashion industry and introduces over 10,000 unique designs to their stores each year. Zara's parent company, Inditex, reported profits of $2.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 27% for the year. They opened 360 new stores in over 50 markets across all of their brands last year. Zara contributes approximately 60% of these profits and has around 1,720 stores in over 80 countries worldwide. Zara is committed to meeting the needs of their customer through continuous improvement of their processes and systems. Though they continually improve their already advanced forecasting and distribution methods, there is significant variability in demand that remains challenging to predict. Due to this uncertainty in demand and the short life cycle of trendy clothing articles, it is imperative that Zara is able to quickly respond to changing demand patterns. After initial distribution, inventory can be redistributed among stores in order to satisfy their customers' demand and maximize sales. This critical step in the distribution process is known as inventory transfers. The purpose of this project was to develop a demand forecast model, optimization model and operational process to optimize and standardize these inventory transfers among the complex network of thousands of Zara stores. The key performance indicator was an increase in profit of at least three percent. The research process was first to identify the key decision-making criteria and variables affecting transfer decisions; second to use that criteria to build an optimization model to propose optimal redistribution of articles among stores; and third to prepare the roll-out and integration of the new approach in the existing operational process and IT system. This project required integration with Zara stakeholders across many functions including product management, buying, distribution and information technology. Crucial to the success of the project was remaining focused on these stakeholder needs to ensure the model would be easily adopted and fully implemented while also considering demand, costs, logistics, feasibility and many other factors. The new model provides a profit increase of 21 percent for those articles transferred and is the first model of this kind applied in retail supply chain management.by Rachel Avril Kelley.S.M.M.B.A