As coronavirus intensifies and continues to spread worldwide, fashion industry solution providers and brands weigh in on methods for mitigating supply chain impacts, and strategic planning for an unpredictable future. Hint: create a contingency plan.
Nearshore Manufacturing
And that unpredictability may mean manufacturing closer to home — and reliance on robots. Rueben Scriven, lead analyst on logistics for Interact Analysis, a provider of market research for the Intelligent Automation sector, told WWD, “While 10 years ago, a large percentage of U.S. and European apparel manufacturing was outsourced to China and other Asian countries, rising labor costs, shrinking fashion cycles and environmental consumerism have led many apparel retailers to nearshore their manufacturing activities. The coronavirus outbreak will likely intensify this trend as apparel companies look to hedge against future outbreaks and minimize their reliance on potentially risky supply chains.”
Scriven added that fully automated warehouses and distribution centers are a possible panacea to supply chain disruptions. “Furthermore, to reduce the impact of potential future outbreaks on supply chains, companies may look to automate their warehouses and distribution centers that have particularly high population densities and would cause significant disruption if one was to be temporarily shut down.”
Scriven said JD.com, a Chinese pure-play e-commerce company,
Nearshore Manufacturing
And that unpredictability may mean manufacturing closer to home — and reliance on robots. Rueben Scriven, lead analyst on logistics for Interact Analysis, a provider of market research for the Intelligent Automation sector, told WWD, “While 10 years ago, a large percentage of U.S. and European apparel manufacturing was outsourced to China and other Asian countries, rising labor costs, shrinking fashion cycles and environmental consumerism have led many apparel retailers to nearshore their manufacturing activities. The coronavirus outbreak will likely intensify this trend as apparel companies look to hedge against future outbreaks and minimize their reliance on potentially risky supply chains.”
Scriven added that fully automated warehouses and distribution centers are a possible panacea to supply chain disruptions. “Furthermore, to reduce the impact of potential future outbreaks on supply chains, companies may look to automate their warehouses and distribution centers that have particularly high population densities and would cause significant disruption if one was to be temporarily shut down.”
Scriven said JD.com, a Chinese pure-play e-commerce company,
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