A supply-chain conference recently featured two FIT educators sharing insights on how businesses can do better at bringing products to market.
The Product Innovation Apparel Supply Chain Forum, which took place September 14 and 15 at the Union League in New York, is an event aimed at fashion executives to reevaluate their product strategy in light of the tumult of the past two years.
Yelena Mogelefsky, International Trade and Marketing, spoke on a September 14 panel titled “One Size Does Not Fit All: Global Diversity Requires Supply Strategy and Vendor Diversity.” She shared the stage with Kristopher Fraser, an editor at As If, Alex Thomas, vice president of global quality for Gap Inc., and moderator Caroline de Baere, a professor at California College of the Arts.
The panelists spoke about what diversity means to an organization, how human diversity can impact it, and how supply chain diversity can be customized for a company’s strategy.
“When working with your supply chain, we must think beyond first cost when making production placement decisions,” Mogelefsky said. “There are many factors, such as container utilization, freight cost, port pairs, and duty-free options, along with other factors,” that should be considered.
That same day, Joseph Altieri, International Trade and Marketing, spoke at another panel titled “Maintaining Operational Stability in an Era of Disruption,” where he shared the stage with a professor from LIM College and a fashion researcher from the University of Cambridge. On the panel, Altieri shared a story about sourcing from a U.S.-based uniform manufacturer he works with. After experiencing import delays, they shifted sourcing to a textile supplier located 50 miles from the factory, while moving production for basic clothing items, like leggings, offshore. This increased their profitability and allowed the manufacturer to focus domestic work on made-to-order items with a quick turnaround.
Altieri noted that returns on that single decision were greater than any other single change or new product the business owner introduced, in comments picked up by Sourcing Journal.