The death of ‘fast fashion’ changes the Asian textile industry
The death of ‘fast fashion’, The era of cheap ‘fast fashion’ is coming to an end, and is replaced by a new model that prioritizes speed, precision, origin and the ability to handle large numbers.
Fashion manufacturers are radically shortening their supply chains by moving production closer to their consumers. Photo: Nikkei Asian Review
Changes in the fashion market and The death of ‘fast fashion’
In Tuntex’s factory on the outskirts of Jakarta, cars automatically move back and forth on the floor, carrying materials between automatic cutters and semi-automatic sewing machines, where more than 1,000 workers are working to handle the final stages of garment products.
Tuntex, a supplier for Adidas, Nike, Puma and many other global fashion items, has always been fast, have to turn the product faster than competitors to compete in the relentless cycle of the fast fashion market. But today, the pressure on the company is even faster, the response is quicker.
“The average life cycle time has decreased from 120 days to 90 days 4 years ago, and it is only 60 days now. Some manufacturers are even shorter” said Stanley Kang, Tuntex Deputy General Director – “Automation and digitization are changing everything, and when all changes, we have to change too. Who can react faster, he will win”.
The requirement for flexibility is so high that orders for soccer T-shirts can even print the outcome of a match, Kang said.
Tuntex’s textile factory in Rayong, southern Thailand.
Like many other companies in the supply chain for a $ 1.4 trillion textile and apparel industry, Tuntex is investing millions of dollars every year for new technologies, new processes, in the context of the needs of consumers are reshaping the industry. The death of ‘fast fashion’ and with low prices is coming to an end, and is replaced by a new model that prioritizes speed, accuracy, origin and the ability to meet large numbers.
In order to adjust, suppliers are moving their production centers across borders, closer to raw material areas, infrastructure systems and final markets, allowing them to save valuable time in the product life cycle. They are also investing heavily in automation and digitization, as technology becomes more and more advanced.
The transformation of the apparel industry, which could greatly affect countries in South and Southeast Asia, is the focal point for providing the most basic components of the global textile supply chain.
It could lead to the end of a seven-decade global race aimed at the bottom of workers’ wages, when full automation will radically change the way the industry earns profits, in the form of cash. at the same time threatening millions of low-skilled workers around the world.
Workers at a garment factory in Bangladesh. Photo: Getty Images
The reorganization of the supply chain is the result of shocks in the fashion industry. Retail chains that specialize in low-margin, “one-off” products are struggling to survive in the 2000s.
America’s Forever 21 brand is the newest brand to claim bankruptcy in the US in September. They joined the list of brands like Barneys, Diesel and Roberto Cavalli, as well as shoe manufacturer Rockport went bankrupt in just the past two years.
Online fashion brands like Asos can compete by adopting a faster process of fashion trends as they step up to reach consumers via Instagram and other social networks. Online retailers like Stitch Fix are gaining a lot of customers by using algorithms that understand their customers’ personal preferences and suggest suitable products.
In the process of survival, fashion brands had to learn to adapt. Fashion retail giants like Inditex, owning Zara brand, the mother company of Uniqlo’s Fast Retailing, along with H&M have invested in technology to improve customers’ shopping experience, at the same time invest in “intelligent logistics” to optimize the supply chain.
These steps are to ensure the right clothing product will appear in front of the right customer at the right time. This process is called changing from “fast fashion” to “accurate fashion”, when all product lines are sold out in the shortest possible time.
Adidas automatic shoe production line. Photo: Adidas
“Speed will be the name of the game … Speed and control,” said Ricardo Perez Garrido, the professor of digital creativity at IE Business School in Madrid (Spain). “That means designs will serve what customers like, put the right products in the right places, and the technology makes them to be super fast, super efficient and super personalized…. If you control these 3 areas, you will not be defeated”.
Zara stores will often have different product lines even in the same city, with goods carefully selected to meet the “localization” of customers. At the same time, they quickly switch products and respond quickly to changing trends. An individual Zara store can order small batches of products, evaluate feedback and then “airlift” additional batches of products to fill the warehouse in just a few days!
A Zara store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Getty Images
The need for speed has begun to upset the supply chain that garment companies have taken decades to build. Previously, to cut costs, suppliers have sought ways to relocate their production facilities to finding lower-cost places and cheaper premises. That has extended their supply chains over huge geographic distances: thousands of kilometers between fabric mills and garment factories, and away from their final destination by weekly shipping by ship. For example, the journey of Adidas or Nike product made by Tuntex in Indonesia could start nearly 4,000 km away in a Taiwanese textile factory. Fabrics can take almost a week to reach the sewing factory. This is reason The death of ‘fast fashion’.
For now, fashion manufacturers are radically shortening their supply chains by moving production closer to their consumers. Factories in Europe are now serving Europe itself.
“Instead of going through a cycle of designing, bringing raw materials to Asia for production, then bringing the product back, most of the fashion products are being produced closer to consumers. It means that it will be more expensive, but allow shortening the rotation to only 4-5 weeks, ”Professor Garrido explained.
Thu Hang / Newspaper News (According to Nikkei Asian Review)
