Zara Supply Chain
ZARA"Compare and Contrast the approaches taken by H&M, Benetton and Zara to managing their supply chains".
Design
Brand | Method | H & M | Mainly in-house designers who design garments to a price point to produce designer garments at a reasonable price. Pattern designers are an important part of the process due to all garments being manufactured by third parties. | Zara | Separate the design into three market segments, Women's, Men's and Children's lines. Each segment has it's own designers, market specialists and buyers which closely monitor customer feed back to improve designs and gauge market trends. | Benetton | In house designers who are responsible for garment design, R & D in new materials and design concepts. |
Each company has very similar approaches to designing garments with all functions undertaken in-house. H & M occasionally utilises outside well-known designers, this can be viewed as much as marketing exercise and increasing the profile and credibility of its designs.
Zara’s approach appears more dynamic as its team of designers can react to customer trends through store feedback and high design output. It has a youthful design team (ave. 26 years), which allows it to design products to specific target markets. Additionally, by segmenting its main line groups teams can focus on a specific market type (men, women or children) instead of designing items across all market groups.
Benetton’s approach is for designers also to be innovators and develop designs incorporating new materials and concepts, which are less reactive to the market and potentially, a market leader or ‘trend setter’ in its design approach.
Manufacturing
Brand | Method | H & M | Subcontracts all manufacturing to suppliers. | Zara | Owns most of its manufacturing facilities and has a majority interest in its raw material suppliers. | Benetton | Controls parts of its manufacturing through company owned facilities and subcontracts
Design
Brand | Method | H & M | Mainly in-house designers who design garments to a price point to produce designer garments at a reasonable price. Pattern designers are an important part of the process due to all garments being manufactured by third parties. | Zara | Separate the design into three market segments, Women's, Men's and Children's lines. Each segment has it's own designers, market specialists and buyers which closely monitor customer feed back to improve designs and gauge market trends. | Benetton | In house designers who are responsible for garment design, R & D in new materials and design concepts. |
Each company has very similar approaches to designing garments with all functions undertaken in-house. H & M occasionally utilises outside well-known designers, this can be viewed as much as marketing exercise and increasing the profile and credibility of its designs.
Zara’s approach appears more dynamic as its team of designers can react to customer trends through store feedback and high design output. It has a youthful design team (ave. 26 years), which allows it to design products to specific target markets. Additionally, by segmenting its main line groups teams can focus on a specific market type (men, women or children) instead of designing items across all market groups.
Benetton’s approach is for designers also to be innovators and develop designs incorporating new materials and concepts, which are less reactive to the market and potentially, a market leader or ‘trend setter’ in its design approach.
Manufacturing
Brand | Method | H & M | Subcontracts all manufacturing to suppliers. | Zara | Owns most of its manufacturing facilities and has a majority interest in its raw material suppliers. | Benetton | Controls parts of its manufacturing through company owned facilities and subcontracts