garment
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
Globalization has been the primary driver of change in supply
chain structures of the global textile and apparel industries. Due to the increasing labour wage in developed countries, apparel manufacturing has been migrating from high wage developed countries to low wage developing countries (Bheda et al 2002). Even though the labour cost is cheaper in developing countries than in developed countries, due to the specific market nature of the garment industries, for example the short production life cycle, high volatility, low predictability, high level of impulse purchase and the quick market response, garment industries are facing the greatest challenges these days (Lucy Daly and Towers 2004). Before 1980, customers tolerated long lead times, which enabled producers to minimize product cost by using economical batch sizes. Later, when customers began to demand shorter lead times, the producers were not able to stand in the competitive market with their current production system. This is when the problem arose and companies started to look for changes to be more competitive. This pressure was further intensified with the elimination of quotas as of January 1, 2005.
To stay competitive, many domestic textile manufacturers have sought to improve their manufacturing processes so that they can more readily compete with overseas manufacturers.
2
Garment industries in developing countries are more focused on sourcing of raw material and minimizing delivery cost than labour productivity because of the availability of cheap labour. Due to this, labour productivity is lower in developing countries than in the developed ones.
For example, labour is very cheap in Bangladesh but the productivity is poor among other developing countries (Shahidul and Syed Shazali 2011).
Similarly, since the cost of fabric is a major factor of the garment cost, it is controlled by using CAD and CAM system for marker making and fabric cutting to save
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
Globalization has been the primary driver of change in supply
chain structures of the global textile and apparel industries. Due to the increasing labour wage in developed countries, apparel manufacturing has been migrating from high wage developed countries to low wage developing countries (Bheda et al 2002). Even though the labour cost is cheaper in developing countries than in developed countries, due to the specific market nature of the garment industries, for example the short production life cycle, high volatility, low predictability, high level of impulse purchase and the quick market response, garment industries are facing the greatest challenges these days (Lucy Daly and Towers 2004). Before 1980, customers tolerated long lead times, which enabled producers to minimize product cost by using economical batch sizes. Later, when customers began to demand shorter lead times, the producers were not able to stand in the competitive market with their current production system. This is when the problem arose and companies started to look for changes to be more competitive. This pressure was further intensified with the elimination of quotas as of January 1, 2005.
To stay competitive, many domestic textile manufacturers have sought to improve their manufacturing processes so that they can more readily compete with overseas manufacturers.
2
Garment industries in developing countries are more focused on sourcing of raw material and minimizing delivery cost than labour productivity because of the availability of cheap labour. Due to this, labour productivity is lower in developing countries than in the developed ones.
For example, labour is very cheap in Bangladesh but the productivity is poor among other developing countries (Shahidul and Syed Shazali 2011).
Similarly, since the cost of fabric is a major factor of the garment cost, it is controlled by using CAD and CAM system for marker making and fabric cutting to save