Cnsr Sci 567 Final Exam
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
- 3000 km roadway allowing western China to gain access to port of Pakistan ($50 billion) - Export growth, jobs increase, economic development - Ownership stake within the Middle East countries - Leverage in trading and economical relationship - China + Middle East + Countries = China Global Production
Apparel Testing Services
- 3rd party testing - Works with many different brands and tests for specific aspects
Costs for Garments
- 50%-60% of garment cost comes from the raw materials (cotton prices are nearly ¼ what they were at their all-time high in 2011) - 20%-30% of garment cost comes from labor (the cost of labor rises each year) -10%-30% of garment cost comes from transportation, duties and other supply chain costs
Bill of Landing
- A document that states what purchase orders, carton count, weight, cost, etc. are on the trailers - Can be more than one bill of landing per trailer or container since each vendor has their own
Markers
- A guide used in the cutting process - Typically CAD used to configure pattern pieces to reduce fabric waste as much as possible
Tech Pack and Spec Sheets
- A legal agreement with the manufacturer is a BOM: bill of materials - Communicates with a manufacturer all the necessary components needed to construct a product - Typically includes at least information regarding measurements, materials, color specifics, trim, grading, labels, hang tags and illustrations - The more detail there is in a tech pack, the less room there is for error
Working With Factories- Production (Lands' End)
- Agents - Direct vendors - On-site offices - Communicate with tech packs, 3D images, email, samples, phone and video conferences
Free Trade Agreements
- Agreements that eliminate or reduce tariff rates, improve intellectual property regulations, open government procurement opportunities, ease investment rules, etc. - Help level the international playing field and encourage foreign governments to adopt and open transparent rule making procedures, as well as non-discriminatory laws and regulations To be entitled to preferential tariff treatment, goods must meet the "originating" criteria as set out in the Rules of Origin of individual FTAs - Certificate of Origin (COO): required upon importation for preferential duty rates to apply
Estimated Landed Cost (ELC)
- All costs associated with the acquisition of imported goods - Find the number by adding the first cost (the original billed cost) PLUS overseas shipping, agent commission, customs (duties, taxes, tariffs, VAT, broken fees, harbor fees), risk (insurance, compliance, quality, safety stock costs) and overhead (staff, due diligence cost, travel, exchange rates)
Qungming of Ching Ming Festival
- Also known as "Tomb-Sweeping" Day, Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day - Traditional Chinese festival on the 1st day of the 5th solar term of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar - 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either April 4th or 5th
Outsourcing (utilize an agent)
- An agency is a business that provides a service of organizing transactions between two other parties - Partners with retailers, works as a liaison or agent between factories and the retailer - Provides services as an agent in the categories of apparel, footwear, accessories, home and toys, for design, development, sourcing, production, quality control, shipping - Ex: Li and Fung
The World Is Flat (Jerry Friedman)
- Book that started fast fashion and cross-docking - Asserted that technology, globalization and other forces have and will continue to transform the way we do business - Geography s no longer an obstacle with the Internet, personal technologies and workflow software - New opportunities continue to arise
3D Avatars (Lands' End)
- Build 3D blocks using existing patterns - Receive 3D style block from vendor - Clothing goes from flat sketches (drawing for tech pack) to objective (3D simulation for styling and fit intent) to pressurized mapping (visualize stress points on body)
Sourcing Models
- Buying agent - Domestic importers/suppliers - No agent direct
Trade Agreements Impact on Sourcing (Kohl's)
- CAFTA-DR: Central American Free Trade Agreement - HOPE: Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement - AGOA: African Growth and Opportunity - TPP: Obama era potential agreement in Vietnam and other TTP countries - QIZ: Qualified Industrial Zone
Where are Garments Made?
- COP: country of production Factors that influence COP choices: - proximity to fabric source or final destination (speed) - competencies - wages - trade agreements - risk mitigation
Points of Measure (Tops)
- Chest width - Hips - Bust - Body length - Sweep: opening and how wide it is
China Manufacturer Specialties
- China has become the leading manufacturer of apparel - Chinese government has established centralized development zones to specialize in certain products - Maximizes economies of scale because they can outperform decentralized manufacturing firms in other countries - Industrial parks planned by the government get tax breaks and partnerships with logistic providers - Private companies host massive dormitory complexes for their workers; providing shelter, food, basic necessities and health care
Where are Materials Made?
- China: cotton/synthetic cotton - India: woven cotton and viscose - South Korea: career synthetic and fashion - Pakistan: core basics both knit and woven - Taiwan: active performance
What are the Most Imported Goods from Canada and Mexico to the US?
- Chocolate ($2 billion worth from Canada and Mexico) - Asparagus - Watermelon - Fresh and frozen beef
Buying Agent
- Co-creation partnerships - Manufacturing excellence driving quality and value - Low cost - Managed off-shore - Risk mitigation - Global market intel offered
Wear Tests (Lands' End)
- Conducted when there is a business need to learn more about the performance of our products - Needed to assess potential issues with new product related to performance, fit, fabric and styling details - Asses issues related to changes to core products regarding new fabric and fit - Assess claims before advertising - Compare products
Major Considerations of Strategic Sourcing
- Costs - Quality - Production innovation - Logistics and speed to market - Social compliance
"Sock City"
- Datong - Produces approximately ⅓ of the entire world's sock supply - Makes roughly 2 pairs of socks for every person in the world, each year
Kohl's Mission Statement
- Deliver on our commitment to our customer by contributing to a more sustainable future for families - Cotton, polyester, water and chemicals (want to be 100% sustainably sourced by 2025)
Fit Process Flow Chart (Lands' End)
- Design hands off new season styles to tech design and sourcing - Tech design completes tech packs and sends to vendor with pattern block - Tech design receives samples- reviews for fit, construction and overall quality with the team - Tech design sends comments with updated tech pack to vendor (finalizes fit) - Tech design receives pre-production sample from vendor- reviews and approves to production- sends production tech pack - Vendor prepares for garment production
Tech Design Elevates Fit and Quality (Lands' End)
- Develop styles with design team for design and fit intent - Fit Proto to pre-production samples on Fit Model and/or 3D avatars - Ensure proper body movement in clothing - Develop well-fitting patterns and fit blocks - Communicate pattern adjustments and partner with vendor to realize fit intent - Review construction and BOM
Communicating Color (Lands' End)
- Different in a production environment - Must use words such as lightness, chroma, hue, magnitude - Phrases include "too blue/dull, should be yellower/brighter"
Process Orchestration
- Different pieces of the process can be handles at different places (dispersed manufacturing) to create the right product at the right time at the right place - Ex: yarn from Pakistan, fabric from China, buttons from China, zippers from Japan and production in Bangladesh
Competing in a Flat World (Victor and William Fung, Jerry Wind)
- Dispersed manufacturing - Process orchestration - Network orchestration - 30/70 principle
What Does Strategic Sourcing Do?(Kohl's)
- Drives the organization to faster and more innovative sourcing models through a superior supply network, to deliver amazing product at the best value - Manages the supply chain network and relationships, new vendors and mills - Consults on costing, garment engineering, mill/vendor placements, factory issues
Basic Treatments of Textiles
- Dyeing - Printing - Finishing
What Does Product Management Do? (Kohl's)
- Elevates challenges in costing, supplier relationships or other supply chain issues - Drives and communicates strategy and goals for businesses and brands - Executes the sourcing strategy
Social Compliance (Kohl's)
- Ensures factories that produce private brands, exclusive brands or goods where Kohl's is the importer of record are compliant with terms of engagement and the laws of the country where the factory is located - Includes environmental requirements, health and safety, discrimination, free association, wages and benefits, forced and child labor, working hours
Lead Test and Phthalates
- Excessive lead in fabric dyes, trim finishes and surface prints can poison kids - Phthalates are chemical plasticizers used in the production of plastics and paints - There are currently 6 types of banned phthalates in children's products - Avoid these designs by using fabrics with organic and vegetable dyes, using natural fibers, checking lead content of hardware and checking lead content in non-metal trim and embellishments
US Cotton
- Exported to Mexico to make the fabric - This is then used to manufacture denim and other finished products before being imported back to the US
Label Laws
- FTC overseas USA label laws - Labels must be attached permanently and securely - Labels must be legible during the useful life of the product Apparel items must have: - fiber content - country of origin - manufacturer identity (usually with an RN #) - care instructions
The Apparel Development Cycle (Lands' End)
- Fabric - Color - Technical design - Final production specifications - Quality assurance/testing, production, vendor selection auditing/inspection - Design
Fabric Development (Lands' End)
- Fabric is tested at development and bulk production stages to ensure it meets performance requirements - Testing to confirm ability to meet performance specifications to ensure customer satisfaction with product - Fabric finishes enhance product: romance (antimicrobial, water repellent) - Ex: strength, abrasion, pilling, shrinkage, etc.
Chinese Business Culture
- Follows the idea of Confucius, which involves the influences of harmonious relationships, morality, justice and sincerity - Chinese business and contracts are often done at the dining table - As much about he social connection as it is the actual business discussion
Textile and Apparel Manufacturing Clusters
- For policy and economic reasons, T&A manufacturing clusters were first concentrated in eastern coastal provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong and Hebei Advantages - convenient transportation (close to highways and ports) - market vicinity (close to major cities, especially Hong Kong Guangzhou and Shanghai) - excellent technology and resources (communication and transportation infrastructure)
Specialized Administrative Regions (SARs)
- Former colonies that rejoined China in the late 90s - Economies and distinct political systems are allowed to flourish under separate regulatory regimes from the Mainland under the slogan "One country, two systems" - Hong Kong (British) and Macau (Portuguese) - The SARs have their own currencies, issue their own visas and elect their own representative assemblies through a combination of direct and indirect representation
NAFTA
- Free trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico that took effect in 1994 - Reduced tariffs and other trade barriers between the 3 countries, allowing raw materials, parts and finished goods to flow freely - 14 million US jobs depend on the $3.5 trillion in trade between the 3 countries - In September 2018, NAFTA was replaced with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Satellite Office
- Having overseas offices that handle/coordinate design and production - Ex: Macy's offices in Hong Kong, South Korea and ASCENA offices in Hong Kong, Bangalore, India
New T&A Cluster
- In 2009 to promise industrial transfer and optimize regional distribution new clusters appeared in western and middle China or less developed towns in the east - Years later, the "Equest" Policy allowed middle provinces to have stronger growth in capital assets and profit than the industry average - Driven by cost and encouraged by government, newly developed clusters are growing faster in mid and western Chinese provinces
Harmonized System Code (HS Code)
- Internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products - Came into effect in 1988 - Developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO), which is an independent intergovernmental organization based in Brussels, Belgium, with over 200 member countries
7 Official Public Holidays in Mainland China
- January 1st: New Year's Day - 1st day of 1st lunar month: Spring Festival - 5th solar term: April 4th or 5th - May 1st: labor day - 5th day of 5th lunar month: Dragon Boat Festival (June) - 15th day of 8th lunar month: Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep) - October 1st: National Day
Children's Wear Flammability
- Loose fitting sleepwear, thinner fabrics and fuzzy fabrics with a pile can ignite and burn quickly from small and open flames - The US Code of Federal regulations requires that children's sleepwear must be flame resistant and self-extinguish if a flame from a candle, match, lighter or a similar item causes it to catch fire
Loss of Manufacturing Jobs
- Lower wage labor overseas - Advances in technology including automation - Regulatory restraints - Strong US dollar
Technical Design (Lands' End)
- Makes sure that fit and quality are up to par - Consistency of fit raises the customer satisfaction while reduces return rate - Brand is known for the quality it constantly delivers- cupstomerconfidence and loyalty - Fit, patterns, specifications, sketches - BOM: bill of materials
Why is a Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada Important to the US?
- Many US manufacturers use parts from Mexico and Canada to make "Made in the USA" products - Many Canada and Mexico manufacturers use parts from the US to make "Made in Mexico" or "Made in Canada" products - Some larger US retailers have stores in Mexico and Canada they stock with goods exported from the US
Adjusting to Changes in the Retail Market
- Market polarization according to price and brand - Increased competition - Decreasing margins - Consumer demand for newness
Item Cost Considerations
- Materials: cost per yard - Trimmings: buttons, zippers, snaps - Duty/Tariffs - Overhead (fixed and variable costs of operation) Labor -production pattern making, grading and marking - spreading and cutting: impacts # of pattern pieces and # of layers of fabric that can be cut together - assembly: time to sew the entire garment (hourly pay rate) - finishing: pressing, folding, packing
China's Production
- Most of China's production facilities are on the east coast because they are closer to the ports - Most of the factory workers are from inland and travel to the east for work, leaving their family behind
Children's Tops
- No drawstrings on hoods and children's upper outerwear in sizes 2T to 12 - Alternatives could be snaps, velcro, buttons and elastic
No Agent Direct
- No third party intermediary, whether LF or domestic - Diversified inventory ownership: transferred at Port of Origin, US port or US warehouse - Best cost upfront - Access to best in class direct suppliers
Children's Bottoms
- No toggles, knots and other attachments at the free ends of waist drawstrings - No more than 3 inches of a drawstring outside of a casing when the garment is extended to its fullest width
Joint Venture
- One of the world's biggest contract manufacturers, importers, distributors of apparel - Have manufacturing operations and joint ventures in 12 countries - Also provides private label merchandise for other brands (Lane Bryant, Chico's, Abercrombie) - Ex: L brands (Bath and Body, Victoria's Secret, Pink) owns 49% of MAST Industries
The Best Paths and Practices from The World is Flat
- Outsourcing: having business processes conducted by an outside company - Offshoring: relocation of manufacturing to overseas - Supply-chaining: working with suppliers to improve their supply chains (Kohl's) - Insourcing: more functions that just delivery (UPS) - Informing: put knowledge at the fingertips of everyone (Google)
Vendor Scorecard
- Quality assurance - Corporate social responsibility - Logistics - Product integrity - Tech design - Color
Government Policy Impact on Sourcing
- Reduce China dependence and production - Expand Western hemisphere for duty-free benefits and speed - Explore new countries of production for lower costs and risk mitigation
Color Development (Lands' End)
- Requires trend research to inform palette decisions - Specifying reproducible color standards - Consistent and objective color evaluation Dyeing lab dips: - dyes are dispensed based on a specific formula - small fabric samples (lab dips) are dyed in a laboratory machine - lab dip options are sent to retailer for approval or given self-approval
Retailers Cutting Costs
- Results in lower quality - Retailers can protect their margins by shifting production to lower cost countries, using lower-cost materials and lower quality materials - A better strategy is for retailers to purchase raw materials in advance for better prices, while keeping quality - Consumers want lower prices, which is why consumer apparel prices have decreased
Money Volume and SME
- SME: square meter equivalency (M2) - Common unit of quality, constant across categories and time - Sometimes MM2 is million square meters
Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
- Set up to encourage development and foreign investment with tax concessions and other government measures - Began in 1980 as a provincial government initiative supported by Deng Xiaoping - SEZs tend to be prosperous, have foreigner communities and have more Western restaurants and facilities
Domestic Importers/Suppliers
- Shop and adopt - Supply chain partnerships drive quality and value - Highest cost - Category expertise: replenishment and agility, US market intel
Chinese Calendar
- Significantly impacts planning/timing of production and shipments because factories shut down for 2-4 weeks for the New Year when factory workers travel home to be with their families (largest migration in the world) - First day of the New Year, also known as the "Spring Festival" and is the most important holiday in China and falls between Jan 21 and Feb 20 - Calendar is also used in Korea, Japan and Vietnam - Production and shipping of products should be planned around the New Year
Color Samples
- Small fabric sample is a lab dip - Tech design evaluates color visually in both various controlled lighting samples - Digital spectrometer: gives more of an objective measurement
Strategies in Sourcing and Production
- Sourcing channels retailers use depending on their levels of expertise and volumes - Joint venture, outsource, satellite office and domestic importer
Visual and Digital Color Evaluation (Lands' End)
- Spectrometers: measure the light reflected from an object in the visible spectrum; spectral data uniquely identifies a color - Flare: when the color of a single object appears to change under a second illuminant - Metamerism: when the color of a pair of objects appears to match under one illuminant but does not match under a second illuminant
Li and Fung
- Started in 1906, now headquartered in Hong Kong - Network orchestrator, so they do NOT own the factories, just are the middlemen - World's largest sourcing company - Global supply chain manager - Consumer goods design, development, sourcing and logistics primarily for US and EU goods - Contracts with manufacturers to produce products for retailers and brands - Helps the retailers enter new international markets
How to Develop a Sourcing Strategy(Kohl's)
- Strategic partnerships with best in class manufacturers throughout the world - Diversified countries of production to mitigate risk - Factory capacity management and competency expertise - Understanding of geopolitical climate and economic environment
Global Product Services (Kohl's)
- Strategic sourcing - Process optimization - Product integrity and sustainability - Technical design
Final Production Specifications (Lands' End)
- Tech pack - Construction - Grading - Detailed sketches - BOM's/trims - Packaging and labeling - Final production approval - Wear test- garments
Wicking
- The ability of a textile material to disperse or spread liquid throughout a given area - Better wicking fabrics are typically made of high-tech polyester, which, unlike cotton, absorbs very little water - Cotton typically absorbs 7% of its weight in water while polyester only absorbs .4%
Stretch and Recovery
- The amount of stretch a fabric has is typically measured by a percentage - Bad stretch recovery will leave garments looking saggy and worn - Better quality stretch goods typically have better recovery
Small Items on Children's clothing
- Toys and apparel must not release small pieces - Go through tests, which stimulate the forces that tour and products can experience during normal use and abuse by children under 3
What Can Disrupt Sourcing?
- Trade regulations - Natural disasters - Currency risks - Political instability - Terrorism - Lead times - Delivery reliability - Size and flexibility of production capacities
Domestic Importer
- Utilizing various US vendors that handle design, production and importing - Acts as the importer of record for the purchase orders for the brand or retailer Used for: - fashion (quick turnaround) - recreate/reorder a style that is selling well - smaller niche (maternity) - product needing specialization (swimwear and lingerie)
Points of Measure (Bottoms)
- Waist - Hip - Thighs - Knee - Side seam - Inseam - Front/Back rise
China
- Where the US imports most of its clothing and footwear from - The entire country is 20% of the world's population - The capital is Beijing - Most of the country is broken up into provinces, but there are several other geographic units of the same hierarchical rank as provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions and specialized administrative regions)
Wrinkle Resistance
- Wrinkling diminishes the visual aesthetic of apparel and home textiles - Fabrics can be evaluated in terms of their resistance to creasing and wrinkling
Importing Goods Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages - low labor cost - sometimes higher quality/expertise Disadvantages - tariffs/duties - lead time - larger quantities - transportation costs - less control - higher risk (government, weather, economy)
Domestic Production Advantages vs. Disadvantages
Advantages - quick response systems - more reliable shipping Disadvantages - higher labor costs - higher material costs - could be less expensive
Municipalities
Cities that are not part of any provinces, but are independent entities whose leaders report directly to the country's capital of Beijing - Beijing (21 million people with 18 million in the urban district) - Chongqing (30 million people) - Shanghai (23.9 million people with 14.4 in the urban district) - Tianjin (10 million people)
Connecting the Supply Chain
Collaborate - individual teams of experts work closely with retailers and brands - assess needs and use market research for retail and fashion trend forecasts Innovate - innovate in designing best supply chain solutions by optimizing - pricing, quality, quantity, delivery of products, enhancing S2M (speed to market) Source - evaluate factories based on capability to supply the right product based on commitment, quality, safety and compliance Oversee - concept-to-completion - operate systems and programs to meet quality needs, industry standards, local requirements and compliance at the factory levels Deliver - offer a customizable menu of logistics solutions for warehousing, transport, repacking, customs brokerage, freight forwarding, dubbing and consolidation
Role of the Network Orchestrator
Design and manage networks - more than store-to-store competition - the best supply chain will win Control through empowerment - encouraging suppliers and managers to act as entrepreneurs Create value - was specialization, protecting trade secrets, keeping out rivals - now it is integration, bridging borders, leveraging the company's value and intellectual property
Technical Services (Developing Apparel Product) (Lands' End)
Fabric - collaborates with sourcing/product development, mills/vendors to develop fabrics within designated hemisphere based on product development direction, supply chain strategies and overall business financial objectives Technical Design/Fit Specialist - responsible for developing and maintaining a consistent level of quality, fit and construction that meet our customers' expectations Packaging and Labeling - ensuring all product has legally required labeling and packaged for maintaining its quality during transportation to customer Testing - responsible to ensure products we bring to market meet our rigorous testing requirements and ensure product's comply with industry standards and brand expectations Quality Assurance - ensure vendors and factories meet the set standards through the production cycle - remediate quality issues to ensure customer always receives the best quality product
Managing Fabric(Kohl's)
Fabric Consolidation - identify opportunities to consolidate similar fabrics and leverage our spend across product development and provide service level term forecasts to key mills, resulting in savings, speed and more strategic relationships Fabric Platforms - consolidation and placement with strategic mills of like fabrics across brands to drive textile mill efficiency while maintaining quality and reducing costs Strategic Mill Tiering (vendor scorecard) - score textile mill performance based on weighted criteria (quality, speed, delivery, sourcing strength, sustainability, trend) and rate as a platinum, gold or silver tier
Factory Approval Process (Kohl's)
Factory profile submitted to sourcing - capacity, number of lines, reason for addition, factory competencies, current customer base 3rd party evaluation - thorough audit/walk-thru of facility conducted by a 3rd party - creates a corrective action plan (CAP) and works with factory to make corrections - submits compliance, CTPAT, technical reports and CAP Reviewed by social compliance - audit reports submitted with formal factory evaluation request - if all major issues are corrected, factory is added for the vendor - production begins while the retailer conducts an audit for verification
Identify Brand Positioning
Fashion focus - need for innovative research and development - fast turnaround, an effective design process and a vendor relationship focused on innovation Quality focus - driven by R&D, technical innovation, fabrics and quality control Cost focus - manufacturing efficiencies, engineering designs to a tight budget and visibility to all information across supply chain
Identify where Countries and Places are Located
LOOK AT MAP
Cross Functional Teams (Developing Apparel Product) (Lands' End)
Merchandising - the heart of the company - sets seasonal strategies and defines global and market line plans that deliver brand strategy, meet customer requirements and achieve financial targets Global Design - determines the brand's aesthetic direction and defines the global seasonal brand story, seasonal mood and design themes Global Sourcing/PD - supply chain management experts ensure on-time product development execution and delivery Technical Services - formalizes and finalizes color, fabric, fit, overall construction, methods of operation and quality of product - partners with design, merchandising and sourcing to communicate expectations with vendors and factories for final production specifications - ensures end-to-end quality assurance throughout the development process into production and shipment to the customer
Product Quality Testing
Pilling (bobbing) - formation of fuzzy balls or surface defect on textiles - begins when individual fibers are abraded from friction either during the manufacturing process, from consumer use/wear and at home in consumers' laundry machines - this can be simulated on a machine to test how it will stand up to pilling Crocking - occurs when excess dye rubs off of one dry fabric onto another dry fabric - more of a problem with dark and vivid colors - bleeding is similar to crocking, but occurs when dyes transfer from one fabric to another when both are wet
Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control
Quality Assurance - sets the quality standard expectation - a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a product or service under development (before work is complete, as opposed to afterwards) meets specified requirements Quality Control - set of procedures to ensure product meets the quality standard requirements throughout production (consistent)
Pros and Cons of Satellite Office or Agent
Satellite Office - pros: more ownership of business, one team concept - cons: more operational requirements managing overseas from the US Agent - pros: limits in liability, no startup costs in new countries - con: pay commission fees - could be both: less ownership of "customer" vs. "coworker"
Who is the Strategic Sourcing Team? (Kohl's)
Senior managers - drive global sourcing strategies for private and exclusive brands while leading the supply chain to deliver optimal value: quality, cost, speed, punctuality Managers - support driving global sourcing strategies for private and exclusive brands while leading the supply chain to deliver optimal value Associate managers - support the execution of global sourcing strategies Analysts - innovate, create and maintain tools, processes and data mining ti support the global sourcing strategy
Why is Speed Important?
Speed drives results - data informs decisions - deliver relevant product - perform better Speed Opportunities - US warehousing: 2 week lead time - Western hemisphere sourcing: 3 week lead time - Holding finished goods: 2-5 week lead time - Materials positioning (greige, dyed): 9-12 week lead time
30/70 Principle
To develop sufficient commitment from buyers and suppliers Li and Fung's goal is to: - have at least 30% of the business of a given supplier to be meaningful and ensure commitment - occupy no more than 70% of its capacity to ensure flexibility, creativity and encourage learning from other
Autonomous Regions
Various ethnic groups have autonomous regions - Guangxi Zhuang (capital is Nanning) - Inner Mongolia (capital is Hohhot) - Ningzia Hui (capital is Yinchuan) - Zinjiang Uighur (capital is Urumqi) - Tibet (capital is Lhasa)