Can a fast supply chain be made cheap? Can a cheap supply chain be made fast. The inability to balance cost and speed is precisely the deep-rooted contradiction in supply chain management. In the clothing industry, nearly half of them are basic styles, which are functional products for the general public; The other half is trendy and trendy clothing, targeting mid to high end consumers, which is an innovative product. Many companies have both basic and trendy and trendy styles. The basic model has a long lifecycle and is relatively easy to predict, mainly to attract customer flow. The advantage is that the factory can utilize production capacity during the off-season, but the disadvantage is low sales prices and high cost pressure. The lifecycle of trendy and trendy products is relatively short, but it is essential to enhance the corporate brand. The advantage is that the gross profit is very high. For example, if the cost is 100 yuan and it is sold to consumers, it will become 400 yuan, 600 yuan, or even higher (now we know why we have to cut the price by half). The disadvantage is that the prediction accuracy is low, and it needs to be compensated by the rapid response of the supply chain.

The traditional clothing industry is a large-scale industry that adopts an order meeting system, with orders starting approximately six months in advance. The entire supply cycle can take several months, and it can be cheaper but not faster, making it an economical supply chain. The lifecycle of trendy clothing is very short, and some fast fashion companies take it down after 45 days of sales. You can imagine how much trouble an economical supply chain should suffer. The mismatch between products and the supply chain leads to ineffective matching between demand and supply, and inventory backlog has become an industry problem for clothing enterprises. A few years ago, when it was severe, someone joked online that if we didn't produce for three years, our inventory wouldn't be sold out. However, the first thing girls do when they wake up in the morning is worry about not having suitable clothes to wear.