Threading the needle to success: Part 3 - SCM

The fashion industry is constantly shifting in response to social and environmental factors, as well as supply chain disruptions. That sense of inconsistency has caused a deepening divide between brands, suppliers, and manufacturers. The isolation of each link in the supply chain has already upended many fashion brands, and without digital transformation via collaborative networks, many more stand to lose their position. As a McKinsey report states, digitization and better data governance will enable better logistics, planning, and even customer acquisition.

Visibility is the foundation of supply chain excellence. With the prevalence of production outsourcing, not only is visibility helpful for automating reporting or correctly estimating product time of arrival, it can also offer eco-conscious consumers visibility into how products are being produced.

The intelligent supply chain

For companies to run their supply chains optimally, internal and external silos must be removed and replaced with transparency via intelligent information. Using an advanced, cloud-based network can connect all supply chain partners, events, and devices—giving companies end-to-end visibility with actionable insights that are delivered in real time.

This makes it easy to respond to disruptions, seize opportunities, and orchestrate and fulfill demand from anywhere in the supply chain. By achieving supply chain excellence and network collaboration, fashion brands can proactively respond to disruptions, withstand unforeseen events, and pivot directions at velocity—all of which can become true brand differentiators.

It’s often cited that 80% of supply chain data exists outside of any single enterprise. Resilient companies don’t act as a single or separate organization. Within a collaborative network, all participants work as interconnected, agile networks that can respond more effectively to their unique business challenges. The network approach—one that models complex relationships among partners and service providers, bridges the gap. Visibility, collaboration, and management are the true nexus of any mature supply chain.

To learn more about this topic and gain some practical information about how your organization can create a connected and collaborative digitized network, check out this best practice guide.