A look at items that are produced by the tens of millions on a weekly basis by sewing contractors around the globe.

I touch on Sport Apparel (fitness clothing, athletic apparel, activewear) in this article but its not limited to sport apparel, it also applies to fast fashion, sportswear, streetwear, young contemporary, and outdoor.   Now even more as one item can cross the boundaries and have influences from different product categories.  As sport apparel goes beyond the gym and starts to enter the runways of high fashion brands (Prada, Fendi, and Valentino, to name only a few).   The activewear industry is growing at an amazing rate and everyone involved in fashion is taking notes or getting involved:

Apparel and Activewear (Dollar % Change)

	Total Apparel (w/ Activewear)	Total Apparel (w/o Activewear)	Activewear
12 months Jul’11-Jun’12	+4 percent	+3 percent	+8 percent
12 months Jul’12-Jun’13	+4 percent	+3 percent	+10 percent
12 months Jul’13-Jun’14	+1 percent	-1 percent	+7 percent

Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Consumer Tracking Service 2011-2014

The major corporations (Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Lululemon, and Athleta) have seen double digit growth for the last five years and all are preparing for a stellar growth in the next five years.

Some of the challenges in apparel manufacturing are:

– compliance

– lack structure

– lack systems

– equipment issues

– inexperienced staff

– not enough staff

– new staff training and additions to the manufacturing workforce

– understanding their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities

– kaizen, hoshin, black belt, and six sigma manufacturing philosophies

– what does the brand, supplier, and factory do with constructive feedback.

To be the best on the playing field (in business), you will have to have the best players on your team, understand the game, your responsibility, the other players, their responsibility and make sure everyone is committed to the brand integrity, products and ultimately the consumers.

One of the major challenges with apparel manufacturing is finding the right factory for the right products, who can manufacture at or below your price targets, on time in a quality manner with Western compliance and procedures with a 100% transparent supply chain.

I will look at three different types of suppliers in this article but there are many more than three.

– Chinese ownership with a factory in China

– Taiwan ownership with factories in China and in Vietnam

– Korean ownership with a factory in Vietnam

The foreign ownership goes beyond these regions and countries of manufacturing.  It is getting more competitive and more complex to manage the apparel products, strategic sourcing, supply chain, and manufacturing.

The challenge as touched on above is validating and vetting the supplier/factories. Looking at their strengths, understanding their weaknesses, exploring opportunities, and staying away from threats.  Properly allocating the right products to the right supplier for the right reasons.  It is more complex than stated, this is where you need many experienced and educated staff members on the management team and factory floor.

The first review will be of a Chinese owned factory located in China.  The first step of production is product receiving, you need to properly receive your products and prepare them for the factory sewing floor:

After receiving it is best to do some product quality checking.  Actually this step must be conducted at each raw material and trim suppliers plant before shipping to the sewing contractor.   As an added quality measure it is good to also inspect the goods before allocating to the sewing floor:

Once the raw materials and trims have been stored and quality checked it is good to expedite them to the factory floor:

The sewing floor, the workers, the equipment, and the products:

Well in the factory it is good to check on the latest and greatest in sewing technology, equipment and factory management at that contractors facility, you need to take into consideration some of the images I share with you might have been taken as early as 2012:

The main objective of all factories is to make the best products in a timely manner.  These are some of the products on the sewing floor that day.

The next review is Taiwanese owned factories located in China and Vietnam.  A highlight of any factory is the technology and equipment used in everyday business.

After everything is cut it will have to be sorted and bundled to be sent to the sewing lines:

The sewing floor, the workers, the equipment, and the products:

The main objective of all factories is to make the best products in a timely manner.  These are some of the products on the sewing floor that day.

One of the final stages is a 100% check of all products for quality and safety:

The final stage is packing, boxing and sending the products to the freight center to be expedited to the customers warehouse and finally to the retail selling floor.

Finally I will look at a Korean owned factory with a production facility in Vietnam. This is a view or the sewing floor from above:

For this sewing contractor I will start by looking at the fabric, trim receiving and storage:

After receiving it is best to do some product quality checking.  Actually this step must be conducted at each raw material and trim suppliers plant before shipping to the sewing contractor.   As an added quality measure it is good to also inspect the goods before allocating to the sewing floor:

Once the raw materials and trims have been stored and quality checked it is good to expedite them to the factory floor:

An import fact of all sewing contractors is employee training, which will usually starts in the classroom but may end up on the sewing floor:

The sewing floor, the workers, the equipment, and the products:

Every factory must perform their own QC/QA, some of the factories believe the important place for this to start is at the end of the sewing line:

Pressing and steaming is usually done in a confined area with cleanliness and good ventilation:

One of the final stages is a 100% check of all products, this is the metal detector used at this factory:

These are some of the products in the showroom or on the factory floor of that sewing contractor on that particular day:

The final stage is packing, boxing and sending the products to the freight center to be expedited to the customers warehouse and finally to the retail selling floor.

At the end of the day someone is making the ultimate decision where the products you wear everyday are being produced.  If you would like some help with making the right choices, planning, allocating, or managing your products and manufacturing to safeguard your brand integrity let me know?   Only the best, always.