The Role Of Technology On The Future Of Fashion
The fashion industry is currently using two types of supply chain management strategies, namely, push and pull.
Large companies in the clothing industry are used to the push supply chain method, but they’re slowly veering away from solely using this strategy. More businesses are using a hybrid approach, especially the bigger enterprises that can handle the cost of providing the usual merchandise while opening doors for custom orders.
Smaller businesses, on the other hand, are more open to the pull strategy because it provides financial flexibility. Not worrying about keeping stock is a great advantage to SMEs who may have a little budget allocated for storing products. Offering customizations also provides an opportunity to sell merchandise at a premium compared to mass-produced items.
So, which of them is better? What are the advantages of each method and how do these strategies affect the future of fashion?
How Things Are Done in the Industry
Many businesses employ the push supply chain strategy in running their textile business. Large enterprises that manufacture thousands of tons of garment every year benefit from this method because it makes it easier for them to schedule large-scale production.
In a push supply chain strategy, products are manufactured and shipped in anticipation of customer demands.
Notice how every holiday, summer, or winter, there are only specific cloth styles in the store? These are seasonal items and are the best examples of a push strategy.
Garment factories don’t work on summer wear during summer. The schedule to produce swimsuits has been planned several months before they’re displayed in stores.
The best thing about the push strategy is that it gives everyone a lot of time to plan for production. The sourcing of materials, planning of shipment, accommodating changes, allocating budget, and scheduling releases can all be discussed by fashion designers, retailers, and textile manufacturers before the merchandise is released to the public.
So, why is there a need for another method when the push strategy works great and has been doing so for the past decades?
The shifting tides have exposed the vital weaknesses of the push supply chain strategy in today’s market conditions. There are plenty of problems involved in using a push-based strategy alone and here are the most glaring of them:
· Disconnected designs
Textile businesses format their designs based on what grossed the highest sales during the same season last year. Large-scale production doesn’t have the room to consult customers on what they want. Besides, it’s hard to ask customers what they prefer to wear for the next year.
The inflexibility of the push supply chain strategy and the uncertainty in determining what the market needs worsen the disconnect between demand and designs.
· Unsustainable practices
Oversupply isn’t uncommon in large-scale textile production. Instead of storing products that can’t sell – even with aggressive discounting – and pay for warehousing costs, retailers, garment factories, and designers may find it more practical to just throw away the excess materials.
· Supplier bottlenecks
Looking for suppliers that can accommodate massive orders can be tough. There should be alternative sources that can provide the required materials in case one of them fails to deliver.
The problem can become even more challenging if the textile patterns needed are hard to produce. Traditional ways of finding suppliers will be ineffective and limiting, possibly causing manufacturing bottlenecks down the line.
A new era of production is ushering into the market as more consumers expect increased speed and enhanced personalization on the products they buy. Changes in consumer demand and purchasing behavior are driving the expectations that businesses can cope up with the rapid trend transformations, and this is where the pull supply chain strategy opens opportunities.
The Growing Interest in the Pull Supply Chain Strategy
Unlike the push strategy, the pull supply chain method is based on actual consumer demand and not on predictions or historical data. A primary example of this is made-to-order businesses wherein merchandise is produced on demand.
A major benefit of utilizing the pull strategy is how there’s little need to maintain an inventory. Businesses only need to store items that have sure buyers, resulting in reduced overhead.
Maximizing the benefits of technology in fashion is the main weapon of the pull supply chain strategy. Here are major examples of how combining technology and the pull strategy work perfectly for both businesses and customers.
· AI and machine learning
The future of the textile industry lies in how it uses machine learning and AI capabilities to understand the market. Businesses can identify market opportunities promptly by utilizing data-driven models that help understand consumer buying behavior.
Instead of anticipating customer preferences using past information, it’s possible to track and analyze the most recent spending patterns and infer what they’ll most likely buy in the next few weeks. This will keep businesses updated with the rapid changes in consumer preferences, allowing fast production reactions before the demand expires.
Having a good grasp of the ongoing buying trend can also help improve cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
· Planning and prototyping
While the push strategy relies on a lengthy planning period, the pull supply chain method leans more toward real-time planning.
The flexibility and robustness of small businesses to quickly answer demands give them an edge over larger companies that need more time to churn out a product.
The future of fashion design prototyping lies in the use of digital 3D models. These are more practical, sustainable, and faster to produce. It’s also easier to make adjustments on a digital prototype and it won’t create waste materials as traditional methods do in case the sample gets rejected.
· Production and quality assurance
More orders for production will be requested online and attached to them will be the complete details expected on the finished product. In return, the estimated time for project completion can be given to fashion designers and retailers so they can schedule their ad campaigns.
Color management will solely be handled by AI-powered computers to ensure the clothes are produced with the expected color. Color matching has often been a problem between designers and garment manufacturers when the latter fails to recreate the exact colors that the former visualized.
The future of fashion will also need less manpower for quality checking. Using machine learning and cameras, computers will be able to check pattern mismatches and color differences with astounding accuracy.
With how things are going, the future of fashion is headed toward the increased adoption of the pull supply chain strategy.
Still, it’s impossible – and unwise – to eliminate the push supply chain strategy, despite the growing advantages of its counterpart pull method. There are basic clothing styles that don’t need consumer-driven inputs to determine that there’s always a demand for them.
For the future of the textile industry to progress, businesses have to embrace technology even if it means adjusting the processes they’ve been used to.
The Role of Frontier in the Future of Fashion
Frontier can be your first step in advancing your business to welcome the use of technology in fashion. Our revolutionary cloud-based platform can help improve the implementation of the pull supply chain strategy in your business.
Here are the things that Frontier can provide to give you an edge over the competition:
· Fabric library
Frontier’s extensive library of digital swatches shows you why you don’t need to hold on to piles of folders of physical fabric samples. A digital collection of your favorite sample fabrics is easier to maintain and more convenient to access.
The AI-powered search engine allows you to search for fabrics with similar patterns to the one you’re viewing. This exposes you to more design possibilities that you wouldn’t have had if you’re only looking at the limited samples available on your desk.
· Collaboration tool
Information can get lost if you use different communication tools.
Frontier’s extensive library of digital swatches shows you why you don’t need to hold on to piles of folders of physical fabric samples. A digital collection of your favorite sample fabrics is easier to maintain and more convenient to access.
The AI-powered search engine allows you to search for fabrics with similar patterns to the one you’re viewing. This exposes you to more design possibilities that you wouldn’t have had if you’re only looking at the limited samples available on your desk.
· Collaboration tool
Information can get lost if you use different communication tools.
Frontier’s extensive library of digital swatches shows you why you don’t need to hold on to piles of folders of physical fabric samples. A digital collection of your favorite sample fabrics is easier to maintain and more convenient to access.
The AI-powered search engine allows you to search for fabrics with similar patterns to the one you’re viewing. This exposes you to more design possibilities that you wouldn’t have had if you’re only looking at the limited samples available on your desk.
· Collaboration tool
Information can get lost if you use different communication tools.
Frontier provides a centralized communication platform where you can exchange comments and notes with your team. These items can be directly attached to the digital fabric to give a better context of the issues and suggestions discussed.
The platform also enables you to get in touch with suppliers and send queries about the fabric they’re selling.
· Supplier search
The Frontier platform is home to thousands of garment suppliers worldwide. These suppliers upload images of the available designs they have which you can see in the form of digital fabric swatches.
Being exposed to several suppliers give you the advantage to choose which of them is more logistically convenient to do business with. In case your usual supplier fails to provide the needed materials, you can easily search the platform for other garment mills that can commit to your order.
· Support for 3D prototyping software
Fast prototyping in 3D is one of the edges in the pull supply chain strategy for fashion. Frontier supports this by providing a platform that’s compatible with software like Clo, Browzwear, and TG3D.
It’s hard to describe all the features our platform offers. It will be easier to just show you what Frontier can do.
Send us a message and schedule a demo on your preferred date. This is totally free, so don’t hesitate to take this opportunity to know more about the Frontier platform.