Apparel overproduction remains one of the biggest costs on both the industry and the environment. In fact, Omer Kulka, chief marketing officer at printing solutions provider Kornit Digital, estimates that between 20 and 25 percent of manufactured apparel goes unsold.

Such alarmingly high numbers indicate that apparel needs a better way to produce that not only keeps garments out of landfills, but also saves significant amounts of natural resources in the manufacturing process. In this fireside chat with Sourcing Journal president and founder Edward Hertzman, Kulka asserts that on-demand production is the next step to ensuring sustainability within the supply chain.

“When you produce on demand, what happens is…that instead of trying to sell what you’ve produced, you’re producing what you’ve already sold,” Kulka said. “That doesn’t reduce the risk. That eliminates the risk completely. Somebody actually buys something, and only then are you manufacturing it, so you’re not sitting on any inventory that’s at risk.”

Listen to the conversation to find out how on-demand could significantly curb apparel’s impact on the environment.

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