Already aspiring to deliver “the greenest ecosystem that denim has ever seen,” Crescent Bahuman Limited is taking other supply chain imperatives head on with the launch of its “Smart Factory 4.0” journey and implementing tracing technology from PaperTale.

The digitization investments come as the denim manufacturer aims to fortify its ongoing sustainability and transparency initiatives with the support of more granular data.

Listen to the chat between Zaki Saleemi, vice president of Crescent Bahuman, and Edward Hertzman, founder of Sourcing Journal, to learn how the company's Smart Factory supports "intelligent decision-making."

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Of all the takeaways from the pandemic period, one of the most crucial is the value of strong partnerships.

Fabric sourcing firm Concept III saw firsthand how the trials of Covid-19—from freight issues to factory closures— strengthened the working relationships along the supply chain. In its own operations, the U.S-based company was a trusted source of on-the-ground information for both brands and mills as travel slowed down. Amid factory furloughs and changing personnel, the sourcing agency also provided consistency and industry knowledge to its partners.

“Because of our long-term relationships and our partners, we are able to give real, truthful, factual information that is allowing the brands to continue to evolve and do their business,” said Chris Parkes, managing partner at Concept III.

In this chat with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman, Parkes explained how his company worked with brands to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and why working with an agent is smoother than dealing directly with manufacturers.

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More than ever before, companies must know the intricacies of their supply chains. Chief among the pressures to better understand where exactly goods stem from is a growing spate of due diligence legislation, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the United States.

Signed in December and going into effect in June, this law expands the burden of proof for importers. Companies bringing goods into the United States already face Withhold Release Orders (WROs) on products with certain materials—including cotton—that were thought to be associated with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. With UFLPA, the scope of banned imports extends to all merchandise with an origin in the XUAR—whether or not there is evidence of potential forced labor.

This conversation between MeiLin Wan, vice president, textile sales at Applied DNA Sciences; Andrew Samet, principal at trade consulting firm Sorini, Samet & Associates; and Edward Hertzman, founder and president of Sourcing Journal, covers what to expect as UFLPA goes into effect.

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If one proposed piece of legislation passes, fashion brands could soon encounter a harsh reality that could cost millions if their supply chain isn’t up to snuff.

While brands have already had to wade through significant and often confusing legislative changes in 2022 via the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, they may need to freshen up on the terms of the recently introduced Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, commonly referred to as the New York Fashion Act.

Despite the locality its informal name implies, the bill carries vast global implications, Mark Burstein, executive vice president and industry principal at supply chain software provider Logility, explained in a conversation with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman.

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When it comes to moving fashion goods around the world, the logistical challenges are not easing up. Zero-tolerance Covid measures have parts of China under a prolonged lockdown. Labor shortages and conflicts are grinding the gears on the West Cost of the U.S., as negotiations with the port workers get off to a slow start. on top of it, capacity, congestion, and pricing continue their uncertain dance. Any one of these issues would be challenging on its own, but collectively, it’s a perfect storm of chaos.

Vincent Iacopella, executive vice president growth and strategy at freight forwarder Alba Wheels Up, sat down with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman to discuss the issues and uncertainties, and help chart a path forward.

 Watch the fireside chat to learn: 

·      If there is any reprieve on the horizon regarding dealing with China.

·      How geopolitical conflicts like the war in Ukraine is impacting the global flow of goods.

·      What’s happening domestically regarding negotiations between the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA)

·      What inflation and a cooling off of consumer demand means for the push-pull of congestion and capacity, and where to go from there.

·      How technology can help companies alleviate some of today’s most pressing logistics issues.

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The supply chain bottlenecks that have persisted over the past year have led many brands to worry about delivery delays and rising freight and raw material prices. And while getting the shopper the product swiftly is a top priority, brands can’t afford to ignore quality assurance issues that can occur from the source to the store.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, footwear brands in particular have wrestled with this problem, as more orders are delivered with the incorrect soles, the wrong color or even a different upper material than expected.

In a recent chat with Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, Paul Bridge, deputy vice president of global footwear services at testing, inspection and certification company SGS, identified the three major issues in footwear production today.

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Fashion brands and retailers might use stylish products, hip branding and slick marketing to set themselves apart to consumers, but on the supply chain side of things, differentiation excellence takes a logistical turn. Here, seamless technology and scale economics have emerged as major competitive differentiators, and it’s often where brand and retail successes are won or lost.

 In this Fireside Chat, Chirag Patel, president of supply chain technology company Bamboo Rose, joins Shaker Natrajan, chief supply chain officer at American Eagle Outfitters, to discuss the role technology plays in driving supply chain agility and resilience and why it's worth the investment.

Watch the video to learn:

·      How retailers can shift the perception of the supply chain organization from a cost center to a strategic differentiator

·      The role technology plays in driving supply chain transformations and economies of scale

·      How American Eagle Outfitter’s partnership and collaboration with its supply chain partner community via its Edge Network drives supply chain visibility and agility 

·      How supply chain synchronization (i.e., 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers and international logistics partners) supports great customer experiences even amid an optimized domestic distribution network

·      How supply chain agility and responsiveness across domestic and international networks enabled American Eagle Outfitters to introduce new products and brands to market at record speed to keep pace with consumer trends and expectations 

·      How retailers can surmount their old mindsets to adopt robust software for managing supply chain fluidity

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Fashion companies have not typically had full visibility into their supply chains. But in response to increasing calls from consumers for transparency, the apparel industry is aiming toward more oversight of each step in the production process.

“The textile supply chain is inherently filled with opacity because that provided the flexibility and cost advantages that manufacturers could leverage to gain business and do volume. That is changing,” said Marc Lewkowitz, president and CEO of Supima.

One of the forces currently pushing business on this path is the need to verify the provenance of raw materials to demonstrate ethical labor and environmental practices. Another incentive is the desire to tell an authentic Made in America brand story.

In a recent conversation with Sourcing Journal president Edward Hertzman, Lewkowitz and apparel brand Save Khaki United’s creative director David Mullen discussed how both their companies’ Made in America foundations allow for greater transparency.

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“If you can't measure it, you can't improve it,” said Paul Magel, president, application solutions group of software solutions company CGS. “And if you don't have the visibility, you don't even know what you're measuring.”

Even a fully transparent supply chain has so many moving parts and independent “bubbles” that need to be digitalized and linked for visibility and real-time tracking. It’s all about collecting data—and using it effectively.

The urgency doesn’t stop with direct suppliers, either, as vendors increasingly sub-contract out work, putting overall compliance at risk. When it comes to visibility, from tracking worker efficiencies across the world to inventory allocation across DTC and wholesale channels, a solid cloud-based software system will be the backbone of any enterprise for 2022 and beyond.

Watch the fireside chat to learn:

·     How supply chain visibility can better manage product quality and costs 

·     How one of CGS’ clients reduced non-productive “off-standard time” by 90 percent

·     How companies can prioritize where to focus their dollars when aiming for visibility

·     What area of the supply chain is often overlooked but can reap rewards if better tracked 

·     Why saying ‘what we don’t know can’t hurt us’ is no longer an excuse

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With so much “haziness” in today’s apparel supply chain, Sorona® is determined to give brands and consumers alike the confidence that they are getting high-performance fabric backed by true sustainability claims.

In launching the Common Thread Fabric Certification Program for Sorona® in 2020, DuPont Biomaterials made this a reality. Those interested in certification must submit fabric swatches to a laboratory for testing in order to gain a certificate for a minimum level of Sorona® bio-based content, as well as quality and performance, which then results in access to approved logos, marketing materials and more.

For supply chain partners, the program goes back to one imperative, according to Alexa Raab, global brand and communications leader at Sorona®—educating the consumer.

Raab spoke with Sourcing Journal founder Edward Hertzman about Sorona's Common Thread Fabric Certification Program.

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