Applying learning in autos and electronics, a joint study articulated how material suppliers and garment manufacturers create ‘smart flexibility’ by postponing production commitments closer to actual demand, unlocking capital from unneeded inventory and excess production. Smart Flexibility is a new approach that uses a mix of process and data tools enabling suppliers to create additional value for brands and manufacturers alike that supersedes the benefits of lowest cost global sourcing, the ITC and IAF said in a joint press release.

The ITC and IAF are collaborating to boost ‘full supply chain profitability’ in the apparel sector.
The partnership will debut its research at the 38th IAF World Fashion Convention.
The research adopts lessons from the automotive and electronics industries to introduce ‘smart flexibility’ which enables garment manufacturers to postpone production.

The Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative (STTI), published and co-initiated by the IAF, placed ‘full supply chain profitability’ as a research priority in 2021. The STTI, addressing improvement of purchasing practices, sees smart flexibility, or shared risk, as a highly productive alternative to the predominant imbalance of sourcing relationships. Smart flexibility elevates purchasing practices beyond seasonal, transactional contracts to deliver mutual goals for sustainability. Conventional, often adversarial bargaining need not define industry culture as new technology with AI injects fresh insight across one of the world’s oldest, most globalised supply chains.

The 38th IAF World Fashion Convention, organised with US partner Sewn Products Equipment Suppliers Association of the America’s (SPESA) in Philadelphia, is a preview to study insights.

IAF secretary general Matthijs Crietee will moderate a panel session including the main contributor to the study, John Thorbeck; Brad Ballentine, CEO of MAS ACME, the US subsidiary of giant manufacturing group MAS Holdings; and Scott Walton, of Kornit Digital, a major supplier of digital printing equipment.

An official publication, titled, ‘Under the Banyan Tree: Buyers and Suppliers in Fashion,’ will be announced via the joint timetable and events by the ITC and IAF.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)