AS WITH the merchandise itself, one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to getting apparel to the importer’s dock and out to the sales floor.
Logistics experts point to a variety of factors involved in apparel and textile logistics. And there are some considerations that affect that sector even though they’re not unique to it.

“The larger issue, with the need for increasing capacity at the ports and in the intermodal infrastructure, is the environmental impact of developing those things. This topic comes up consistently,” said Chris Robeson, vice president of international logistics for Limited Brands, the Columbus, OH–based retailer whose store chains include Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.

Changes in the way consumer goods are purchased are identified as a big factor in apparel logistics evolution.

Of most immediate concern, though, are some development

s that could significantly affect logistics for all imports during the traditional peak season this year: West Coast longshore labor contract talks; the anticipated shutdown of factories in and around Beijing in order to let the area’s smog dissipate before and during the Olympic Games; and shifts of vessels from the trans-Pacific to other trades that carriers see as more profitable.

Labor talks on track

Spokespersons for both the Pacific Maritime Association, which speaks for most West Coast marine terminal operators, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers, marine clerks, and foremen, have said they do not expect any operation disruptions resulting from this year’s contract talks.

Knowing some issues were likely to be fairly contentious, they began negotiating earlier than usual, and the word on the street has been that they’ll “stop the clock,” initially at least, if they don’t have a new pact ready for ratification by the time the current contract expires on Jul 1.

Still, Robeson said, his company might play it safe and bring some items in early — particularly, “recurrent” goods that don’t change according to the whims of the fashion world.

He does not see the possible shutdown of Beijing’s factories as a concern for Limited Brands. But Scott Szwast, ocean freight marketing director with UPS’s supply chain solutions unit, says the temporary halt in manufacturing will in effect create two peak seasons, one before the Olympics and one afterward.

Robeson said not much apparel or textiles manufacturing occurs in the Beijing area; most of Limited Brands’ goods are produced in Shanghai and Qingdong.

Two views of ‘just-in-time’
Robeson and Szwast had varying views on the role of the just-in-time concept in apparel and textile logistics.

“You still see people bringing in product as close to the time of sale as they can,” Szwast said. It contrasts with the high-technology and telecommunications sectors, in which products are configurable and imported “at the 80% to 90% level of completion,” he said. “In apparel, what comes in is pretty much what’s going to be sold.”

Robeson said the JIT model applies to items that are in fashion for a limited time. They are generally expensive merchandise that carry high inventory costs, he said. Products such as Levi Strauss’s 501 jeans never go out of style and are “replenish-type” stock imported throughout the year, he said.

For us, it’s all about speed to market,” he said. Typically, Limited Brands pre-positions “greige” (pronounced grayzh) goods — i.e., unbleached/undyed cloth or yarn — that are used to manufacture a range of styles; after the company sees which ones are selling, it reorders styles that have been selling well and restyles other products, he said. “Then, we resupply the raw materials and ‘greige’ goods.”

Another topic on which Robeson and Szwast differed was where the choke points are along the supply chain.

“It’s always the handoffs. Loss, damage, theft, delay, and diversion occur when the cargo is handed off from one party to another. There’s always a lot of finger-pointing,” Szwast said. The advantage, he said, in using a company such as UPS to provide door-to-door supply chain management “is that you don’t have those transition modes.”

Robeson said the most frequent problem is a lack or imbalance of equipment at rail-to-truck transfer points. “At the destinations, there’s a shortage of chassis.”

CAFTA-DR causes shifts

US participation in CAFTA-DR, a free trade pact with five Central American nations and the Dominican Republic, has caused some apparel and textile sourcing to shift to those countries from China, but Szwast and Robeson agreed there are many variables.

The lifting of quotas on many Chinese goods worked in that country’s favor, “but now, some of [the sourcing] is going back the other way,” particularly because of ocean rate increases stemming from the rocketing price of oil and fuel, Szwast said.

“A lot of our customers are global businesses. They’re not only buying from China but selling in China and sourcing from places like South America,” he said.

“There has been some shifting [to Central America],” Robeson said. But a major consideration is the production and delivery capability of the manufacturers in a given region, and those in Central America “do not respond as well to style changes” as do their Asian competitors.

Robeson adds that while manufacturing equipment is relatively easy to move, it’s not always easy to find workers who can deal with process and design changes..