A] Delayed Differentiation or Postponement:

Product postponement pushes the value differentiation point further down the apparel supply chain, to leverage the advantage of economy of scale through aggregation of demand across multiple S.KUs. For instance, one can introduce 'product differentiation' with respect to color across three stages, as shown in Exhibit-4.

As differentiation point propagates in forward direction of apparel chain closer to final consumer, number of lots in the stages prior to the 'differentiation point' gets reduced. For instance, under stage-III, coloration point has been moved after fabric formation, unlike in stage-I where coloration takes place in fibre stage. The number of lots in third stage is considerably less, as only white fabric needs to be produced as against so many color fibre and yarn lots under stage-I

In apparel manufacturing stage, delayed differentiation has considerable impact in trimming down number of batches to enhance operational performance and responsiveness. For instance, in apparel knitting process, it is possible to move garment coloration point as close to final consumer as possible. In Shima Seiki digital knitting machine, the conversion of digital color data to the physical fabric is moved closer to the point of consumption. In the traditional garment model, the differentiator is the cutting machine. For the digitally knitted garment, the differentiator is the knitting machine itself.

This reduction of lots prior to the differentiation point correspondingly increases batch size with resulting benefits in operational platform of apparel chain. However, one need to factor in the differences of product aesthetics as value-differentiation point moves across supply chain. The 'feel and appeal' of a yarn-dyed goods is considerable different than a fabric-dyed good from consumer's point of view. Deciding product-postponement stage needs to consider this final aesthetic value also.

B] Product Rationalisation:

From exhibit-3, one can find out number of manufacturing lots at each stage. Assuming 2 colors, 2 types of fibre, 2 different linear density (count) of yarn, 2 basic designs and 2 process types, a back-of-the-envelope calculation can show that lot sizes in dyeing, spinning, weaving and processing will be 4, 8, 16 and 32 respectively. The similar calculation can show how many times these 'lots' multiply in reality with hundreds of colour, counts, weave design etc in upstream direction.