Plan to add assessment of creative, merchandising process to audits
Based out of the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Trigon Select Ltd is a global company of top garment specialists offering a range of integrated services in technology, management, marketing and finance, meeting the needs of the international apparel sector for both manufacturers and buyers. The company closely cooperates with the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the official German Fashion Association for evaluating, certifying and promoting apparel producers. Chief Operations Officer (COO) Claudio Martelli speaks about latest sourcing practices and factors impacting the global apparel supply chain.
What are the key elements behind the new joint Apparel Supplier Certification & Promotion Programme of Trigon Select and the IAF?
The joint Certification & Promotion Programme of Trigon Select and IAF, the global federation of the apparel industry, delivers the only worldwide certificate rating apparel manufacturing and management capabilities based on recognised industry standards.
Once they have achieved a successful certification, manufacturers can benefit from an effective multichannel promotion to find new customers in international markets. The profile of the companies is disseminated and promoted in the most effective way to selected target buyers in major export.
Therefore, this programme is very valuable to international fashion buyers, providing an accurate, unbiased and professional analysis of the manufacturing and management capabilities of selected apparel manufacturers who, on their part, will benefit from a unique and most effective instrument of promotion.
What are the major challenges that the global apparel industry faces? What kind of impact will the US-China trade war have on the industry?
The following are some of the major challenges:
- Fast fashion with increasing disruption for the two-season collection model to fast fashion with up to 12 collections and more per year leading to much smaller volumes per style requiring considerably higher levels of flexibility from apparel manufacturers
- Shorter production life cycles
- Productivity improvements are necessary to face increasing wage levels in lower-cost countries
- Due to the growing dominance of vertical retail suppliers and e-commerce platforms, classic high street retail is suffering
- Sustainability and traceability are becoming a must for a growing number of international buyers
On the US-China trade war, as the actions of the US Administration are currently unpredictable, it is hardly possible to foresee the outcome of the trade battle. Should the US impose high import duties on apparel made in China, it is likely that Chinese suppliers would further shift capacities to other Asian countries as this is already happening because of the growing manufacturing costs in China. Moreover, a significant decrease in demand for Chinese apparel would entail a growing price pressure in other major international markets with negative consequences for apparel manufacturers in competing countries.
Which are the popular sourcing regions for sportswear, functional apparel and smart clothing?
While the Far East and South Asia are still highly influential, the nearer geographical areas of production where land transport can be used to get goods to market faster are beginning to appeal to buyers. Therefore, for Europe, the Eastern European countries (including the Balkans) and Russia (for serving the domestic market) are becoming increasingly important. Due to the strong depreciation of the Turkish lira, Turkey is back again as an attractive source for apparel to European markets. A similar trend can be observed for the US market, where Latin American nations and Mexico are becoming appealing to the US buyers again.
What are the major audits conducted at Trigon Select? What is the size of the apparel manufacturers taking the audit?
We do not use the word audit that infers financial assessment. Instead, we use words like evaluation, verification and rating of the manufacturing and management capabilities of apparel producers, from arrival of materials to shipping of finished goods. The manufacturers can range from a small fashion house of 30-50 people to multi-plant companies with a large workforce.
Which geographies do apparel manufacturers and buyers (your clients) belong to?
There are no geographical limits but Trigon Select is currently busy in Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey and Egypt in terms of apparel manufacturers and we are focusing on key buyers in the major European markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, and in Russia. We are keen to introduce our programmes in major manufacturing countries in Asia, including Bangladesh, India, China, Vietnam and Pakistan, where we have skilled and professional local partners.
What are top five trends that you see in apparel sourcing?
The following are the top trends:
- Fast fashion leads to shorter deliveries and smaller volumes; proximity to the market enabling speed of service and delivery and improved flexible manufacturing
- Global high street and online retailers are increasingly dominating the apparel/fashion market requiring competitive manufacturing costs through performance improvements and stronger partnerships between buyer and supplier through better communications, technology and integration of procedures
- Sustainability of the apparel products and the manufacturer in terms of social and environmental compliance requiring higher levels of transparency and traceability
- Casual and sportswear have conquered global markets to the disadvantage of formalwear
What would be your suggestions to apparel manufacturers to be future-ready?
My suggestion includes increased use of professional management tools like industrial engineering and project management to drive change and react to fashion and industry changes, more creativity for improved productivity, better skills training at all levels of production staff, search for competitive advantage, and international buyers prefer more and more to have suppliers able to offer full service rather than Cut, Make/ Cut, Make & Trim.
As a result, and on top of our evaluations, Trigon Select can provide the technical and managerial support to achieve levels of performance required by international markets.
What are the broad criteria covered under the audits at Trigon?
All aspects of the manufacturing process and its capabilities compared with industry standards, from arrival of materials to the dispatching of the finished goods. They cover verification of production facilities and processes, including all installed manufacturing capabilities, production performance, delivery performance, production planning and control, quality management, human resources, material sourcing and marketing.
What is the focus on circular economy, blockchain, and Industry 4.0 in the audits? Which geographies are leaders in the above three domains?
We currently take note of where a company is involved in circular economy, where is it using blockchain and the investment in digital transformation with Industry 4.0. We also assess its relevance and impact on the manufacturing facilities.
Since changes of these methods and technologies are very fast and their impact is becoming increasingly important in apparel manufacturing as well, we are keen to keep up the respective criteria in our evaluations with the latest developments in these areas by cooperating with some of Europe's leading information technology universities.
- Circular economy: both China and Western Europe are leading in pushing this regenerative system.
- Regions and countries leading in blockchain technology are North America, Europe, especially, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Swede and Estonia, and China.
- The leading regions/countries in industry 4.0 are: North America (the US and Canada), Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden etc.) and East Asia (Japan, S. Korea, Singapore, China etc.)
What new features do you plan to add to your audits?
We plan to add the assessment of the creative and merchandising process. (HO)
What do most apparel buyers look for in apparel suppliers?
Most apparel buyers look for
- Timely delivery of products
- Meeting quality and construction requirements at the agreed cost
- Sustainability of the apparel products and the manufacturer in terms of social and environmental compliance
- Good communication, designated contacts within the supply company, who are always up to date on customers' orders
- A trusted working relationship and, particularly for well-established buyers, a long-term partnership
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