Footwear, apparel and accessories major Woodland has interesting views to share on sourcing practices carried out across the apparel industry. Harkirat Singh, Managing Director of Woodland shares his views on sourcing as an industry.
What attributes enable vendors/suppliers to source to brands?
1. Expertise – in terms of understanding the product
2. Credibility in the marketing
3. Competitive price vs benchmark
4. Vendor experience in sourcing same or similar lines
5. Financial standing
What steps does a consignment need to ensure?
1. Timely delivery
2. Packaging – product integrity to be maintained
3. Instruction manual
From factory to dispatch – what precautions does a vendor need to take?
1. Adhering to specifications in terms of manufacturing
2. Quality performance
3. Stacking as per norms
What would be the ideal lead time for a minimum of 1000 pieces?
The ideal time generally depends on availability of raw materials at vendor’s end. Normally, it is between 90-120 days for a fresh order.
What terms and cycle do you want from a vendor in terms of payment?
At least, a two month’s credit cycle.
Do you use the same vendor for different market requirements?
Yes, we have regular vendors. This is because of the ease of operation with them. In other times, it depends on the expertise of the vendor and the competitive price he offers for a product and its easy accessibility to the concerned market.
What scheme/policy within your company encourages new, promising vendors?
I am sure that the industry will agree that working with Woodland is a great relation in itself. The most attractive part is that we offer big order quantity and have flexible payment terms for the first time.
What are the emerging sourcing markets?
We have strong manufacturing facilities that have given us an edge to ensure quality products at the right time. However, there are a lot of sourcing or manufacturing hubs that have technical expertise for certain specialised products. We do associate with them on requirement basis. Few of the emerging sourcing markets include Bangladesh, Taiwan, Myanmar, et al.
What are the challenges to ensuring a minimum carbon footprint?
The top challenges that we face to ensure a sustainable supply chain with a minimum carbon footprint are:
1- lesser availability
2- lesser capacities
3- higher price in supply chain
What are the steps/thought processes taken to highlight whether the clothes come from a sustainable supply chain or not at the brand-consumer level?
Since inception, Woodland has ensured that our mother nature is preserved in the best possible manner. We use eco-friendly materials and processes of production and developed a community ‘Proplanet’ that follows our principal. Today’s youth is well-aware of the nuances, and is an active participant of our community that has grown big with times.
Every piece of our marketing communication as well as products carry our mission ‘Proplanet’ along. As far as product functionality and technicalities are concerned, it is mentioned through labeling and tagging. In addition, sales executives are given training and knowledge on special features of the product.
Published on: 25/06/2016
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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