Cape Clothing and Textie Cluster
August/September 2014
Quarter 3. 2014
About the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster The Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (hereafter the CCTC) was launched in 2005 in response to the considerable pressure the industry was facing as a result of trade liberalization and increased global competition. The aim of the Cluster is to assist clothing and textile firms to bolster their competitiveness. The Cluster operates as a Not-for-profit Company (NPC), governed by an executive committee and numerous Technical Steering Committees (TSCs). The service provider of the cluster is Benchmarking and Manufacturing Analysts (BMA), who are responsible for the management and facilitation of the cluster. BMA is also the service provider to the CCTC’s sister cluster, the KwaZulu-Natal Clothing and Textile Cluster (KZN CTC). The activities of these clusters are synergised and therefore enable a national development strategy to be executed for enhanced competitiveness of the clothing and textile industry in South Africa. With support from five of South Africa’s largest retailers, the Cluster has been able to establish and entrench programmes designed to assist local firms’ development by accumulating economies of scale through group activities and shared resources. • • • • • • •
The benefits of clustering include: The generation of a critical mass of resources Shared learning The rapid diffusion of ideas Collective action and risk sharing Reduced costs Enhanced ability to compete on a global platform
Powered by B&M Analysts Cluster facilitation services are provided by Benchmarking & Manufacturing Analysts SA (Pty) Ltd (B&M Analysts), an organisation that provides high value specialised support services to drive sustainable industrial development. Over the past 15 years, B&M Analysts has developed methodologies and skill sets that allow it to play a unique role in relation to supporting the competitiveness of value chains and the growth of industrial sectors. These services are tailored to support the industrial development goals of government organisations, private sector organisations and public-private partnerships (PPP). B&M Analysts is a verified Level 2 B-BBEE contributor under the Codes of Good Practice for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE). For more information on B&M Analysts please visit www.bmanalysts.com.
Contents About the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster 2 Powered by B&M Analysts 3 Announcements and Recent Events 5 Feature Article: Key Lessons from the CCTC’s 2014 Turkey Study Tour 8 Upcoming Events 17 Industry News 19 US fashion brand Forever 21 to open first store in Africa 25
Announcements and Recent Events PPPFA Workshop
The CCTC is pleased to announce the success of our recent Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) workshop. The workshop took place in August with Henry Pretorius, retired senior vice-president of Toyota, as the guest speaker and practical consultant along with two senior Dti representatives namely Dr Tebogo Makube and Jay Irkhede. All speakers provided valuable insights regarding the policy, applications and exemptions. After the presentations concluded, the attendees received oneon-one time with all three guests receiving assistance with practical queries and further policy information.
Benchmarks The CCTC has been busy with annual member firm benchmarks. Process benchmarks for Cotton Traders, House of Monatic, GenCon, Waltex and Rotex have all been completed in the last two months. Firms that have been participating in the benchmarking process for several years have had their progress tracked annually and it is great to see their improvements. Firms that have just begun their benchmarking process stand to gain a lot of insight into their performance.
A New Member The CCTC is proud to announce the addition of Hippo Rock as a member. The company manufacturers corporate, promotional and sportswear garments and is based in the Paarl area.
Total Quality Management (TQM) Workshop The CCTC hosted a Total Quality Management workshop presented by Dr Németh Balázs from Hungary in June 2014. With a PhD. in Total Quality Management and vast experience in training and implementing lean production and management systems across the world, Dr Németh Balázs had a wealth of expertise to share with us on Total Quality Management. TQM entails ensuring quality throughout all stages of production and is an integral part of gaining a competitive edge in the South African clothing and textile industry.
CMT BOOST Development Programme The CCTC launched its BOOST CMT Development Programme earlier this year. Many of the CMT’s and clothing manufacturers that are part of the programme supply CCTC member firms. There have been two successful Innovation Circles held with a third one coming up next month. The first Innovation Circle was hosted by K-Way focusing on measurement. The second Innovation Circle was hosted by Prestige and had an emphasis on 5S and pull-system manufacturing. The Cluster is excited about the development of these firms and is confident in helping them achieve enhanced competitiveness through World-Class Manufacturing methods.
FEATURE ARTICLE
Key Lessons from the CCTC’s 2014 Turkey Study Tour
Introduction The CCTC along with its sister cluster, the KZN CTC, have undertaken a lengthy journey researching, modelling, piloting and commercially testing the development of the Quick Response (QR) retailing model in South Africa. The importance of the QR retailing and associated manufacturing model to the future success of the South African clothing and textiles industries has been clearly established and is a clear value-chain alignment priority. This is illustrated by the differential value proposition versus long lead time purchases from Asia as well as the potential to maintain around 150Â 000 clothing and textile jobs. While the successful implementation of QR is vital to the domestic industry, it has proven to be challenging in both the retail and manufacturing sectors. This has largely been due to QR knowledge deficiencies within South African supply chains. In order to correct these knowledge deficiencies, the CCTC undertook a 3 day Quick Response tour to Turkey to ex-
pose tour participants to successful Turkish-based QR supply chains. A total of eight firms were visited, including design houses, apparel manufacturers and textile mills. All major European retailers such as Inditex (Zara), H&M, Espirit and TopShop, have implemented successful QR model supply chains. While the Cluster has gained major learnings from four previous study tours, this study tour proved worthwhile by gaining an even deeper knowledge of the QR model. The study tour was expertly organised by Woolworths, in association with Marks and Spencer. An agreement was reached to take 10 industry participants and 2 participants from B & M Analysts as the Cluster service providers. The tour covered the period 27-30 March 2014.
This article will focus on the additional learnings from this tour specifically. Previous knowledge gains from other study tours can be found in our existing QR materials. Retail There were several new learnings gained from this year’s study tour. For retail the biggest learning areas were as follows: The QR model requires cadence (a set cycle) as a central part of the merchandising planning calendar. This is critical to the integrity of the postponement model. Open to Buy (OTB) is released by retailers either on a six-weekly, monthly (most common), or bi-weekly model (Inditex only). Overall the European retailer OTB % varies widely (20-65% of buying plans). Product category OTB % varies widely. For example: 25% bottoms, 20% tops, 55% socks, 41% dresses, 12% knitwear. QR is dominated by, but not limited to, ladies wear. It was noted that retail teams visited Istanbul design centres to buy QR capsules according to cadence of the OTB release. The time taken from QR range review to the raising of orders takes 3-4 days (Zara = 1 day).
• There was a clear understanding of the QR retail management model, especially regarding the role of outlet stores in QR clearances.
Design Centres
Design centres play a pivotal role in the QR model as they are responsible for the design of ‘QR capsules’ that retail buyers spend OTB on. The design centres are not order takers, but highly creative product developers structured to evolve the fashion offer of QR retailers on an iteration basis. The design centres follow a disciplined OTB-linked product development cycle. Products are only offered by design centres to retailers on prepared ‘ingredients’ and booked capacities (zero failure from ‘QR capsule’ finalisation). Design Centres provide the following for retailers: • Blocks prepared • Fabric and/or yarn banks being held • Pattern library maintained (25,000 patterns on CAD, with 1,200 added monthly) • Lab dips prepared (pantones formatted) • Production capacity at clothing assembly and dyeing and finishing plants booked The design centres are organised to meet
customer demands. This is achieved by having customer specific merchant teams. There are also specialist support teams (fabric, costing, garment technologists, pattern control, graphics, patternmaking, etc.) and variable approaches to specific technologies were noted, e.g. manual versus automated patternmaking.
Clothing manufacturers Manufacturers owned by design centres operate as “best practice” facilities within the wider network of CMTs. The clothing manufacturers have a very similar operating profile to South Africa, although it is clear that more flexibility is present. For example, a 45-54 hour work week. Due to high volume, the advantages of economies of scale allow for some specialised equipment such as automated cutting and knitted fabric resting equipment. However, firms were largely organised as per South African plants. The key emphasis throughout all factory visits was ‘first quality, then speed! Another key focus was on Right First Time (RFT) production. This was illustrated in various ways: • When the contract sample is approved, 1-2 of each size is manufactured in the factory sample room, and production is then analysed (weak or complex points of production noted) • Factory production line then produces 6 of each size • Quality is then checked and the bulk order is executed after approval • Team based approach to line changeovers (product technologist, mechanic, supervisor and operator) to ensure optimal layouts The profile of factor costs suggested major cost pressures. There were minute rates of 17.9-22 US$ cents, with sub-contractors offering services about 30% cheaper. Operators were paid in the region of cost-to-company $600-$800. It was noted that On-time-in-full (OTIF) is critical to the success of the QR model: • Over production of 1.5% to 3.7% to ensure OTIF was demonstrated. • Balance of stock was held for 6 months (Inditex – 2years) and then sold in the Turkish market.
Dyeing and Finishing An important and key difference between Turkish and South African dyeing and finishing plants is the strategic link to design centres. This is demonstrated by pro-active pantone and pattern management. • Large greige banks from the East and local fabric postponement models was observed • There is a wide breadth of capability within dyeing and finishing plants to ensure flexibility: wet and dry processes, cottons and synthetics accommodated • Investment in digital printing was gaining momentum, although rotary printing was still dominant (digital competitive below 400m runs) • Knitted value chain requires holding of yarn and not fabric as very little lead time added • Ownership of D+F facilities is not a requirement for QR, but then one would need to establish strategic partnerships as capacity booking central to effectiveness of QR model
• New equipment was noted across two facilities, with no subsidies provided for capital acquisition, all with 10% interest rates • Textiles has same wage dispensation as Clothing
There are six critical lessons to be taken from the study tour. QR starts and ends with the retailer (POS to • • • • •
OTIF) Retailer sets gives life to QR via OTB% on seasonal plan Retailer sets cadence of QR model via OTB release process Retailer selects items off the in-season capsule offer Retailer ensures QR product gets into stores for point-of-sales (POS) reads Retailer reviews POS data and other seasonal demand information and then communicates this to QR partners as part of OTB release process Design Centres (DC) are the fulcrum on which the QR model balances
• DCs take design ownership on the QR model (delight customers with QR ranges) • DCs only develop QR ranges that can be executed Right First Time (fabrics, trims, design blocks, production capacities, etc. all prepared) • DCs manage all vendors required for QR success
Clothing manufacturers require lean capabilities to supply on a QR basis • Tight production control required - On Time and In Full (OTIF) supply is a pre-requisite • Manufacturers are on self-audit (AQL 2.5 or even more advanced standards) • High velocity of production thoughput is required • Need to remove waste (muda) and maximise productivity to maximise cost effectiveness and counter factor cost disadvantages
Dyeing and Finishing plants need to have product and process flexibility to ensure fabric portion of supply chain remains flexible
• Colour + pattern + handle flexibility is required across the prepared fabric base for in-season QR capsules (key role for digital printing) • Colour + pattern + handle flexibility is required across the prepared fabric base for bulk supply (digital printing not yet required)
Every hour really matters to the QR model
• Speed to market amplifies sales opportunity and guarantees planned margin • OTIF sales trigger the next set of POS reviews and repeat of the QR cycle • Turkey has to be 10% cheaper than Spain/Portugal to secure business from Inditex (2-3 weeks versus 4-6 weeks lead time) • Turkey to UK road freight lead time is down to 66 hours
South Africa has the potential to supply Europe on a QR basis • Base factor costs are lower in South Africa • QR capabilities developed for South African retailers 100% relevant to European retailers (Turkey is competitor and not China) • South African retail market operates counter-cyclically to European market – balanced demand profile over 12 month cycle • South Africa has highly developed, cost-effective sea freight pipeline into North West Europe • Ability to compete on 6-8 week lead time
UPCOMING EVENTS September 2014 This year the Cluster got off to a running start with numerous activities in the first half of the year. Details of selected activities to follow are included below.
Benchmarks
The next firms to be benchmarked will be: Farbe Newcoe Prestige Radeen
Green Workshop
The CCTC brings you its Energy and Waste Management Workshop on 4 September 2014 at K-Way Manufacturers, which aims to better assist firms in becoming more efficient in this regard. The workshop will be presented by GreenCape and will provides assistance with the efficient utilisation of energy as well as effective waste management strategies and support measures. Case studies on Impahla and K-Way will be presented on by the management of these firms. If you would like to find out more information or enquire about this workshop, please contact the Cluster at cctc@bmanalysts.com or (021) 552 0240
TRACE
October 2014
Cotton Traders, Farbe and Berg River Textiles have showed their commitment to World Class Manufacturing by adopting the TRACE programme for 2014. Rotex, an Atlantis-based textile firm, will see their first group of learners start TRACE towards the end of April. We are confident that they will extract huge benefit from this undertaking.
B-BBEE Workshop
TRACE stands for Team Responsibility and Competitiveness Evaluation and is a unique training course offered by the CCTC focussing on the essentials of leadership, management and World Class Manufacturing for supervisors and mid-level management. TRACE is MERSETA accredited and awards successful graduates credits towards an NQF level 3 qualification, making it the only course of its kind in South Africa. If you would like to know more about TRACE or enquire about participating in one of the courses, please contact Roslynn Manuel at roslynn.manuel@bmanalysts.com or (021) 552 0240
The annual B-BBEE workshop will be hosted on 2 October 2014 with a venue to be confirmed. The guest speaker will be Dr Robin Woolley, from Transcend Corporate Advisors an expert with regards to B-BBEE. The workshop will provide a current overview of the programme along with an introduction and transformation journey to date. This will be followed by an overview of B-BBEE, the Codes of Good Practice scorecard and changes with the Revised Codes of Good Practice. Dr Robin Woolley will then assist members in building a strategic response and attendees are encouraged to bring through examples of issues they have encountered.
Industry News New chapter in SA clothing industry
Cape Town - with the sharp decline in Cape Town’s clothing industry over the past two decades, it is hoped a new focus on clothing design will rejuvenate the city’s largest manufacturing industry. Economic Development minister Ebrahim Patel visited the Trade Core Investments Apparel clothing factory in Epping yesterday at the beginning of construction of their R25 million clothing design centre, the first of its kind in Africa. The centre aims to spot innovations in fashion and make South African clothing more competitive by increasing production and creating another 600 jobs. Clothing that will be created for both sexes includes dresses, shirts, pants and bathing suits tailored for South Africans. Patel said he hoped the centre would add a different brand to the offerings of major retailers. “This design centre takes the idea South Africans want to look good. It will find out what items South Africans want to wear and then make them. “We’ve asked ourselves how this country
can become competitive in this industry and we view this project as a source. It will look to create new designs so there will be a focus on the ability to spot what young and old people are wearing.” Trade Core Investments Apparel is the largest clothing manufacturer in the country and supplies major retailers such as Woolworths, Truworths and Edcon. The company was previously known as Seardel Apparel, but with financial losses over the past few years it avoided closure thanks to the intervention of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) which took over the company, saving 2 000 jobs. Trade Core Investments Apparel took over the company at the beginning of this month. Sactwu general secretary Andre Kriel said they could not stand back and let the company go bust, sounding a death knell to the industry in the Western Cape. The completion of the design centre would allow clothing manufacturing here to be on par with modern advances in rest of the world. “All this was about accountability for us. The company has been going through financial difficulties since 2008 and we could not allow all those workers to lose
their jobs. We used some of our union’s financial reserves to keep it running. “The idea of the design centre is also something we wanted to do to push production, which will in turn increase employment. It will be very modern when done, and there will be no other factory in the country like it.” The project was also part the national government’s R5 billion budget to help improve the manufacturing sector. The design centre will open in August. Date: 16 April 2014 Source: Cape Argus Written By: Warren Fortune
Dutch retailer plans three outlets in Africa If the maxim “a well tailored suit is to women what lingerie is to men” then Africa’s dapper executives might appreciate the first of three planned outlets on the continent by Dutch retailer Suitsupply. Rising affluence and a gap in the madeto-measure menswear category is attracting international brands to sub-Saharan Africa‚ despite underdeveloped retail markets and infrastructure challenges. Ermenegildo Zegna‚ which makes suits worn by Hollywood stars George Clooney and Robert De Niro‚ opened a store in Nigeria last year. German fashion house Hugo Boss already has a presence in several countries including Nigeria‚ Mozambique‚ Angola‚ Côte d’Ivoire and SA. Suitsupply sets itself apart through its supply chain by cutting out payments to third-party companies or middle-men that usually move suits into larger department chains. By controlling production‚ from design to distribution‚ the company can offer a modern‚ tailored suit made from fine Italian fabrics from as low as R4‚500‚
compared to a luxe designer version that $614 Suitsupply suit matched the $3‚625 typically starts at about R7‚000. Armani suit in quality. The J Crew suit fared well‚ while the others failed to hit the spot. Fabrics sourced from northern Italy CEO and founder of Suitsupply‚ Fokke de Jong said the suits were given structure through a floating canvas inside the jacket. “We use very thin layers of cotton where horse and camel hair are weaved in - this gives you thin seams a very natural kind of feel and the suit forms to the body and you have a more tailored and elegant suit instead of a boxy‚ too-wide jacket‚“ he said.
Offbeat locations for stores Avoiding high traffic malls‚ Suitsupply picks offbeat locations for its stores‚ to keep prices down and allow for a more relaxed shopping environment. In SA‚ it has launched a “mansion” concept - opting to rent a villa in upmarket suburb Hyde Park‚ for six months.
Fabrics are sourced from mills in northern Tania Habimana‚ the sub-Saharan Africa Italy’s Biella. The region’s fabric factories GM said permanent stores would open in also service high-end luxury purveyors Nigeria‚ Kenya and SA. such as Prada‚ Chanel and Etro. “Africa is the next continent‚ it’s the place In 2011‚ The Wall Street Journal set up to go. We were getting a lot of travelling a blind review of suits from Suitsupply‚ customers from SA and the rest of Afriand international brands including H&M‚ ca who were visiting our stores in New J Crew‚ Hart Schaffner Marx‚ Target and York‚ Milan and London‚ asking when we’d open. We believe in the African marArmani. ket. African men love looking good and at Men’s suit designer and professor at the the same time‚ they want pocket-friendFashion Institute of Technology‚ Salva- ly prices with a bit of luxury. Our brand tore Giardina and Salvatore Cesarani‚ a combines high-quality tailoring‚ modern designer and professor at Parsons The techniques and time-honoured‚“ Ms HaNew School for Design‚ found that the bimana said.
Demand from African customers through
40%‚“ he said.
website
As the story goes‚ De Jong was only 27 years old and completing a law degree at Suitsupply‚ which has 50 stores globally‚ a University in Holland when he started has already seen demand from African selling clothes from the boot of his car to customers through its online shopping fraternity members who wanted to have website‚ which ships worldwide. coats with their frat letters on them. The company introduced country-specific payment including cash on delivery‚ M-Pesa in Kenya and Interswitch in Nigeria‚ and are able to ship anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa within four days.
He went further and began organising trunk shows‚ selling suits to his friends‚ fellow students and employees at the school‚ and as his small operation blossomed‚ Mr de Jong decided to concentrate fully on his clothing business‚ and “We take care of all the duties‚ customs Suitsupply was born. and clearing so a customer has a seamless online experience - there is no extra Onsite tailoring charges‚ which is what some South Africans experience when buying from overThe company now offers onsite tailorseas brands‚“ De Jong said. ing while you wait on simple jobs such as hemming pants‚ shortening sleeves or E-commerce is a sizable part of its total adding shoulder pads. business - about 20% of Suitsupply suits are sold through the website. Apart from accessories and its off-therack collection‚ the privately-owned comWhile the European market had been pany offers a pricier bespoke service. Clistruggling‚ the company has bucked this ents can select Mother of Pearl buttons‚ trend and its like-for-like sales were rowhether they want or single or double bust‚ De Jong said. “We opened around breasted closings - with an array of more ten stores last year and are hoping to than 600 fabrics varieties to choose from. do another 15-20 in the next 12 months‚ sales were growing last year at about
“From our online purchases‚ we’ve noMassmart bounces as CompComm ticed a little bit more of a colourful selechits back tion... not as colourful as the Nigerians but definitely a little bit more outspoken than the European markets‚ who are Retailer forced to reinstate retrenched more conservative. workers. Shares in JSE-listed retail giant Massmart “They will only wear suits to go to work bounced more than 3.5% in Monday trade whereas I found in the SA market‚ the despite being instructed to re-employ recombination of the suit jacket with a trou- trenched workers negatively impacted by ser‚ jean or chino is used more often‚“ Ms corporate restructuring in 2009 and 2010. Habimana said. According to a release issued by the Competition Commission, Massmart was Date: 4 July 2014 to reinstate a remaining 94 employees Source: BizCommunity who were part of a group of 503 who were Written By: Zeenat Moorad previously retrenched. This followed several negotiations between the Commission, Massmart and consultations with the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU). This followed an appeal brought by the Minister of Economic Development who had originally approved the proposed merger between US giant Wal-Mart and Massmart According to the Competition Commission Massmart has agreed to the following: 1. The reinstatement, with six months back pay, of the 61 employees who
participated in the remedial plan and accepted Massmart’s reinstatement offer, those who were part of a group of 89 employees who had not received the merging parties’ initial offer letters of reinstatement and had not responded to the offer. Those employees who were reinstated in February 2014, but are yet to receive the back pay. 2. The reinstatement, with three months back pay, to: • Those of the 94 employees within the group of 128 employees who participated in the remedial plan by providing affidavits to the Commission and who ultimately accepted Massmart’s reinstatement offer by 30 September 2014; and • Any other individuals within the group of 128 employees who, by no later than 12 August 2014, have provided the required affidavits to the Commission and who ultimately accept Massmart’s reinstatement offer by 30 September 2014. The 128 employees were part of a group that had received the merging parties’ initial offer letters of reinstatement and had not responded to the offer. 3. Make settlement offers to eligible retirees and estates of deceased employees within the groups of 61 and 94 em-
ployees referred to above, consistent with the terms of the previous settlement offers. Massmart will report to the Commission on the progress of the implementation on 1 September 2014, 15 September 2014 and 10 October 2014. Shares in Massmart were up R5 to R149 per share by 4:30pm on Monday 18 August 2014. Date: 20 August 2014 Source: MoneyWeb Written By: Marc Ashton
US fashion brand Forever 21 to open first store in Africa US FASHION brand Forever 21 is to open its first store on the African continent in Hyprop Investments’ Canal Walk Shopping Centre in Cape Town. South Africa has attracted a slew of international brands, many of which see it as a stepping stone to other sub-Saharan markets. The fast-growing economies of Africa present a compelling investment case. By 2030, the continent’s top 18 cities could have combined spending power of $1.3-trillion. The 1,400m² Forever 21 store will open mid-year. “We are pleased to welcome another leading international brand to our portfolio,” Hyprop CEO Pieter Prinsloo said on Friday. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Forever 21 is primarily a youth brand renowned for selling international runway trends at affordable prices. It has stores across the US and an international footprint in 10 Latin American countries, 19 Asian coun-
tries and five European countries. The group’s fast-fashion rivals Topshop and Zara, who are famed for getting products based on the latest catwalk trends into stores in as short a period as two weeks, have already set up shop in South Africa. “We are excited to enter the South African market and have plans for some exceptional stores for this market,” said Jatin Malhotra, director of real estate and business development at Forever 21. In its first foray into sub-Saharan Africa, Swedish “cheap ’n chic” fashion giant H&M last year said it would open its first store in Johannesburg in 2015. H&M is famous for its collaborations with designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Jimmy Choo and Versace, and these have caused frenzies that have seen merchandise selling out within minutes. H&M spokeswoman Camilla Emilsson-Falk told BDlive that the group was “looking at a couple of cities in South Africa”. Gap, bebe, Thomas Pink and Superdry have also opened in South Africa. Australian player Cotton On Group, which
is expanding the presence of its brands in South Africa, is targeting up to 500 stores across the country in the next five years. Hype aside, a dose of reality is needed as the barriers to trading successfully in South Africa are quite high. Aggressive expansion of these global brands will be capped by the shortage of prime location spots in key malls, and much also depends on their price points. The brands are often mass marketed in terms of fashion and quality, yet when the firms bring merchandise to South Africa, it tends to be quite expensive. They also do not have the credit offering that a number of retailers in South Africa are able to extend. According to Truworths CEO Michael Mark, the fashion retailer regards global competition in the same manner it does local competitors. “International retailers who open stores in South Africa do not necessarily understand trends better than we do and they face their own difficulties in trading in South Africa,” he said. “While the group will never become complacent to the threat of local or international competition, we believe that if the right fashion is
available in our stores, it will continue to attract customers, regardless of the level of competitor activity.” Local retailers are not resting on their laurels in the face of increased competition — the Foschini Group‚ Truworths and Edcon are streamlining sourcing and speed-to-market efficiency. Meanwhile, Woolworths will bring the Witchery and Mimco fashion brands to South Africa in March. Along with new brands in its arsenal, Woolworths’ enhanced procurement strategy and better relationships with its suppliers has allowed it to shorten lead times. The upmarket player, which wants to be a leading fashion retailer in the southern hemisphere, hopes to emulate the success of its other Australian labels, Country Road and Trenery. “We’ve reduced the length of time it takes from design through to store delivery,” Woolworths CEO Ian Moir said. “Competition is a good thing. If you don’t have competition you get lazy and lose sight of what you need to do. We’ve had a very competitive environment — the
Foschini Group and Truworths do a good job — it’s not as if we haven’t had competition earlier. (International retailers) will be good for the South African market place, it will raise the bar in terms of fashionability,” Mr Moir said. Date: 31 January 2014 Source: Business Day Live Written By: Zeenat Moorad
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