The Roles Of Supply Chain Management In The Apparel Industry

Introduction

Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization(Investopedia, 2010).Also converting raw materials and labor to products and services with efficiency and effectively to maximize the wealth of an organization.

Supply chain management is the main role in operation management.Supply chain management handles supply side activities of a business with efficiency and effectively to gain the competitive advantage in the market.(Investopedia, 2003)SCM concerned with raw material supply,intermediate supply,end product distribution,retailers and wholesalers.So every aspect of supply chain is critical for the business and doing it right can cause

There is a huge competition in the apparel industry.The sellers are looking for real innovation and quality products from the suppliers to survive in the industry (Marudhamuthu,krishnaswamy and Pillai,2011). 1.1. Lean Manufacturing

As Paneru (2011,p.17)lean management is a“systematic approach to identify and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the pursuit of perfection”.The main objective of lean manufacturing is waste elimination.Practicing lean will reduce the production cost,increase the productivity & reduce the production time.Following lean tools and techniques are use to gain those benefits.

Table 1.1 Lean tools use in apparel industry

Lean tool Example

5S Chowdhury,Haque &Shahwath(2014) says that Talisman Ltd in Dhaka use 5S in 9 months and they increase 27% labor productivity &13% multi factor productivity

Kaizen Brandix(2016),Golden Jasmine Intimate manufacturing Co.,Ltd (Switch-asia.eu,

Waste reduction

2. Time compression

3. Flexible response

4. Unit cost reduction

Bruce,Daly and Towers,(2004)said that the apparel industry is highly diverse and heterogeneous.So the supply chain is complex.And also the manufacturers move on to the sourcing components from overseas.From that the firm can reduce waste,the labor cost,time compression.(Anon,2016) demonstrated that the retailers of the apparel industry have to deal with manufactures with the centralized buying and prices,quality and delivery schedules.And also the writer point out that there are intermediaries like export and import agencies who are play major role in supply chain.

Bruce,Daly and Towers (2004) highlighted that the JIT concept is commonly use in throughout the supply chain.Paneru N(2011)said that wastes can be reduced by JIT.(Anon,2016)said by using JIT manufacturer can fix the problems like product shortages,excessive backlogs and lost misplaced yarn at the spinning area.And also flexible delivery throughdomestic sourcing helps to minimized the levels of stock in supply chain and increase the net margine (Bruce,Daly &Tower,2004).These techniques help to reduce the waste. 1.4. Environmental sustainability and the