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Why Fashion Designers Must Understand Manufacturing Roger Warburton, Griffin Manufacturing |
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Why Fashion Designers Must Understand Manufacturing Roger Warburton, Griffin Manufacturing |
Summary by Elizabeth Lykken
Our guest speaker this week was Dr. Roger Warburton, manager of information systems at Griffin Manufacturing and professor at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Dr. Warburton’s central theme revolved around his research on the effectiveness of the Quick Response method of manufacturing. He concluded his presentation with a brief explanation of how knowledge in current manufacturing methods and trends is relevant to fashion designers today.
Griffin Manufacturing primarily contracts and manufactures athletic wear for Champion and Timberland. Dr. Warburton presented two examples of how Quick Response manufacturing benefits the apparel industry. His first example was of the Champion jog bra, invented by two women from Vermont. Upon their request, Griffin agreed to begin production. After a brief time under Playtex, Sara Lee took over control of the jog bra and moved from domestic to offshore production. Although this shift decreased the basic apparent cost of manufacturing, Dr. Warburton stated many hidden offshore costs, including overhead shift, must be considered. In addition, garments produced offshore typically suffer from a loss of technical competence, resulting in a decreased ability to improve quality and expertise.
Dr. Warburton’s second example, the case of 500 white shorts, demonstrates how important it is to have domestic manufacturers on which a company may rely. In this example, a $950,000 sale was dependent upon the shipment of the entire order within one week. The client in question had all of the items required except for 500 white shorts. For $500 (one dollar extra per short), Griffin quickly produced the shorts and the client made a major sale which he otherwise would have lost. Thus it is shown there is a viable need for Quick Response domestic manufacturing.
Several concepts are key to Quick Response manufacturing. One primary issue is that of sales forecasting. Generally, companies aim for 70% of the their forecasts to be accurate within 25% of the amount forecast. Quick Response allows retailers to order their initial, more conservative shipments before the season opens. Then, after a couple of weeks on the floor, point-of-sale data may be analyzed and shipments may be reordered to fill the remainder of the new sales forecast. Thus, with strategic partnerships and a commitment to an in-place infrastructure, companies should be able to increase the accuracy of their forecasts dramatically.
The conclusion of this presentation focused on the necessity that fashion designers and retailers understand apparel manufacturing, at least in basic terms. Viable designs may only be created with a basic working knowledge of manufacturing. This awareness must include knowledge of sewing and pricing, the costs of fabric, labor, shipment, etc., and the logistics of apparel production such as duty, shipping, and time.
Dr. Warburton’s presentation provided insight into the world of manufacturing. He introduced the class to the theory and logistics behind Quick Response manufacturing, a relatively new method of manufacturing. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Warburton showed how interdependent each section of that apparel industry is upon another. Apparel designers cannot survive without retailers and manufacturers, nor could retailers and manufacturers survive without designers.
