At work in the laboratory of the Antico Setificio Fiorentino ancient silk factory in Florence.
The modern supply chain is driven by the ever-increasing customer demand spurred by accessibility to e-commerce shopping. Direct to consumer brands are leveraging faster lead times in order to get their products to market before their competition. However, it feels like a wrench has been thrown into the chain. I, like everyone else in our industry, have been thinking a lot about the on-going geopolitical tariffs and trade wars. Between the constant updates on fluctuating stock prices and the consistent media circus speculating up and down turns in the market, it’s a tense time all around. That tension is incredibly apparent across product development industries. What does this mean for consumer goods brands who produce overseas? What does this mean for how you should think about sourcing, production, margins, and overall strategy of your supply chain?
The economic relationship between the U.S. and China has defined the modern era of production. But with the current U.S. administration threatening to raise duties on $250 billion worth of Chinese products, up to 30% from 25%, the issue many brands will see with overseas manufacturing is likely going nowhere soon.
We may call it a supply chain, but with the markets seemingly in turmoil and political leaders continually raising the stakes, it feels more like a single strand of thread. Product designers know how powerful thread can be, but a single thread on its own is delicate. Braid multiple strands together, and you can make strong, durable garments. Product developers need to diversify their vendor sourcing solutions. A single source isn’t always reliable. Rather than a single thread, you need an unstoppable Rolodex of suppliers. Multi-sourcing is becoming the new norm as a result.
Multi-sourcing is no small task, especially for companies that have relied on single suppliers, factories, warehousing, and shipping vendors in the past. It can be challenging to manage data while trying to keep track of multiple versions of products and component records. It can feel like you’re being required to do a lot of hard-lifting when first onboarding new strategies with multiple vendors, but being adaptive to new market conditions is a requirement for growth and relevancy. Fail to adapt? You’ll get left behind.
Superimposing a technology-driven strategy to traditional factory communication processes can help brands meet the daunting task of sourcing products from multiple factories while maintaining a validated ledger of communication and hand-offs.
Multi-sourcing is the only way to develop product in today’s market, and nimble brands are leveraging technology to do so efficiently. Unsure of how to start? Here are a few of my recommendations:
- Find the right technology partners for you. There is a seemingly endless amount of tech solutions to vet, I’m sure there’s a fit for your current process available.
- Test multi-vendor sourcing with a few products first before expanding updated processes across your entire product line. If it sticks, implement elsewhere. If not, maybe it’s time to rethink some strategies.
- Vendor marketplaces and portals can help you find the right suppliers, anywhere in the world. It’s a match made in heaven.
