DHL 2013 Annual Report Download - page 17

Faster and faster
Another key trend within the
industry is known as “fast fashion”.
Inditex, the parent company of Zara,
pioneered this style of “disruptive”
retailing. Instead of purchasing huge
inventories in distant factories with
long lead times in the hope that the
goods would sell well, these retail-
ers produce small batches of items in
nearby factories, with incredibly fast
turnaround and delivery. If an item
sells, more can be produced and de-
livered quickly. If not, there is less stock
to mark down. “In the past, there were
four seasons a year. Nowadays, the
shop floor changes every four weeks,”
comments ’s Beelen. Tom Tailor
manager Schmelting agrees: “Fashion
has always been fast, but over the past
ten years we have shortened the lead
times between conception and delivery
of a collection considerably, in order to
stay on top of the trends.”
 manages the entire
supply chain
Speed is not the only factor in suc-
cessful fashion logistics. Quality and
cost- cutting are important, too. “At the
end of the day, we need to bring those
three issues in line,” says Schmelting.
This is only possible through planning,
continuous process optimisation and
innovative solutions, such as  tag-
ging – and state-of-the-art automa-
tion. It is also important to carefully
ex amine interfaces: many incremental
steps are involved between sourcing
raw materials and delivering the final
goods– and poor handovers or miss-
ing information can cost both time and
money. Thanks to years of experience
and its sophisticated supply chain
management systems,  protects
its fashion customers from problems
like these – and makes sure the latest
styles are at the right place, at the
right time.
TO SIDEWALK
b
c
a All present and correct: trans-
parency and stock management
are the order of the day – not
only in the high bay warehouse
but throughout the entire
logistics chain.
b Tom Tailor produces twelve collec-
tions for eleven lines every year.
c Tom Tailor now distributes its
products retail, wholesale and
online throughout  countries.
MORE
THAN
TRANSPORT
AND
WARE
HOUSING
 is a full service provider
offering exclusive and customised
value-added services to their
fashion customers. Examples are
steaming, attaching alarm tags
and price ticketing.
15Deutsche Post DHL 2013 Annual Report