The analysis of the apparel supply chain systems with specific reference to the Korean apparel organisations of the overseas and domestic brand products

Abstract

Case studies of apparel organisations, in two broadly distinguishable market groups in South Korea have been conducted for this research. One of the case study organisations,company A, sells high fashion knit wear products manufactured by a foreign supplier and the other,company B, deals fashionable ladies wear supplied by 8 to 10 domestic apparel manufacturers. The study identifies common issues and differences between these dissimilar apparel companies in their respective supply chain systems. The selected apparel systems were analysed and categorised into four sectors, i.e.: production management, product distribution management, customer buying behaviour analysis and the evaluation of business performance in terms of both quantity and quality. The analysis was conducted as a pre-cursor to simulation studies to investigate the effects of apparel supply chain control parameters on the relevant business performance. The predominant costs are the product cost and the outlet rent, both of which reflect the product volumes ordered. The forecast errors are high for both apparel companies. Therefore, improving the forecasting techniques should significantly reduce the costs and improve the profits. The data derived from the case studies can contribute new information on the globalised supply chain study area, especially the approach to compare the international to domestic apparel entrepreneurs’ activities/finances will be a useful guideline to compare relevant supply chain systems in other countries as well as in Korea.