Textile Supply Chain Research Articles

The implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on textile supply chain using k-means clustering in data mining

Supply chain in textile industry requires an involvement of several other related industry therefore it divide into several sub-sector industry. The market dynamic and complexity of supply chain network are causing problem. This study aims to classify the market base on consumers behaviour through their preferences in textile product in East Java. Analysis of data using data mining approach. Algorithm K-means type clustering is use as clustering methods by integrating with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) concept. The simulation result of data set using five cluster depends on their variability value are Lumajang, Malang, Madura, Tulungagung, and Ponorogo. The clusters formed have the highest importance predictor in “way of purchase” and the lowest in “purchase flexibility”. The result in this study is generally indicate that consumers of textile products in East Java prioritize values in customer value compared to product quality.

Recent Trends in Sustainable Textile Waste Recycling Methods: Current Situation and Future Prospects.

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns in the disposal of textile waste around the globe. The growth of textile markets not only depends on population growth but also depends on economic and fashion cycles. The fast fashion cycle in the textile industry has led to a high level of consumption and waste generation. This can cause a negative environmental impact since the textile and clothing industry is one of the most polluting industries. Textile manufacturing is a chemical-intensive process and requires a high volume of water throughout its operations. Wastewater and fiber wastes are the major wastes generated during the textile production process. On the other hand, the fiber waste was mainly created from unwanted clothes in the textile supply chain. This fiber waste includes natural fiber, synthetic fiber, and natural/synthetic blends. The natural fiber is mostly comprised of cellulosic material, which can be used as a resource for producing bio-based products. The main challenge for utilization of textile waste is finding the method that is able to recover sugars as monosaccharides. This review provides an overview of valorization of textile waste to value-added products, as well as an overview of different strategies for sugar recovery from cellulosic fiber and their hindrances.

Developing a Framework for Traceability Implementation in the Textile Supply Chain

Traceability has recently gained considerable attention in the textile industry. Traceability stands for information sharing about a product including the product history, specification, or location. With the involvement of globally dispersed actors in the textile supply chain, ensuring appropriate product quality with timely supplies is crucial for surviving in this industry with ever increasing competition. Hence it is of paramount importance for a supply chain actor to track every product and trace its history in the supply chain. In this context, this paper presents a framework to implement traceability in the textile supply chain. A system approach has been followed, where firstly the usage requirement of traceability is defined, and then a framework for implementing intra-actor or internal traceability and inter-actor or external traceability is discussed. This article further presents a sequential diagram to demonstrate the interaction and information exchange between the actors in the supply chain, when the traceability information is requested. An example is also illustrated for data storage using a relational database management system and information exchange using XML for the textile weaver. Finally, the article discusses challenges and future studies required to implement traceability in the textile supply chain.

Coded yarn based tag for tracking textile supply chain

Traceability has gained considerable attention to facilitate monitored production, product recall, safety and reverse supply chain activities, in recent years. Traceability in manufacturing and distribution involves the use of tracking tags which are attached to the products; consequently, the products are tracked by recording the identity of attached tracking tags in the supply chain. In this context, this paper introduces a new yarn coding-based tracking tag which is fully integrated into textile for tracking the textile supply chain. The new tracking tag involves the use of special yarns which act as information carrier and basic unit of the tracking tag. An implementation scenario is discussed to use the designed tracking tag to monitor the production and authentication purposes. Real prototypes of the fully integrated coded yarn based textile tags are demonstrated in woven and knitted structures and analysed under the effect of washing treatments to simulate realistic conditions. Further, an image pattern recognition based algorithm has been introduced and analysed to extract the information encoded in the tag using coded yarns.

The Fabric Road to Power: Geography of the Textiles Trade Along the New Silk Road and China’s Path to Geopolitical Dominance Through the Textiles Supply Chain

With the rise of China as a global economic powerhouse and its reach for influence beyond its borders, countries located along the historic Silk Road are experiencing dramatic changes. China’s ambitious One Belt, One Road development initiative aspires to connect the People’s Republic to the rest of Eurasia; and in addition to fostering economic growth in the vast region, its strategic intent is to give China a geopolitical advantage on the entire landmass. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the physical and human geography of the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt is influencing, and will influence, the textile and apparel supply chain and, with it, economic relations among several participating countries — China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, and Italy. In addition, this paper argues why China’s influence over the Eurasian textiles supply chain can be its greatest geopolitical advantage — even more so than its control over abundant fossil fuel resources.

Textile supplier selection in sustainable supply chain using a modular fuzzy inference system model

Today’s fashion clothing market is highly competitive and the textile and clothing industry is a significant area of the world’s economy. In addition, the sustainability issues have received a lot of attention in the textile supply chains. Since supplier evaluation and selection is a crucial decision in supply chain management, this paper proposes a framework for textile suppliers’ sustainability evaluation criteria and a new model based on this framework onto ranking a given list of suppliers. The relative importance of criteria and the suppliers’ performance with respect to criteria are considered based on decision-makers’ preferences in the model. To cope with the subjectivity of decision-makers’ opinions, fuzzy set theory has been applied and a modular model on the basis of Fuzzy Inference System is proposed. A real-life supplier selection problem for the textile industry is utilized to show the feasibility of the proposed model. Validation of the proposed model is studied through an existing literature model. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed model.

A fully yarn integrated tag for tracking the international textile supply chain

Textile and clothing industry is one of the classical manufacturing industries which have recently undergone major transformations due to delocalization and high market volatility. In this context, one solution to guarantee the control and optimization of globalized supply chain is the implementation of a traceability system to follow-up the activities of different actors of the supply chain, improve brand value by countering pirate and enhance value creation in reverse supply chain. Therefore, in this paper, we first introduce the idea of fully integrated tracking tags for casting traceability in the textile. Then, as one stage of the traceability system development, we describe a yarn coding scheme to transform a textile structure into a tracking tag. Here, a number of special yarns were coded according to various combinations of optical characteristics. Further, a recognition system was developed for identifying the unique identification yarn code by using different image analysis techniques.

A Sustainable Outsourcing Strategy Regarding Cost, Capacity Flexibility, and Risk in a Textile Supply Chain

The textile industry achieves economic benefits through outsourcing to low cost markets. Today, reshoring is an emerging trend due to rising cost and unemployment concerns. This problem is primarily due to an industry-wide focus on economic benefits only. Cost saving is a basic reason for international outsourcing while domestic outsourcing provides capacity flexibility. Moreover, outsourcing risk has a major impact on strategic location of the production destinations. Therefore, the merging of capacity flexibility and outsourcing risk comprises a sustainable outsourcing strategy. This paper suggests a sustainable outsourcing strategy in which a textile manufacturer outsources to international markets for cost savings and outsources to the domestic market for capacity flexibility. The manufacturer reserves some capacity with domestic suppliers, and pays a unit penalty cost if this capacity flexibility is not utilized. The manufacturer seeks minimum risk in international markets. Operational cost, penalty cost, and outsourcing risk are considered to be objective functions. Decisions include the assignment of contracts to suitable facilities, the quantity of each contract, and allocation of reserved capacity flexibility among domestic suppliers. Multi-objective problem of this research was solved using three variants of goal programming. Several insights are proposed for outsourcing decision making in the current global environment.

Conflicts of Responsibility in the Globalized Textile Supply Chain. Lessons of a Tragedy

Eight years before the Rana Plaza collapse (24 April 2013), which killed over 1100 people and received huge international media coverage, a somewhat similar tragedy drew my attention: the collapse of the Spectrum Sweater Industries Ltd. factory (10 April 2005), which was responsible for the death of 64 people and led to some international mobilization. This paper describes and analyses the international career of the mobilization for the victims spurred by the tragedy. How were European consumers and citizens called upon to act? How did the European brands react? In the end, the question is how the appeal to Western firms’ “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) can help improve the working conditions prevailing in Southern factories. By applying a generic definition of responsibility (the controlled administration of a sanction) and minutely examining the imputations of responsibility consecutive to the Spectrum tragedy, the paper exposes the work of activists who attempted to establish Western companies’ responsibility, and how some of the tagged companies resisted their moral obligation to protect workers beyond an employer–employee relationship stricto sensu.

A three-stage hybrid integrated decision making framework for modelling reverse logistics operations: a case of a textile company

Reverse logistics is a very interesting field as it focuses on social, economical, ethical as well as ecological importance. In a developing country like India, reverse logistics in textile sectors have great potential as an enterprise that requires less investment but promises high return. However, a higher degree of uncertainties and complexities are involved in modelling operations and decisions associated with reverse logistics, especially for textile companies. This paper presents a hybrid approach by developing a three stage integrated decision making framework for reverse logistics operations in the Indian textile industry. The developed approach integrate interpretive structural modelling (ISM) methodology with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) for the selection of collection centre associated with reverse logistics operations for textile supply chains based on the selected critical decision variables and criteria. The efficacy and intricacy of the proposed approach are validated with a real life case in the Indian textile industry.

Editors’ Note

Research connecting creative thinking and problem solving in the textiles and clothing discipline is explored in this focused issue of the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal (CTRJ). The impetus for this issue derived from a perceived lack of research in this important, yet growing field of interest. In Ha-Brookshire and Hawley’s (2014) article ‘‘Trends of research published by Clothing and Textiles Research Journal (1993-2012) and outlook for future research,’’ within the category of clothing and textiles supply chain functions, creative problem solving was the least commonly occurring published research. The authors state that ‘‘one of the key ways to satisfy humans’ clothing needs and wants is through creative new product designs, materials, displays, and/or coordination. Yet there is relatively little research that identifies new problems and offers creative solutions’’ (Ha-Brookshire & Hawley, 2014, p. 262). This issue helps fill the gap of creative-thinking and problem-solving research published in CTRJ.

Performance management process integration in retail supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and generate propositions of factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration in retail supply chains. Design/methodology/approach – The performance management processes of two retail supply chains were explored and their degree of process integration was classified. Differences in the degree of performance management process integration and affecting factors lead to the generation of five propositions. Findings – Dependence, brand importance, business process integration, performance demand and the existence of a performance management standard seem to be positively related to the degree of performance management process integration in the relation. Both factors that affect process integration in general and performance management process integration specifically are included. Some insights on integration in a vertically integrated retail chain were provided. Research limitations/implications – This study has specified the knowledge in process integration to the performance management process and expanded it into a retail context. It has generated a number of propositions on factors that affect the degree of performance management process integration, including a factor that was not found in previous research on manufacturing supply chains. The contribution to process integration theory is however limited until the propositions are validated in a broader study. Practical implications – Knowledge in affecting factors is useful when “performance management managers” need to communicate integration ambitions with other managers within and outside their own company. The detailed descriptions of performance management processes and integration practices can serve as inspiring benchmarks, as in the daily groceries supply chain, where the industry standard is especially interesting. They can also indicate practices to avoid, as in the home textiles supply chain. Another managerial take-away is the need to handle each relation, manufacturer-wholesaler and wholesaler-retailer store, with their specific affecting factors in specific ways. Originality/value – Previous knowledge on performance management process integration is mainly based on manufacturing companies. This study expands existing knowledge into a retail context.

APPLYING CFMAE METHOD TO BUILD A SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM IN TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN HO CHI MINH CITY

The paper provides an application which is a combination between decision making technique and fuzzy logic to build a supply chain performance measurement system in textile industry in Ho Chi Minh City. The methodology is a combination of theoretical analysis, Delphi quantitative method and Combined Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Evaluation (CFMAE) method. First of all, based on theories on textile supply chain, we developed a hierarchical system for performance measurement. After three Delphi rounds to seek opinions of experts on the system, the CFMAE which consists of two phases (fuzzy integral and fuzzy analysis hierarchy process – FAHP) was conducted to build a supply chain performance measurement system in textile industry with general attributes. The study has constructed a supply chain performance measurement system in textile industry in Ho Chi Minh City with suitable attributes. The weight of attributes is determined as a general viewpoint of the industry of the importance of the attributes to the supply chain performance. In terms of practicality, this paper provides an approach in the performance measurement for the textile supply chain that serves as a framework for a centralized and effective improvement. The scientific meaning of this paper is the application of the fuzzy logic in economics and management to eliminate the subjectivity in the decision making process.

Greening the Field? How NGOs Are Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility in China

China's state-led model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) does not seem to present a promising environment for the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Nevertheless, we observe recent examples of NGO involvement in CSR initiatives. Chinese NGOs are using the CSR platform to challenge the environmental practices of firms operating in China. We take a field-theoretical approach that focuses on the agency of actors. We show how an international NGO proposes a new standard and how Chinese NGOs use local environmental information disclosure laws to engage with firms in the textile supply chain. We find that NGOs leverage the power of brands to influence the practices of Chinese suppliers. However, we find differences in the framing and tactics employed by international NGOs versus their Chinese counterparts. Field analysis helps better understand the actors in the field of CSR, along with their motivations and their resources, and it offers a useful perspective on civil society development in China.

Ontology-based interoperability solutions for textile supply chain

Existence of interoperability within the enterprises is essential for textile supply chain to efficiently face the challenges from contemporary competitors, to find new business opportunities and to render better customer service. Exchange of business documents, being semantically consistent, is the way to achieve interoperability. However, heterogeneity of the structures of the enterprises poses challenges for establishing interoperability. Ontology based semantic interoperability framework has now been proven as an effective solution for enterprise interoperability. In this paper, the existing ontology-based interoperability solutions in the context of textile supply chain have been compiled and research gaps have been identified. The ontological methods, such as unified process for ontology (UPON) and methontology have been analyzed, and UPON have been shown as a suitable ontology development method for textile supply chain.

Guest editorial of “Intelligent logistics and supply chains”

Information and communication technology (ICT) has been considered as an enabling tool for having more effective and efficient operations in the management of logistics and supply chains for many years. Various information and communication technologies are used to improve performance of the logistics and supply chain network, such as ‘‘data mining’’, ‘‘radio frequency identification (RFID)’’, ‘‘machine learning’’, ‘‘smart transportation’’. While ICT systems are vital components in logistics and supply chains, their successful management rests on intelligent and integrated decision making throughout the logistics network. Intelligent decision technologies are applied to collect and store real-time data and then analyze and interpret the data and information of product, inventory, manufacturing and sales to discover useful knowledge for making better operation and management decisions. Advanced simulation and optimization of planning and scheduling systems are also used for improvement of inventory, production, procurement, and distribution planning. Intelligent agents can communicate with different partners in the supply chain, assist in collecting information, share product information, negotiate prices, and distribute alerts throughout the logistics and supply chains networks. Many artificial intelligence (AI) technologies or systems have been implemented recently or are currently in the stage of implementation. We arranged the 3rd International Workshop of Advanced Manufacturing and Automation (IWAMA 2013) on 27–28th October, 2013 at Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. The topics of IWAMA 2013 focused on: (1) intelligent manufacturing technologies; (2) intelligent logistics and supply chains; and (3) intelligent diagnosis and prognosis of wind turbines. After the workshop, we carefully select good papers and ask the authors to modify and extend their papers for further publishing as two special issues in Advances in Manufacturing: (1) Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies, and (2) Intelligent Logistics and Supply Chains. This is the second special issue and it is organized as the following: Chapter 1 presents review and analysis of ontology based interoperability solutions within textile supply chain. Chapter 2 describes the development of intelligent and integrated RFID (II-RFID) system for improving traceability and visibility of manufacturing. A new method of integrating adaptive sliding window and Euclidian distance for filtering RFID unreliable data is presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 investigates front-load effects of product development using system dynamics in order to approach lean production development. Chapter 5 describes an industrial case of a Norwegian supplier of ship equipment for realizing automation process in the ETO production situation. Chapter 6 presents incentive regulation of banks on third party logistics enterprises in principal-agent-based inventory financing. Chapter 7 shows a framework for real time production planning and control. Chapter 8 investigates the specific planning environment of an automotive part manufacturer and characterizes this environment based on variables regarding the product, its demand and manufacturing process. Chapter 9 deals with order batching problem, which has a major effect on the efficiency of warehouse operation in logistics in order to Y. Wang School of Material, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Knowledge challenges for responsible supply chain management of chemicals in textiles – as experienced by procuring organisations

A great number of chemicals – many of which are hazardous to human health and the environment – are used along the complex supply chains of textiles. These complexities and hazards make knowledge for understanding chemical properties and management practices at multiple nodes central to the responsible management of textile supply chains. This study investigates the knowledge requirements of, and the knowledge strategies used by, textile procuring organisations in response to both external stakeholders and internal pressure. Based on a qualitative study of small and medium-sized Swedish textile procuring organisations, the paper describes these knowledge challenges and analyses how efforts to meet them relate to expressed commitments and capabilities for responsible supply chain management (RSCM), as well as to organisational characteristics (i.e. whether the organisation is private or public, small or large, and whether textiles is a core or peripheral activity). It was found that several textile procuring organisations expressed commitment towards achieving RSCM. However, most organisations felt that they lacked capacity to rise to the challenge. There was a poor state of knowledge regarding many chemical substances and inherent difficulties in gaining knowledge of chemical risks and how to manage these. Moreover, the input of knowledge was limited and based on only a few key sources. Such factors proved to be obstacles for procuring organisations when attempting to facilitate responsible management upstream in complex supply chains.

Coordination of Cooperative Advertising in a Two-Period Fashion and Textiles Supply Chain

Previous studies related to cooperative advertising mainly focus on the one-period supply chain. In the fashion and textiles (FT) supply chain, the demand of most FT products (fashion clothing, vogue handbags, fashion shoes, and so on) varies over time due to the trends of fashion. In these conditions, a decision-making framework with a multiple-period supply chain becomes more realistic. In view of this, we investigate the optimal cooperative advertising strategies in a two-period FT supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer in two different scenarios: (i) each channel member makes decisions within a cooperative program; (ii) the retailer is vertically integrated with a manufacturer. Also, we introduce a two-way subsidy contract to coordinate the supply chain.

Global Integration, New Technologies and the Work of South African Textile Designers

ABSTRACT The work of South African textile designers has changed significantly over the last thirty years. Thirty years ago textile designers in the home sector market were recognised as skilled, professional workers. Primarily employed by large textile manufacturers, they were formally qualified, worked in large design studios, and had control over their work and creativity. Designing by hand, their creative abilities were recognised in the industry and they were accorded due status and respect. From the late 1980s/early 1990s technological changes began to undermine some designers’ autonomy and control but there was still a belief that those designing for the home/furnishing market were an elite group and that the new technologies were not suitable for their type of work. However, South Africa's integration, from the mid-1990s, into the global market also intruded upon their work and status. This paper examines the impact of this integration on the work of South African home textile designers. It argues that the way in which the global integration of the textile supply chain has occurred in South Africa has expedited dramatic changes in the work of textile designers. As a consequence textile designers do not enjoy the status, autonomy and control over their work that was previously evident. Furthermore, the paper suggests, that just as the new technologies have played a key role in enabling the development of the global supply chain, so they have also allowed and even facilitated this marginalisation. The paper thus opens up a new area for discussion and draws attention to a different dimension of globalisation in impacting on the work of a particular profession. The research is based on a qualitative methodology. Utilising snowball sampling, in-depth interviews have been conducted with South African textile designers and other key informants in the supply chain.

Developing a Sustainable Textile / Clothing Supply Chain by Selecting Relevant Materials and Suppliers

The modern textile/clothing industry is facing a great number of challenges related to sustainability. These challenges include environmental disasters and hazards to human health caused by toxic materials, resource exhaustion (water, energy, raw materials), and social impacts caused by delocalization, counterfeiting and other elements. In order to develop the industry in a sustainable and optimal way when producing new textile products, industrial companies need to optimize their production organization by minimizing risks not only at levels of materials and processes but also in the whole international textile supply chain. In this paper, a method is proposed for developing a sustainable textile supply chain by selecting the most relevant materials and suppliers. The criteria of sustainable development include environment protection, recycling capacity, energy saving, human health and safety, and social impacts. Some evaluation criteria have been normalized by recognized international organizations. The method of data aggregation with multiple fuzzy criteria is applied in order to select the most appropriate textile material and its supplier. A new method combining expert knowledge of enterprise strategy and sensitivity criteria is used for determining the linguistic weights of these fuzzy criteria. In the proposed method, the aggregated evaluation index takes into account the criteria of sustainable development and the specific application context as well as company strategies for management of supply chains.