For Zara, the supply chain is its competitive advantage. Zara adopts double supply chain strategy, fast response supply chain for fashionable models and low cost supply chain for basic models. For fashion models, in order to improve the market reaction speed, Zara adopts a highly vertically integrated supply chain. The new products are loaded on trucks overnight and sent directly to shops or airports. These trucks and planes run according to the established schedule and deliver clothes to most shops within four hours.
Generally speaking, China's clothing industry is 9 months to 9 months, and internationally renowned brands can generally reach 20 days, while the shortest time for zara is only paint day ZARA supply chain, which is generally 20 days. Zara produces the latest fashions in Spain and has factories in Portugal, Morocco and Turkey. According to the company, the clothing produced by these factories accounts for about half of Zara's inventory. Its basic T-shirts, sweaters and other products are ordered from Asian factories with lower labor costs according to the traditional schedule (about half a year in advance) and then shipped to Spain. Zara's managers have been investing in high-tech equipment and extra capacity so that their factories can cope with sudden increases or changes in production-few Asian manufacturers can do this. A case study of Zara conducted by Harvard Business School shows that at the beginning of the first quarter, ordinary retailers have placed orders to buy at least 0% of the clothes for sale. But Zara's design is only 50% ahead of schedule. Change will not disturb the system, it is part of the system.
Zara has great advantages in China's fast supply chain, but it is not without disadvantages: in procurement, it pursues speed and concentrates on production, giving up the cost advantages of cheap labor and low-priced raw materials scattered around the world. Fast forward and fast out in sales, so that the best-selling products can not be replenished.