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Kamrul Ahsan*
Department of Management,
Faculty of Business and Law,
Auckland University of Technology,
Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Email: kamrul.ahsan@aut.ac.nz
*Corresponding author
Abdullahil Azeem
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering,
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,
Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Email: azeem@ipe.buet.ac.bd
1 Introduction
in the USA and the EU began noticing that almost any T-shirt they picked up at
their local Wal-Mart, Target or JC Penney was made in Bangladesh (Saxena and
Salze-Lozach, 2008). In the post-Multi Fiber Agreement (MFA) era, Bangladesh
apparel exports show potential by successfully competing in a non-protected global
competitive environment. In global competition, the advantage lies in the price benefit of
Bangladeshi products. For example, in the US market, the unit price for a girls cotton
dress from Bangladesh is US$ 41 per dozen as compared to that from China which is
US$ 88 per dozen (Weil, 2006).
Recent trends in apparel supply chain are to position a product in specific markets
and outsource manufacturing processes to third parties. Large companies are trying to
eliminate unnecessary assets and reduce the vertical status of their supply chain (Teng
and Faramillio, 2006). Some retailers are considering outsourcing for large seasonal
orders (Kumar and Arbi, 2008). For certain categories of apparel products, with cost
retailers are emphasising on responsiveness and flexibility in supply. Moreover, public
policy choices and lean retailing facilities are influential factors in apparel sourcing
location. Public policy relates to tariffs and regional trade policies. Lean retailing relates
a quick replenishment and expects supplier to be located close to the market (Abernathy
et al., 2005).
The Bangladesh apparel sector is positioned on the upstream side of the global chain.
Other than local apparel manufacturer, the main players involve are raw materials
suppliers, finished product distributors, buyers and retailers. Buyers are the large retailers
or their representatives and the local apparel manufacturers are their suppliers. Apparel
retailers and buyers are imposing new standards in the apparel product and production
environment. Buyers increasingly require local apparel manufacturer to take responsibility
for fabric and input sourcing, design services, supplier managed inventory, production
flexibility, product development and to provide invoicing on a 90 day basis (Brenton and
Hoppe, 2007).
Bangladeshi apparel firms have moved into a challenging position in the new
millennium. The challenge is now to offer high-quality and low-cost products within a
short lead time and to meet health, social and environmental compliances in the face of
increasingly stiff competition. Like other apparel industries in the developing world,
Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers have faced increased scrutiny by the foreign buyer in
recent years. There have been growing concerns of community impact such as efficient
use of local transport through less traffic congestion, noise, health and safety issues,
minimum wage and child labour issues in the workplace. Apparel manufacturers are
sacrificing working conditions in the factory to reduce manufacturing cost. To achieve
economic performance, these industries are overlooking the natural environment and
societal issues of the triple bottom line (Elkington, 2004).
Research on Bangladeshi apparel supply chain management is rare and to our
knowledge notable citations on Bangladeshi apparel industries in supply chain literature
are Abernathy et al. (2004, 2005) and Weil (2006). Impact of quota removal in the
relation of retail-apparel-textile supply chains is discussed by Abernathy et al. (2004,
2005). Authors predicted that in quote-less world sourcing decisions facing by textile and
apparel manufacturers will be beyond traditional cost and quality component, and the
Insights of apparel supply chain operations 325
new influential market forces will be like inventory risks, product variety, replenishment
and service. Weil (2006) discusses the impact of lean retailing on the global network of
firms supplying apparel in the USA. According to Weil:
Bangladeshs long-term viability as a source of apparel and textiles rests on
the adoption of public policies that appreciably lower trade costs associated
with the administrative problems and investments in infrastructures that
dramatically reduce the time required to move goods in and out of the country.
Movement along these lines has been very limited in the view of a number of
analysts (Bhattacharya and Rahman, 2002; Rahman, 2002; Rose, 2005).
Focusing on the issues of the global apparel supply chain and Bangladesh apparel sector,
we examine the current situation of Bangladesh apparel chain. Our objectives are to
investigate supply chain and logistics practices such as new orders, logistics related to
finished goods delivery, lead time in ordering and receiving items, and compliance
issues. To fulfil our objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted among garments
manufacturers of Bangladesh. The outline of the paper is as follows. In the next section,
we discuss global apparel business and the position of Bangladesh, followed by relevant
literature in Section 3. Further, research methods are discussed in the Section 4. In
Section 5, we analyse the survey results, and in Section 6 we analyse policy for
sustainable business. Finally, the conclusion provides a summary of our study and
recommendations for future research.
Figure 1 Relative position of countries in the US apparel market (see online version for colours)
25,000 4,500
China Vietnam Mexico
Bangladesh India Indonesia 4,000
20,000 Thailand 3,500
Trade volume: China
3,000
(US$ million)
(US$ million)
15,000
Trade volume
2,500
2,000
10,000
1,500
5,000 1,000
China
500
0 0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year
From Figure 2, the relative export volume of Bangladeshi apparel items can be seen
for the last ten years. Data show that demand for knitwear items (mainly T-shirts and
sweaters) are increasing while demand for woven items like shirts is on the decline.
Furthermore, we can see that compared to woven products, knitting exports are
outperforming in dollar volume.
Figure 2 Export volume of apparel items from Bangladesh (see online version for colours)
TROUSERS
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Year
Insights of apparel supply chain operations 327
Export markets for Bangladeshi apparels differ considerably in terms of market access
conditions and product composition (Razzaque, 2005). EU is the largest destination of
Bangladeshi apparels and 80% of the countrys total garments were exported to EU
during 2007 (BGMEA, 2008). From Figure 3 (data source: BGMEA, 2009), it shows
that during the fiscal year 20062007 Bangladesh exported to the EU countries around
US$ 4614 million garment products which accounted for 57% of its total garments
exports. In the EU market, apparel products have had a continuous strong demand until
2007. The end of quotas for China from 1 January 2008 brought downward pressure on
prices in the EU clothing market and required suppliers to become more competitive. The
Bangladesh garments sector also faces challenges in EU market due to the global
financial crisis and recession. Furthermore, the market has regulation of two-stage
EU-GSP criteria. According to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) criteria, to
get duty-free access to EU market, least developed countries exporters require significant
local value additions ensuring that fabric of garment are produced in the sourcing
country. The GSP enables exporters in developing countries to benefit from preferential
tariffs in the markets of industrialised countries.
The second-largest market of Bangladeshi apparels is the USA. In the post-MFA era,
Bangladesh is holding its previous position in most of the apparel supplier categories for
the US retailers. From Figure 3, it can be seen that during the fiscal year 20072008
Bangladesh exported around US$ 3355 million garments products to the USA, i.e. about
31% of total exports. From US import statistics, we can also see that Bangladeshi
garments export has 7.2% apparel market share in the USA. It is remarkable that, during
2008, export of Bangladeshi apparel products to the US market shows an increase despite
the economic crisis. The reasons behind growth of Bangladesh export products are
mainly because products are mostly functional, less costly compared to competitors and
offer a good value for money. Bangladesh registered a 12.5% export growth in woven
products and 25.9% export growth in knit products to the US market at a time when
US imports of these items actually shrank by 3.6% and 1.6%. (Murshid et al., 2009). In
the USA, Bangladeshi apparel products do not enjoy any preferential duty-free or quota-
free benefits. Moreover, disadvantageous geographical distance further increases
logistics cost as well as lead time.
Figure 3 Apparel exports as a percentage of total exports of Bangladesh (see online version
for colours)
16000
Total Export
14000 Total Apparel Export
12000 Apparel Export in US market
Export volume (US$ million)
8
7
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
-9
-9
-9
96
97
98
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
-2
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
328 K. Ahsan and A. Azeem
Overall, Bangladesh apparel sector is rising; it shows consistency in the post-MFA era
and performs quite well even in the global economic downturn of 20082009. Though
Bangladesh has bested the worst of the predictions, with the continuous increase of
apparel exports, growth does not compare to China as shown in Figure 1. The apparel
sector adds value mainly in manufacturing and related services and relies heavily on
imported textiles. This places the sector at a cost disadvantage against China. Particularly
since the lifting of safeguards against China in 2008, Bangladesh and other competitors
face more challenges.
Before analysing the current supply chain situation of Bangladeshi apparel sector, we
analyse the existing apparel supply chain literature and use relevant information in our
survey questionnaire design. With a brief supply chain process map we investigate current
trends in apparel supply chain. We focus on identifying the role of middleman. Further,
we look at issues like supplier selection criteria, global logistics indicators, manufacturing
and fabrics ordering lead time issues, supply chain partnership and compliances issues.
Departmental
Textile supply Apparel stores
(yarn, synthetic fibres, manufacturers Buyers
fabrics)
Discount chains
Suppliers Manufacturers
Branded
apparel
companies Catalogue stores
Trading
companies Factory outlets,
mail order, etc.
A brief buyer-driven apparel supply chain diagram is shown in Figure 4 (adopted from
Appelbaum and Gereffi, 1994). Within the upstream of the chain, there are suppliers for
cotton, synthetic fibres, fabrics and other apparel accessories. The next tier consists of
apparel manufacturers, followed by buyers and finished product distribution network.
The last tier is related to retailers and end customers. The information travels from the
retailers down to the manufacturer through buyers or trading companies, then on to
the fabric supplier in a straightforward lateral movement. On the other hand, apparels
move in the opposite direction towards the retailers. Bangladesh apparel supply chain
is mostly buyer driven; according to the local term it is dominated by buying houses,
i.e. representative of foreign buyers.
Apparel supply chain consists of two contrasting production systems characteristic of
buyer-driven chains: the assembly and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) models.
The assembly model is a form of industrial subcontracting in which manufacturers
provide the parts for simple assembly to garments sewing plants. The OEM model is a
form of commercial subcontracting in which the buyer-seller linkage between foreign
merchants and domestic manufacturers allows for a greater degree of local learning about
the upstream and downstream segments of the chain (Gereffi, 1999). Bangladeshi apparel
industry is more like doing the assembly model. Local apparel manufacturer or apparel
supplying firm makes a product according to a design specified by a buyer and buyers
assist in logistics.
and cost performance of logistics services differ markedly across countries and they may
have a significant effect on trade competitiveness. These variations in time and cost
across countries stem from differences in the quality and cost of infrastructure services,
as well as differences in policies, procedures and institutions (Hausman et al., 2005). In a
study, Subramanian and Arnold (2001) identify that the differences in logistics
performance are driven only in part by poor quality of physical infrastructure services
such as road, rail, waterways, port services and interfaces. Instead, the inadequacies often
are caused by policy and institutional constraint such as procedural red tape, poor
definition and enforcement of rules of engagement, delays in customs, delays in ports and
border crossings, and pilferage in transit.
Researchers identify a number of global logistics indicators from the 80 economies
(Hausman, 2004; Lee and Whang, 2005). The indicators are total time and cost for trade-
related procedures, total time for document processing, total number of documents per
trade transaction, number of signatures per trade transaction, time to resolve customs
appeals, shutdown of port due to natural disaster and labour dispute, vessel turnaround
time and percentage of container inspected. Hausman et al. (2005) examine the time and
cost of importing and exporting a typical 20-foot full-container-load container with
medium-value products. For measuring performance of trade logistics services, they use
four key indicators such as cost of processing a typical import or export transaction, the
average time required to process a typical import or export transaction, the variation in
time for completing an import or export transaction and the complexity of transactions.
The complexity of trade transaction may be caused by red tape and bureaucratic variables
such as the number of documents required, the percentage of containers inspected and the
criteria for inspection.
the USA, Asian countries are a cheaper source compared to the neighbouring Central
American sources but the supply chain lead time is longer (Kiley, 2006). According to
Kumar and Arbi (2008), for the US markets, large seasonal orders outsourcing could be a
big cost saver. For short-term market demands or innovative items, lead time of the entire
apparel supply chain could be improved if certain controllable factors, such as order
processing capability building, could be made an efficient way.
4 Research methods
5 Results analysis
The assistance of statistical evidence is essential to draw conclusions from empirical data
or to generalise them. There are many statistical techniques for empirical research such as
descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test, F-test, regression or correlation, path analysis,
cluster analysis and factor analysis. Of the techniques, descriptive statistics is useful for
small or large sample size and to make data more intelligible for the purpose of
describing industry practice (Flynn et al., 1990, p.264). To identify apparel industry
practices in Bangladesh, we selected 25 questions out of 46 that were relevant to the
research objective. We conducted a descriptive statistics analysis of data and summarise
the results as follows.
companies, with the remainder having some defined method but only to a limiting extent.
The most widely practiced supply chain elements are production planning and
scheduling, inventory management, purchasing, warehousing and sales forecasting. Local
manufacturers are in an uncertain situation in predicting demand forecast. Forecasts are
largely based on previous year demand and are developed by customer group.
Figure 5 How apparel companies get new orders (see online version for colours)
92%
Figure 6 Ranking of necessary criteria to acquire new orders (see online version for colours)
Price
5.00 Ranks
4.48
4.00
Financial soundness Successful previous orders
3.00 4.25
2.00
1.83 1.00
Ability to supply different
0.00 Timeliness
products 1.75 4.23
1.33
3.23
2.85
Logistics and infrastucture Flexible volume of orders
Compliance
Figure 7 Average time taken to export standard cargo shipment of apparel goods (see online
version for colours)
Duration in Days
8 Cum percentage 1.2
7
1 1
6 0.9 0.95
0.85
Processing time in days
5 0.75 0.8
0.65
4 0.6
0.5
3 0.4
0.35
2
0.2
1
0 0
Conclude sales Assemble and Port- Terminal Packing goods Pre-shipment Arrange Inland Port- customs
contract and process handling activities inspection and transport; waiting transportation to inspection and
secure letter of documents clearance for pickup and port of departure clearance
credit loading on local
carriage
1 3 7 2 4 5 6 8
Procedure
terminal handling activities. Survey result proves the statement logistics performance are
driven only in part by poor quality of physical infrastructure services, instead the
inadequacies often are caused by policy and institutional constraint (Subramanian and
Arnold, 2001). For Bangladesh, authorities, particularly the government, should take
initiative to ease goods handling and reduce bureaucratic process. In the long run, this
will reduce lead time and make the local apparel industry more competitive in global
business.
Comparing data with other countries from the World Bank report (Doing Business in
2006, 2006), we can see from Figure 8 that Bangladesh apparel industries require less
documents and signatures for exports and imports compared to both the Bangladesh
average and the regional average. The reason behind the fewer signatures is due to the
governments recent initiative of fewer processes for terminal handling activities in
export and import of garments-related products. However, compared to OECD countries,
the process is more bureaucratic and needs further improvement.
Figure 8 Importing and exporting process for developing vs. developed countries
40
Survey result Bangladesh *
35
Region* OECD*
30 * Data source: World Bank 2005
25
20
15
10
5
0
Documents for export Documents for import Signatures for export Signatures for import
The survey shows that 67% of respondents use less than 50% of local fabrics and other
inputs. Most of the apparel manufacturers need to buy fabrics from overseas. Those
companies revealed that they purchase fabrics from abroad because customer-specified
fabrics are not locally available, sometime available but of poor quality, and available but
at high cost. Within the apparel value chain, the most time consuming part of apparel
manufacturing is the fabrics buying process. Usually manufacturers purchase customer-
specific fabrics from overseas. For a new fabric purchase order usual lead time is around
50 days and for succeeding orders of similar type the lead time comes to around 30 days.
Hence, the process consists of placing an order for the fabrics, receiving confirmation
from buyers or retailers, making final contract with the fabric manufacturers,
manufacture of the fabrics and receiving the imported fabrics. Due to poor infrastructure
and increased dependency on importing raw materials and garments machineries, the
purchase order to delivery cycle (or lead time) of the garment industry is at least one
month longer than in major competing countries, for example China. This problem has
become more critical in these days since the industry now needs to compete with much
smaller margins.
Other issues that arise in having such a long lead time include natural and man-made
uncertainties. Among natural uncertainties flood is the main issue. Due to floods, supply
network is often disrupted. Man-made uncertainties also occur quite often and are mainly
due to political turmoil and breakdown of law and order situation in the country. Other
like situations include labour strikes within the factory and at the port. There are
numerous impacts of a long lead time. Companies miss deadlines and lose market and
market share. When the due date is very close, emergency alternative shipment by air
becomes necessary, which is expensive and ultimately reduces the profit margin. Longer
lead time also creates liquidity crisis and causes problems of payments to employees.
Bangladeshi companies are doing well in business, have been enjoying continuous
growth, and consider China as number one competitors (34 respondents), followed by
India (19 respondents) and other South Asian countries (12 respondents) as their major
business competitors. China is the number one competitor, as they have shorter lead time
and a very supportive backward linkage in the industry. Competition is also coming from
India, as the country has good backward linkage, cheap labour cost and infrastructure
facilities. Many companies (20%) identified their main competitors from these countries,
challenging mostly in terms of product cost.
Although companies seem concerned about environmental issues, not much is being
done in practice. From Figure 10, we can see that many companies (around 25) impose
targets to focus on renewable energy consumption and green production, whereas only a
few companies are considering incorporating waste recycling. Current energy supply and
demand situation is not favourable for companies. Due to inadequate electricity supply,
most factories are using private generators for electricity. Increasing energy costs
increase production costs and constantly erodes profit margin. It is important to find
alternative economic sources of energy and companies should also practice optimal use
of energy.
Apparel industries are practicing health and safety issues within the workplace. We
found 25 surveyed companies having health and safety management certification issued
by a recognised independent authority. Only 22 companies have ISO 9000 quality
standards or equivalent. The survey identifies that most of the companies have
incorporated or started to incorporate health and safety and labour standard issues within
their policies. They also have regular health and safety inspections within the
manufacturing plant. Almost 32 companies buy group accident insurance policy and
38 companies provide general medical care facilities for their employees.
Overall, we identify some evidence of health and safety and labour standard practices
with the industry. In most of the places, it is only tick-mark practices. The sufficiency
and adequacy of the doctors, nurses or facilities are not within the scope of the survey.
However, we presume that existing resources and facilities are not sufficient to ensure a
healthy and safe working place and environment. Frequent local and international media
reports on workplace fire hazards and accidents also raise concerns about current health
and safety practices. Health and safety issues should be a companywide culture and a
matter of everyday practice. To ensure labour standards, environmental and health and
safety compliances, top level management should initiate the policy and then implement
it through documenting everyday practices, creating awareness among employees and
continuously developing practices to attain sustainability.
52%
48%
40%
27%
3%
consumption
recyling
Clothes from
production
Less waste
generation
Renewable
Waste
Green
organic
energy
cotton
Insights of apparel supply chain operations 339
The garments sector is almost 100% export oriented and therefore sensitive to global
market demand. Because of the highly competitive market, the USA, the UK and other
EU retailers have reinforced the quick response and the accurate response services within
the supply chain. To ensure these services, garments companies must use resources to
develop an integrated and synchronised supply chain system. For this purpose, use of
appropriate technology plays an important role in providing these services. They have no
defined supply chain management practices within their business. Most businesses are
buyer driven and have little or no connection with the retailers. The industry cannot
forecast demand and most of the time needs to wait for the buyer. Communication
technology is limited to the use of telephone, fax and internet (emails). On the other
hand, these days foreign buyers like Target, Wal-Mart, etc. depend on modern
technology like EDI, e.doc, bar-coding and scanning, RFID, etc. Unfortunately, locally
owned companies are unable to spend huge amounts on technology.
To adjust with the new global market, it is necessary for apparel manufacturers to focus
on various external and internal soft and hard issues. The industry is stressing the
importance of achieving duty-free access in the international market and of relaxing the
rules of origin to enable facing the post-MFA challenge of global competition.
Backward linkage 1
Quality 2
Political stability 3
Economic stability 5
Less bureaucracy 6
Transparency in business 8
The survey identifies several important factors for sustainable growth (Figure 11). The
most important factors are to develop backward linkage, maintain quality, political
stability, acquire better skilled labour and attain economic stability in business. Foreign
buyers or companies can provide assistance to local companies for sustainability. Buyers
can help to develop efficient ordering and supply systems, provide training for employees,
assist in introducing new technology, obtain environmental compliances and develop
safety measures in operations.
340 K. Ahsan and A. Azeem
7 Conclusion
Bangladesh apparel sector is growing and consistently showing its presence in global
apparel chain. The sector is working hard towards more local value addition. The main
strength of the sector is low-cost and high-quality products. In addition to the competitive
wage rate, other advantageous factors are the easily trainable workforce, expandable
supply side capacity and continuous governmental policy support. A study by the Harvard
Centre for Textile and Apparel Research shows that Bangladesh enjoys a cost advantage
over China as Bangladeshi garments workers earn 39 US cents an hour, while the hourly
wage for sewing and stitching in coastal China is 88 cents (Mukarjee, 2005). However,
the meaning of low cost does not necessarily mean lower wage rates. The industry needs
to maintain a lower cost advantage in every aspect of apparel business and should find a
proper place to cut costs and become a market leader in quality and responsiveness.
There are many weaknesses in the Bangladesh garments industry. The sector is facing
tough competition in reducing lead time and total production cost, and in ensuring
compliances. Predominant factors of longer lead time are poor logistics infrastructure,
inefficient and disintegrated policies, and weak backward linkage. The reliance of
imported fabrics takes an extra 2030 days in total lead time and the sector is at a
disadvantage compared to China.
The garments industry is hampered by costly logistics infrastructure bottleneck. The
Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest quarterly identifies logistics infrastructure
as contributing to the higher maritime cost of Bangladeshs apparel exports to the USA,
compared with China. The port of Chittagong, which handles 85% of trade, has been
described by the ADB as a serious tangle in the supply chain. Chittagong port is facing
serious problems of poor infrastructure, low labour productivity, weak management and
numerous restrictive labour practices (ADB, 2004).
Bureaucratic processes of doing business are also responsible for longer lead time.
Our survey finds that within everyday apparel business undertaking many documents
need to be prepared and a lot of approvals (signatures) are required. Such practices are
unhealthy for any business. The country needs to change the public policy for efficient
logistics system. Bangladeshs long-term viability as an apparel manufacturer rests on the
adoption of policies that appreciably lower trade costs associated with the administrative
problems, integrated supply network system and investments in infrastructures that
dramatically reduce the time required to move goods in and out of the country (Weil, 2006).
The sector relies heavily on imported textiles. Our survey shows almost all
respondents feel the importance of backward linkage within the constraints of local
resources. It seems the backward linkage in the garments sector is vulnerable due to
uncertainties in domestic and international supplies of raw materials (cottons, fabrics and
other accessories) and machineries, transportation infrastructure, natural calamities, the
political situation of the country and other socioeconomic factors. Further, infrastructural
development and development of backward linkages are vital for improving the
contribution in local value addition within manufacturing.
It is also important to develop strategies to respond quickly to the market through
customised products, with less total landed cost, less total lead time and a better service
level. Strategic decisions will help entrepreneurs to incorporate environmental and socio-
economic sustainability practices that are now considered as tick-mark practice. It will be
beneficial to conduct further research to find backward linkage areas and the feasibility
of establishing these linkages. More research and empirical study may also be necessary
to analyse the supply chain issues of the sector.
Insights of apparel supply chain operations 341
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