Managing Logistics in Fashion Markets

The fashion industry has been beset by the problems of volatile and difficult to predict demand. Many companies involved in manufacturing and retailing in fashion markets have seen the profitability severely affected by their inability to match supply with demand. Traditionally, it was assumed that the problem lay with inaccurate forecasts and that if only those forecasts could be improved then everything would be fine. In fact, experience seems to suggest that even though forecasting techniques and methodology have continued to develop in their sophistication, they can never deliver the accuracy required for managing logistics in fast moving markets. The answer, we would suggest, lies not in better forecasts but in reducing the dependency on the forecast. The way to bringing this about, it can be argued, is through lead‐time management.