APPAREL\\\


Synchronised shipping for the garment trade


APL Logistics has launched a shipment planning platform to help major freight buyers coordinate their


transportation ShipmentOptimizer, it says,


activities. is the


industry’s first global shipment planning platform capable of automatically generating the best plan against three concurrent objectives, namely cargoes arriving at destination on the preferred date; maximising space and load utilisation; and minimising overall door-to-door transport costs. ShipmentOptimizer has already


been rolled out with a world-leading sportswear brand last November and is now being deployed with two other international apparel giants. The system integrates a web-based


shipment planning and optimisation tool with APL Logistics’ supply chain expertise and technology applications using algorithms specifically designed to handle complex and ever-changing supply chain environments. The plan is continually updated as assumptions or conditions change, relying on real- time data fed by other applications in APL Logistics’ technology suite. In a pilot test with one customer, APL Logistics’ system cut the shipper’s


shipments – for example, delivery date, size, type of cargo and so on – and used that as the basis of the planning process. “That makes it go much faster,


so you can complete the process within say, 90 minutes,” points out Bedard. The almost real-time speed of the Optimizer also brings the great benefit that forecasts are no longer out of date as soon as they are produced. Before deployment, APL Logistics


shipment planning process from two days to 90 minutes, with only a single, fully automated run to arrive at the optimal plan. It also gives the shipper greater control over product flow, as it can forecast shipment schedules, support collaboration among the shipper’s partners and automatically flag any deviation from plan. APL Logistics’ director of strategic


account management, Thad Bedard, looks after some of APL Logistics’ largest global apparel and retail customers and has played a major role in the conceptualisation and commercialisation of the ShipmentOptimizer with the three apparel customers who have signed up thus far.


He explained that while using


software to plan domestic shipments was nothing new, the new Optimizer is programmed in a fundamentally different way that makes full optimisation viable for international transportation for the first time: “In the past, companies have used linear models that looked at, perhaps, five variables which they then used in sequence to form a conclusion. But they failed, because they didn’t take account of the complexity of international transport and they take too long to do the job.” The new software first attaches


available schedules against individual shipments before looking for the similarities among different


will sit with the customer and map all its unique global business rules – for example, which shipments may travel together in the same container, which brand names can be go on the same delivery truck and so on. Once the rules have been set up and validated, the system can quickly churn through the massive amount of data that a multinational fashion retailer typically generates and produce an optimal shipping plan very quickly. “What’s particularly exciting about it is that, with the industry facing so much uncertainty, it’s hard to know when the next crisis or the next opportunity for our customers will be – this allows them to deal with that.”


UK lends its supply chain expertise


Entrepots are emerging as an important factor in the apparel trade, says Davies Turner chairman Philip Stephenson. This


type of activity, which


includes warehousing, quality control, picking and packing, sorting, relabelling and customs clearance, was traditionally done in the UK, but Turkey and in particular Istanbul is emerging as an important alternative. Britain does


not lose out though, because it is UK expertise that is making Turkey an alternative hub for the fashion trade, Stephenson points out. “The UK has always been very good at supply chain, at co-ordinating this type of activity,” he says. Along with Turkey, Romania


and Bulgaria are among the main suppliers of fashion goods to the UK. More volume comes from the Balkans, Poland, Lithuania and


Ukraine. In North Africa, Morocco remains important though traffic from Egypt has dwindled. “One or two of the big household names in the UK were sourcing from Egypt, but the revolution hasn’t helped and,


before that even started,


nor did the level of bureaucracy,” Stephenson said. Asia also remains an important


source – for example, South India along with China.


In the UK, fulfilment activity for internet sales is becoming increasingly big business for Davies Turner, which is looking to invest in and expand its activities in this segment of the market. “Traditionally, many forwarders haven’t engaged much with the handling side of the business, but we see it as an important part of our competitive edge,” Stephenson explains. “In fact it goes together very well with forwarding.”


A dedicated follower of fashion


Freight forwarder Bellville Rodair International established a dedicated high end fashion division called Couture seven years ago after working


with a major fashion


designer to develop a way of transporting high value garments with less risk of damage or crushing. Anton Conlon, business


development manager for the division, says the differentiator for the business is its specially-designed


containers and totes, including light collapsible totes, wardrobe totes designed to fit into ocean containers, tote inserts, the BRI Rack System, the Couture Vault and a cloth box called the Clox. BRI offers both garment on hanger


(GOH) and flat pack services along withcustoms clearance, warehouse and distribution and specialised domestic transport. For GOH deliveries, garments


remain hanging throughout the


delivery process with adequate space to prevent creasing or crushing. This means garments do not have to be steamed on arrival, which helps to save time and prevent damage. The BRI Couture Wardrobe


comprises two hanging rails and when used in conjunction with a cascading rope which loops over the top of the rail, can provide room for 100 to 160 suits or 280 to 460 dresses.


The company recently worked with a milliner to develop a more secure way of sending hats to Milan, coming up with an insert to sit within a tote which offers up to 27 different compartments across three layers to keep loose fragile items protected. BRI has Couture logistics centres


in Stuttgart, London and Toronto and counts Prada, milliner Louis Mariette and Swiss menswear manufacturer Strellson among its clients.


Rene de Koning


As a young and dynamic company, IJS Global is boosting its service provision in a number of key vertical markets including fashion – and in particular on business to consumer e-fulfilment and home deliveries. Chief marketing officer, Rene de


Koning, says: “Changing consumer demands mean reduced time to market for all fashion goods and that’s where the logistics supplier has to be both keen and highly flexible.” Reduced time to market is vital


for the major chains, as many are now offering up to four ‘collections’ a year. Margins


are constantly


under pressure which means collections are oſten smaller and


Issue 2 2012


41 It pays to be picky


The biggest retailers and their third partly logistics suppliers are investing heavily in automated systems for handling cartoned fashion items, says Phil Steeds, sales director at TGW in the UK. The TGW Group, which has


subsidiaries and supplies systems throughout Europe, the Americas and other parts of the world, has detected a trend whereby retailers and logisticians are eschewing traditional palletising and pre- sorting garments prior to again picking and palletising them in favour of systems that allow boxed fashion goods to be stored in bulk and then picked and palletised – at a per-carton level if necessary. “It takes a couple of steps out of the process and, if you are also doing e-commerce operations, you can also deliver cartons direct to a pickface.” There are many advantages to


automation – better use of labour and lower land and real estate costs among them – but it is not for everyone. The capital costs are high – a fully automated system with conveyors, pickers, sorters and bar -code readers can run


into millions – and time and effort needs to be put into ensuring that cartons have machine-readable barcode labels affixed to them, especially if goods are being shipped from unsophisticated low- cost countries. Nevertheless, retailers and


3PLs are increasingly investing in automation, despite – or perhaps because of – the recession as it is one of the best ways of improving return on investment. Another factor that is driving


automation is because much of the remaining growth in the fashion sector is in online retailing, for which sophisticated systems are needed if the supply chain is to function properly. Several of the smaller clothing firms have clubbed together to make the necessary investment while in other places the investment has been made by the 3PLs – generally with the backing of a long-term contract with the retailer, says Steeds. Logistics firms also have a role in helping the smaller fashion retailers work together on investment programmes, he adds.


Shorter shelf life keeps logisticians on their toes


more focussed and with a shorter shelf-life. The result is that buyers order smaller quantities, they keep lower inventory levels and focus on cost reduction by getting their logistics providers to consolidate shipments from multiple vendors while providing them with full supply-chain visibility. “As a relatively new player in the


market (six years old) we’ve a web- based IT system built and based on the very latest technologies which provides that fully transparent supply chain alongside warehouse management and local distribution, perfect for the fashion logistics industry,” states de Koning. Along with people, systems are the one differentiator which ensure IJS can offer customers a “best in class” solution, he explains. IJS has a major facility at


Manchester specialising in efulfilment while in Maastricht in the Netherlands it operates a large warehouse dedicated to the Hop and


Lun specialist swimwear underwear


company. In


Amsterdam it is about to move to a new 9,000 sq m dedicated facility which will also be TAPA certified.


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