The first-of-its-kind centre across Asia Pacific will comprise of a core team of industry experts and be responsible for developing premium products and solutions that cover the entire logistics value chain – from materials purchasing to sampling, to quality control of production and delivery to boutiques, as well as provide consultancy services to customers.
“South Asia is a key sourcing, manufacturing and distribution base for the global fashion industry. The logistics sector is worth over US$3.9 billion per annum, and it forms a critical component in the global supply chains of the world’s best known brands,” said Amadou Diallo, CEO (South Asia Pacifi c), DHL Global Forwarding.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka alone are estimated to account for well over US$2.4 billion in the fastgrowing industry.
“In South Asia, Finished Apparel is the fastest growing segment and is expected to continue to grow rapidly. As manufacturing moves to lower cost countries, supply chains in the fashion industry have become extended and more complex, increasing trade and legal demands including import controls, quotas and tariffs.”
Apparels and footwear constitutes the largest airfreight and ocean freight export commodity group from South Asia to Europe for DHL Global Forwarding, accounting over 16 per cent of total airfreight export volumes, and 13 per cent of total ocean freight export volumes.
Apparel and footwear also dominates the top export trade lanes from South Asia to Europe. India-Germany is the top airfreight export tradelane for South Asia, and apparel and footwear comprised 33 per cent of total airfreight export in 2008. Vietnam – Germany is the top ocean freight export tradelane for South Asia and apparel and footwear was the largest commodity exported accounting for 28 per cent of total ocean freight export in 2008.
“Fashion companies compete on design, price and range availability. Multiple seasons each year result in product complexities of size, colour and style. More importantly, garments need to be available for sale where and when they are needed. A holistic supply chain management solution can deliver a competitive advantage by enabling customers to gain greater control of their supply chains and maintain the highest levels of product availability,” said Amadou Diallo.
