FINAL CONSIDERATION

Philippe Matignon takes a week of work, to make 1kg of the yarn for the cheapest sock takes a day.

In addition, Philippe Matignon offers a number of variables of unique sizes and colors that other brands do not have, which is also an extra service for the customer.

The packaging is also different, while Golden Lady's envelope is a paper envelope with Golden Lady, the size and color written on it, Philippe Matignon's envelope has a perfectly white paper with the brand's gold lettering on it, with the cardboard inside where the stocking is wrapped, this is to let people know that the product is different, that it is a higher quality product.

In terms of warehouse management of this type of product, the picking and shipping part is done in the same way as other brands. This product is stored in gravity shelves that allow manual picking by operators who place these products in cartons for

shipping. The checking of products to be shipped is always done in the same line using RFID technology.

Extra attention will be paid instead to the measurement of KPIs, especially in KPIs that relate to product quality and are analyzed at the production stage.

For Philippe Matignon products, the company cannot afford to have defective products because this would cause both economic damage, in terms of material cost and

production time, and brand image. This means that if, during quality control, which takes place before the ironing and drying stage, Philippe Matignon pieces are found to have some defects, the cause must be thoroughly investigated to avoid other defects in the future.

8.8.2 PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING

As mentioned earlier, nowadays, market demand forecasts are no longer reliable and cannot be taken into account as it was done a few years ago to decide the quantities to be produced and the type of product to have in stock.

As of today, customers want products that are always new and many times customized with fairly short lead times. To meet these needs, companies must be fast in production and shipping.

The company must always be ready with all the components, raw materials that are needed to produce the goods they offer to the market and improve the production part to increase the speed of response.

For example, even item changes on the production machines have become routine, whereas before they used to work on efficiency and therefore each change caused a decrease in efficiency, today it is the norm, it is a strategic factor. The company must

make sure to speed up this part of production by creating e.g. ready-made kits for changeover, specialized personnel etc.

The speed of production and shipping is the factor that allows companies to remain competitive in the market.

Golden Lady has already worked on this over the years making production very fast and is able to ship their products today for tomorrow.

This advantage also depends on the type of product they offer to the market, since it is a seasonal product, the summer months when sales are greatly reduced are taken

advantage of to fill the warehouse with classic products that are repurposed every year, in this way even if they sell less in a given year, the same items can be sold the

following year. The same reasoning cannot be made for those products with particular designs or colors that change every year for each collection. This way they engage the production machines during the summer to fill the warehouse with these 'classic' products and during the winter months they can use the machines to produce the other products according to market demand. This is also what makes Golden Lady the unquestioned sales leader in their industry.

This reasoning can be made and works for a company like Golden Lady in that, despite the various brands they have to manage, they have managed to make the production that goes from dyeing to storage and distribution more or less standardized, as well as for the type of product they have that allows them during the summer break months to fill the warehouse and be ready when the market will demand that product.

But, for clothing or shoe companies, production is continuous, there is continual resets so the same solutions cannot be put in place.

Whatever type of company, speed is critical to staying alive in today's fast-paced market.

This is true for almost all except unique products.

Some customers, who may be considered elite customers because of their economic possibilities, may require one-of-a-kind pieces, thus the creation of a product such as a handbag or dress that no one else in the world has.

In this case, the cost or time of production and shipping take a back seat because it is no longer enough to have the designer item but true luxury becomes a one-of-a-kind item in the world.

This is done for all luxury products, from accessories such as handbags to custom-made clothes to wedding dresses, cars, and home accessories.

Another solution adopted by companies to remain competitive in the market during the customisation phenomenon is late differentiation is a method of organising the

manufacturing or assembly process in which final finishing operations or product

customisation are pushed as far downstream as possible and, if possible, completely disconnected from production or assembly.

This method of organisation makes it possible to obtain a low manufacturing cost and to allow a certain degree of customisation, differentiation, and to take into account specific customer requirements or expectations.

In the luxury ‘normal’ apparel or handbag market, on the other hand, you have

continuous restores, as these are products that are sold year-round, so there are always new collections to be produced.

For these kinds of fashion & luxury companies, a more connected and agile supply chain is needed; we have come to the era of 'agile supply chain commerce.' To reshape the supply chain and make it more 'agile' and 'adaptable' to the new variables we face on a daily basis (such as adverse economic, political, health, and environmental situations), the enabling factor is technology and omnichannelity.

The logistics of the fashion world have always been challenged by the peaks resulting from the seasonality of this industry and the release of new collections. With the ever-increasing prevalence of e-Commerce in the fashion industry as well, the supply chain has to deal with a greater amount of goods to control, a high number of orders, and very often reduced timelines

People who buy clothing, footwear and accessories online expect not only to have a wide selection available, but also to be able to receive their purchases within a few days.

In order to be flexible and respond to new requirements, companies have therefore adapted over time by increasing control of their stock in the warehouse, streamlining processes throughout the supply chain, from production to delivery to the end customer, and above all, synchronizing processes with each other. To do this, they decided to turn increasingly to automation. An efficient answer has been found in automated

warehouses, which have the property of being able to be fully integrated throughout the supply chain. These automated warehousing systems, in addition to making the best use of available space, make it possible to reduce the timing of flows while keeping their quality intact or even improved.

In addition to this, companies need to monitor new trends and be ready to expand on them as well. These trends include, for example, using esports to test new products or the metaverse as a possible world in which to expand their stores.