Solved! Garment Sourcing SolutionSource Custom Uniform Garments for New Business Unit
client
A new entity within an existing business unit with a contract to pilot test and eventually supply one of the largest charter school systems in the U.S. with school uniforms.
initial situation
The new business unit did not have the experience or personnel to investigate the garment market. The pilot program included four different logos shared between ten schools. The total maximum student registration for the pilot was 5,000 sprinkled across K-12. If the pilot is successful, a full rollout would supply 80,000 students across multiple states. It also required a warehouse and system to fulfill orders from a new website to be developed by B90 in a separate SOW.
Each school brand has a unique logo embroidered on a polo shirt and a fleece jacket. Its PE uniforms (t-shirts and mesh shorts) are silk-screened with a similar logo. The company required a supplier to provide a variety of sizes (youth and adult), colors, embroidered or silk screened, bagged, and tagged with unique SKUs and UPC. All items were to be loaded into a yet-to-be-determined warehouse. It did not have any previous sales data to help generate an order by school, size, or color, only a maximum student enrollment count which was not guaranteed. The client also required a point person to engage and initiate all recommendations from the consultant.
challenge
- GARMENTS:
The company required a supplier for all garments (polos, jackets, and PE uniforms) who can also embellish, bag, and tag each unit.
- INITIAL ORDER OF GARMENTS:
Without existing sales data how many garments per size, color embellishment, etc. are necessary to pilot 10 schools
- WAREHOUSE:
The company’s existing business units did not require a warehouse. Therefore, it needed a warehouse, employees, and a WMS to sync with its new website and existing Oracle
task
- Lead the initiative and launch the program as acting interim VP of Sourcing
- Identify and recommend suppliers for quality polo shirts and embellishments
- Identify and recommend suppliers for quality fleece jackets and embellishments
- Identify and recommend suppliers for quality PE t-shirts and embellishments
- Identify and recommend suppliers for quality PE shorts and embellishments
- Investigate and recommend a warehouse and fulfillment system
- Forecast and purchase initial inventory for all garments
- Design and create all tags, SKUs and UPCs for the garments
solution / approach
- Researched garment industry as it relates to custom embellished polo shirts and PE uniforms. Uncovered a supply chain shortage exists. It would be difficult to source from existing distributors and embellishment houses and maintain quality control.
- Recommended a private label program to control quality and promote a single corp. brand
- Recommended the PE uniforms not have a school logo, but a new corp. logo designed for the client by B90. This significantly helped with inventory control.
- Identify, collaborate, and negotiate with factories in Latin America for manufacturing
- Lead a small international team to develop garment tech packages for production use
- Collaborated with key stakeholders including school principals from all schools
- Coordinate international logistics for inbound containers
- Recommended the company delay setting up a new warehouse for this pilot program. Instead, utilize a 3PL warehouse that can integrate with the new website for fully automatic fulfillment and returns.
- Recommended, negotiated, and launched an integrated 3PL warehouse program
key results
- Bypassing distributors to manufacture garments increased margins by 25-40%
- Reduced PE uniforms SKU count by 75%
- Using a 3PL warehouse in lieu of leasing, setting up automation, and staffing a 5,000 sq. ft. warehouse and office space saved over $150,000.00 in 2022.
- Not hiring employees to develop the products, sourcing, and logistics saved $200,000
- Continuation of the interim agreement continues to save $200,000/yr.
- Products are to be available in the 3PL warehouse on July 1, 2022, for the pilot school year.