Title: Leagility in fashion supply chains: the potential of integration for managing complexity

Authors: Shahriare Mahmood; Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä; Pekka Kess

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

Abstract: Offshore manufacturing and outsourcing trend in recent days in fashion industry complicates their supply chain (SC). This study focuses to this perplexity and assesses the potentiality of leagility to achieve required competitiveness in such circumstances. The nature of the fashion supply chain is recapitulated and the aspect of leagility is observed within existing literature and through case studies. The tendency of global sourcing, e.g., quick supply of manufacture economically obliges them to rethink the SC strategy and leagility is beneficent in this context in absorbing the turbulence. This research provides a direction to the retailers unsure about the apt strategy by demonstrating the relevance of leagility in fashion SC. It also builds the base for further deeper study for implement the concept in different part of manufacturing chain.

Keywords: leagility; supply chain; fashion industry; responsiveness; analytic hierarchy process; AHP.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMED.2019.102755

International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, 2019 Vol.18 No.4, pp.316 - 329

Received: 26 Apr 2018
Accepted: 29 Mar 2019
Published online: 02 Oct 2019 *

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