Zara :Apparel Manufacturing and Retail
Zara is a chain of fashion stores owned by Inditex, Spain’s largest apparel manufacturer and retailer. In 2007, Inditex reported sales of about 9.5 billion euros from more than 3600 retail outlets in 68 countries. The company opened about two new stores for each day in 2007. In the industry in which customer demand is fickle, Zara has grown rapidly with a strategy to be highly responsive to changing trends with affordable prices. Whereas design-to-sales cycle times in the apparel industry have traditionally averaged more than six months, Zara has achieved cycle times of four to six weeks. This speed allows Zara to introduce new designs every week and change 75 percent of its merchandise display every three to four weeks. Thus, Zara’s production display match customer preferences much more closely than the competition. The result is the Zara sells most of its products at full price and has about half the markdowns in its stores compared to the competition.
Zara manufactures its apparel using a combination of flexible and quick sources in Europe (mostly Portugal and Spain ) and low-cost sources in Asia. This contrasts with most apparel manufacturers, who have moved most of their manufacturing to Asia. About 40 percent of the manufacturing capacity is owned by Inditex, with the rest outsourced. Products with highly uncertain demand are sourced out of Europe, whereas products that are more predictable are sourced from its Asian locations. More than 40 precent of its finished-goods purchases and most of its in-house production occur after the sales season starts. This compares with less than 20 percent production after the start of a sales season for a typical retailer. This responsiveness and the postponement of decisions until after trends are known allow Zara to reduce inventories and forecast error. Zara has also invested heavily in information technology to ensure that the latest sales data are available to drive replenishment and production decision.
In 2007, Inditex distributed to stores all over the world from eight distribution centers located in Spain. The group claimed an average delivery time of 24 hours for European stores and up to a maximum of 40 hours for stores in America or Asia from the time the order was received in the distribution center(DC) to the time it was delivered to the stores. Shipments from the DCs to stores were made several times a week. This allowed store inventory to closely match customer demand. In 2007 , Inditex distributed 627 million garments globally.
The following questions raise supply chain issues that are central to Zara’s strategy and success:
1.what advantage does Zara gain against the competition by having a very responsive supply chain?
Whereas design-to-sales cycle times in the apparel industry have traditionally averaged more than six months, Zara has achieved cycle times of four to six weeks. This speed allows Zara to introduce new designs every week and change 75 percent of its merchandise display every three to four weeks. Thus, Zara’s production display match customer preferences much more closely than the competition. The result is the Zara sells most of its products at full price and has about half the markdowns in its
stores compared to the competition.
ZARA的灵敏供应链系统，大大提高了ZARA的前导时间 。（前导时间是从设计到把成衣摆在柜台上出售的时间）中国服装业一般为6～9个月，国际名牌一般可到120天，而ZARA最厉害时最短只有7天，一般为12天。这是具有决定意义的12天。ZARA之灵敏供应链所展现出来的韵律，使得有“世界工厂”之称的中国相形见绌。
ZARA一年中大约推出120000种时装，而每一款时装的量一般不大。即使是畅销款式，ZARA也只供应有限的数量，常常在一家专卖店中一个款式只有两件，卖完了也不补货。一如邮票的限量发行提升了集邮品的价值，ZARA通过这种“制造短缺”的方式，培养了一大批忠实的追随者。“多款式、小批量”， ZARA实现了经济规模的突破。
ZARA的零售只设专卖店，那是ZARA的窗口与眼睛，不搞特许经营。
专卖店每周根据销售情况下订单两次，这就减少了需要打折处理存货的机率，也降低了库存成本。款式更新更快增加了新鲜感，吸引消费者不断重复光顾。快速更新店面里的货品，也确保了它们能符合顾客的品味，从而能被销售出去。
“品种少，批量大”是传统制造业的天条，而在“长尾市场”中，“款多量小”却成为当红的商业模式。ZARA以其灵敏供应链，创造了长尾市场的新样板。
2.Why has Inditex chosen to have both in-house manufacturing and outsourced manufacturing? Why has Inditex maintained manufacturing capacity in Europe even though manufacturing in Asia is much cheaper?
Products with highly uncertain demand are sourced out of Europe, whereas products that are more predictable are sourced from its Asian locations.
生产基地设在西班牙，只有最基本款式的20服装在亚洲等低成本地区生产。ZARA自己设立了20个高度自动化的染色、剪裁中心，而把人力密集型的工作外包给周边500家小工厂甚至家庭作坊，而把这20个染色、裁剪中心与周边小工厂连接起来的物流系统堪称一绝。在西班牙方圆200英里的生产基地，集中了 20家布料剪裁和印染中心，500家代工的终端厂。 ZARA以“欧洲制造”为主要营销策略，成功切入消费者内心对“欧洲制造”等同于高级流行服饰品牌的意向，其以市场需求驱动之营销策略是成功打入市场的关键之一。
ZARA采取垂直整合的生产管理。公司自己在西班牙拥有22 家工厂, 其50 % 的产品是通过它白己的工厂来完成的, 但是所有的缝制毛作都是转包商完成的。 Z A R A 的生产线都是小批量的流水线。
垂直整合的生产管理保证了产品的及时供应。自行生产才能保证抓住生产流程，紧跟时尚潮流，紧跟顾客喜好。对衣物的识别使用着统一的标准。使得在整个供应链的运作过程中，关于同一款式服装的信息之间绝对不会存在任何的不匹配现象，从而保证了信息传递的流畅，进而确保了供应链的快速响应。
3.Why does Zara source products with uncertain demand from local
manufacturers and products with predictable demand from Asian manufacturers?
local manufacturers have flexible and quick sources; Asian manufacturers have low-cost sources
ZARA运用西班牙、葡萄牙廉价的生产资源以及邻近欧洲的地缘优势，大幅降低产品制造与运输成本、提升货品上架时效并掌握JIT的及时流行趋势，是其能提供消费者所喜爱的物美价廉的产品的关键原因。
4.What advantage does Zara gain from replenishing its stores multiple times a week compared to a less frequent schedule? How does the frequency of replenishment affect the design of its distribution system? This allowed store inventory to closely match customer demand.
设计师其平均岁数只有25岁，他们随时穿梭于米兰、东京、纽约、巴黎等时尚重地观看服装秀，以撷取设计理念与最新的潮流趋势，进而仿真仿效推出高时髦感的时尚单品，而且速度之快十分令人震惊，每周两次的补货上架，每隔三周就要全面性的汰旧换新，全球各店在两周内就可同步进行更新完毕，极高的商品汰换率，也加快了顾客上门的回店率，因为消费者已于无形中建立起ZARA随时都有新东西的重要形象。
ZARA总部设有双车道高速公路直通各配送中心。通常订单收到后八个小时内货物就可以被运走，每周给各专卖店配货两次。服装被从物流中心用卡车直接运送到欧洲的各个专卖店，并利用附近的两个空运基地运送到美国和亚洲，再利用第三方物流的卡车送往各专买店。 越库配送,即商品到了配送中心以后,不进库,而直接在站台上向需要的客户进行配送,ZARA的配送中心不存储任何商品,它只是作为在当地生产公司和专卖店间调选货物改变商品运输路径的中心枢纽点,只要专卖店的订单完成打包之后, 每个专卖店的订单都被独立打包, 然后直接从配送中心载货送到专卖店上架销售为了提高配送的响应速度, ZARA在运输方面也因地制宜, 在欧洲大陆内, 通常使用卡车运输货物,在欧洲之外的地方则通常使用空运,快速及时的配送使得ZARA 专卖店每周都能进行两次商品补货或者进新品配货 ZARA拥有一个基于WEB的供应商管理平台，通过平台，总部可以检测从发货、出关、运输、通关到门店的全过程，基于信息互联完成对物流的管理。
ZARA采取前向一体化的销售模式，为了让消费者赶上最新流行的脚步，ZARA各连锁店每周一定会有新品上市，商品上下架的替换率非常快。而且各店陈列的每件商品通常只有五件库存量，属于多样少量经营模式。每周两次的补货上架，每隔3周，其服装店内所有商品一定要全部换新。全球各店在两周内就可同步进行更新完毕。ZARA只设专卖店，实行各个门店订单个性化，各门店经理通过对于店中货品销售情况的掌握，灵活地向总部订货。同时利用
POS机进行销售数据即时收集。
5.What information infrastructure does Zara need in order to operate its production ,distribution and retail network effectively?
ZARA把在西班牙方圆200英里的生产基地的地下都挖空，架设地下传送带网络。每天根据新订单，把最时兴的布料准时送达终端厂，保证了总体上的前导时间要求。建设这样一个生产基地，需要投资达几十亿欧元。许多品牌服装想模仿ZARA，可是却没有这样巨额投资的生产基地。成品服装在欧洲用卡车两天内可以保证到达，而对于美国和日本市场，ZARA甚至不惜成本采用空运以提高速度。这种大生产思维，使得ZARA品牌一骑绝尘。
除此之外，ZARA设计群也实时与全球各地的ZARA店长进行电话会议，透过了解各地的销售状况与顾客反应，来灵活变通调整商品的设计方向，因应客人的百变口味，而且在顾客购买的同时，店员已经将商品特征以及顾客资料输入计算机，藉由网际传输将数据送回ZARA总部，设计群则可掌握各种精确的销售分析与顾客喜好，再加上本身专业的时尚敏锐度，来决定下一批商品的设计走向与数量，如此一来，商品即可发挥最大销售率，也意味着能有效压低库存的出现率。
ZARA的每一位门店经理都拥有一部特别定制的PDA，通过这台联网的PDA他们可以直接向总部下订单。
ZARA有自己的信息系统对原材料进行管理，同时，在存货2方面，ZARA的存货不超过下季度出货量20%。
6、结合课堂所讲分析
我认为Zara是拉式生产。
拉式供应链是以客户为中心，比较关注客户需求的变化，并根据客户需求组织生产。
供应链管理作业 - Zara案例分析
