China, as a leading apparel manufacturer and exporter in the world possesses significant market potential for growth because of its growing demand power. Given that low labor costs are increasingly no longer one of the competitive advantages held by Chinese apparel manufacturers, developing powerful and profitable globally recognized apparel brands may be the way to obtain sustainable success for firms in the Chinese apparel industry. Accordingly, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990) will be applied as a theoretical framework to discuss the competitiveness of a nation’s apparel industry. Brand management, satisfying exacting domestic demands, and stimulating marketing competition will be integrated. Using Porter’s theoretical foundation for demand conditions, a proposed model of fashion sophistication is introduced and a measurement survey utilizing Gen-Y Chinese fashion consumers is assessed. Furthermore, the research on Gen-Y consumers’ fashion sophistication discovered their specialized characteristics which represent exacting domestic demand for apparel products.

With the rapid development of the global economy, the Chinese market is the largest consumption market in the world. Chinese domestic enterprises as well as global apparel enterprises target at the Chinese market. Enterprises informatization becomes a competition weapon to earn Chinese market shares. Supply chain management (SCM) could play an important role in the supply chain competition at the apparel industry. IT is like a nerve system for supply chain management (SCM). SCM clearly depends upon integrated information systems (IS) for sharing data on the various activities along the supply chain. This thesis focuses on analyzing the application of information technology in the supply chain management in the apparel industry. In total, four cases are studied with an emphasis on their application of IT in SCM. The Gunasekaran model is used to evaluate each case regarding application of IT in SCM. Through the analysis of information technology in supply chain management, we illustrate the development of informatization in the apparel industry, and derive recommendations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Chinese market regarding appropriation of IT in SCM. / <p>excellent presentation and informative thesis</p>

O contexto econômico e político da indústria Têxtil e de Confecção nacional mostra que há uma constante preocupação em relação aos sucessivos déficits da balança comercial nos últimos anos. Diante deste cenário, a presente pesquisa busca responder como a sistematização e a integração do processo de projeto e de produção pode contribuir para a melhoria do processo de desenvolvimento de produto de moda? E tem por objetivo propor um modelo de referência de desenvolvimento de produtos baseado na integração e na sistematização que possa ser aplicado na indústria de confecção da área da moda, indicando as atividades e tarefas que a empresa deve seguir. Desta maneira, é investigado o estado da arte dos modelos de projeto de moda, a fim de identificar as diretivas que foram utilizadas na elaboração do modelo proposto. Utilizando-se da estrutura do modelo de projeto integrado PRODIP para nortear a proposta, desenvolveu-se o modelo MODIP (Desenvolvimento Integrado de Produtos em Moda) e através de um modelo de estruturação do PDP é analisada a situação atual do desenvolvimento de produtos de uma microempresa de confecção de vestuário, identificando os pontos críticos e sugerindo soluções viáveis de implementação do MODIP e conclui-se que a sistematização proposta pode contribuir para a organização do PDP de uma empresa. / The economical and political context of the Brazilian Textile industry shows that there is a constant concern in relation to the successive deficits of the trade balance in the last years. Before this scenario, this research seecks to answer the question of how the systematization and the integration of the project process and of the production can contribute to the improvement of the process of development of fashion product? And it has as objective to propose a model of reference for development of products based on the integration and in the systematization that can be applied in the industry of confection of the area of fashion, indicating the activities and tasks that the company should proceed. Thus, the state of art of fashion Project models was investigated, in order to identify the policies that were used in the elaboration of the proposed model. Making use of the structure of the model of integrated project PRODIP to orientate the proposal, the model MODIP (Integrated Development of Products in Fashion) was developed and through a model of structuring of PDP the current situation of the development of products of an apparell industry. Its analysed, identifying the critical points and suggesting viable solutions of implementation of MODIP and it is conclued that the systematization of the model can contribute for the organization of a company’s PDP.

O contexto econômico e político da indústria Têxtil e de Confecção nacional mostra que há uma constante preocupação em relação aos sucessivos déficits da balança comercial nos últimos anos. Diante deste cenário, a presente pesquisa busca responder como a sistematização e a integração do processo de projeto e de produção pode contribuir para a melhoria do processo de desenvolvimento de produto de moda? E tem por objetivo propor um modelo de referência de desenvolvimento de produtos baseado na integração e na sistematização que possa ser aplicado na indústria de confecção da área da moda, indicando as atividades e tarefas que a empresa deve seguir. Desta maneira, é investigado o estado da arte dos modelos de projeto de moda, a fim de identificar as diretivas que foram utilizadas na elaboração do modelo proposto. Utilizando-se da estrutura do modelo de projeto integrado PRODIP para nortear a proposta, desenvolveu-se o modelo MODIP (Desenvolvimento Integrado de Produtos em Moda) e através de um modelo de estruturação do PDP é analisada a situação atual do desenvolvimento de produtos de uma microempresa de confecção de vestuário, identificando os pontos críticos e sugerindo soluções viáveis de implementação do MODIP e conclui-se que a sistematização proposta pode contribuir para a organização do PDP de uma empresa. / The economical and political context of the Brazilian Textile industry shows that there is a constant concern in relation to the successive deficits of the trade balance in the last years. Before this scenario, this research seecks to answer the question of how the systematization and the integration of the project process and of the production can contribute to the improvement of the process of development of fashion product? And it has as objective to propose a model of reference for development of products based on the integration and in the systematization that can be applied in the industry of confection of the area of fashion, indicating the activities and tasks that the company should proceed. Thus, the state of art of fashion Project models was investigated, in order to identify the policies that were used in the elaboration of the proposed model. Making use of the structure of the model of integrated project PRODIP to orientate the proposal, the model MODIP (Integrated Development of Products in Fashion) was developed and through a model of structuring of PDP the current situation of the development of products of an apparell industry. Its analysed, identifying the critical points and suggesting viable solutions of implementation of MODIP and it is conclued that the systematization of the model can contribute for the organization of a company’s PDP.

O contexto econômico e político da indústria Têxtil e de Confecção nacional mostra que há uma constante preocupação em relação aos sucessivos déficits da balança comercial nos últimos anos. Diante deste cenário, a presente pesquisa busca responder como a sistematização e a integração do processo de projeto e de produção pode contribuir para a melhoria do processo de desenvolvimento de produto de moda? E tem por objetivo propor um modelo de referência de desenvolvimento de produtos baseado na integração e na sistematização que possa ser aplicado na indústria de confecção da área da moda, indicando as atividades e tarefas que a empresa deve seguir. Desta maneira, é investigado o estado da arte dos modelos de projeto de moda, a fim de identificar as diretivas que foram utilizadas na elaboração do modelo proposto. Utilizando-se da estrutura do modelo de projeto integrado PRODIP para nortear a proposta, desenvolveu-se o modelo MODIP (Desenvolvimento Integrado de Produtos em Moda) e através de um modelo de estruturação do PDP é analisada a situação atual do desenvolvimento de produtos de uma microempresa de confecção de vestuário, identificando os pontos críticos e sugerindo soluções viáveis de implementação do MODIP e conclui-se que a sistematização proposta pode contribuir para a organização do PDP de uma empresa. / The economical and political context of the Brazilian Textile industry shows that there is a constant concern in relation to the successive deficits of the trade balance in the last years. Before this scenario, this research seecks to answer the question of how the systematization and the integration of the project process and of the production can contribute to the improvement of the process of development of fashion product? And it has as objective to propose a model of reference for development of products based on the integration and in the systematization that can be applied in the industry of confection of the area of fashion, indicating the activities and tasks that the company should proceed. Thus, the state of art of fashion Project models was investigated, in order to identify the policies that were used in the elaboration of the proposed model. Making use of the structure of the model of integrated project PRODIP to orientate the proposal, the model MODIP (Integrated Development of Products in Fashion) was developed and through a model of structuring of PDP the current situation of the development of products of an apparell industry. Its analysed, identifying the critical points and suggesting viable solutions of implementation of MODIP and it is conclued that the systematization of the model can contribute for the organization of a company’s PDP.

A sustentabilidade do planeta é responsabilidade coletiva e ações para melhorar o ambiente global são necessárias e implicam na adoção de práticas de produção e consumo sustentáveis. O desenvolvimento da Indústria Têxtil e Confecção incorpora tecnologias nos campos das ciências físicas, químicas e biológicas necessárias às atividades do setor, desde a obtenção da matéria-prima, produção de fios e tecidos e, seus respectivos acabamentos, consumindo grandes quantidades de recursos e energia. O Desenvolvimento Sustentável ao expandir o foco econômico para as dimensões ambiental e social dos processos de produção e serviços originou uma visão sistêmica dos inputs e outputs do processo produtivo e suas consequências ambientais, estruturando o conceito de ciclo de vida do produto (ACV). O objetivo desse estudo é avaliar o ciclo de vida de uma calça feminina confeccionada em malha de poliamida, utilizada como uniforme do ensino médio estadual no Paraná, do berço ao túmulo, com 3 possibilidades de descarte. Foi realizado um estudo de caso para verificar a viabilidade de aplicação da ferramenta ACV para avaliação do impacto ambiental do produto final por meio do software LCA SimaPro8.1.16Faculty. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de questionário, baseado nas diretrizes da NBR ISO 14040 que determinam as fases e procedimentos gerais da execução de um estudo de ACV, para identificar a estrutura produtiva da empresa de confecção permitindo o levantamento quantitativo de dados referentes ao processo produtivo, a identificação das entradas e saídas de materiais e energia elétrica e, a quantificação dos resíduos gerados. Algumas informações foram retiradas do banco de dados de inventários de processos disponíveis no software utilizado para este estudo. A avaliação do ciclo de vida da calça de poliamida foi baseada no Manual do Sistema Internacional de Referência de Dados sobre o ciclo de vida de produtos e processos (ILCD). A tabulação dos dados do produto foi realizada no software SimaPro8.1.16Faculty. A base de dados de inventário selecionada foi a Ecoinvent v.2 e, para realização da análise de impacto foi adotado o método de impacto gerado Eco-indicator 99. O software LCA SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty mostrou-se ferramenta eficiente para a realização da avaliação do ciclo de vida da calça de poliamida com os três cenários de descarte, permitindo a análise dos impactos ao nível da categoria de danos para a saúde humana, qualidade do ecossistema e recursos e, possibilitando a análise da carga ambiental por categoria de impacto, de acordo com o que propõe a ISO 14042 sobre os elementos de seleção de definição de categorias para a fase de Avaliação / The sustainability of the planet is collective responsibility and actions to improve the global environment are necessary and imply the adoption of sustainable production and consumption practices. Development of Textile and Confection incorporates technologies in the fields of physical, chemical and biological sciences necessary to the sector\'s activities, from obtaining the raw material, production of yarn and fabric and their finishes, consuming large amounts of resources and energy . Sustainable Development to expand economic focus to environmental and social dimensions of production processes and services led to a systemic view of the inputs and outputs of the production process and its environmental consequences, structuring the concept of product life cycle (LCA). The aim of this study is to evaluate the life cycle of a woman\'s pants made of polyamide fabric, used as a uniform average state school in Parana, from cradle to grave, with 3 possibilities for disposal. A case study was performed to verify the application feasibility of LCA tool for assessing the environmental impact of the final product through ACL SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty software. Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire, based on the guidelines of ISO 14040 which determine the general phases and procedures of the execution of an LCA study, to identify the productive structure of the clothing firm allowing the quantitative survey data for the production process, the identification of the inputs and outputs of materials and energy, and the quantification of waste generated. Some information was taken from the inventory database processes available in the software used for this study. The evaluation of the polyamide trousers life cycle was based on the International System Manual Data Reference on the lifecycle of products and processes (ILCD). Tabulation of the product data was performed in SimaPro8.1.16Faculty software. The selected inventory database was Ecoinvent v.2 and to perform impact analysis was adopted impact generated method Eco-indicator 99. The LCA SimaPro 8.1.16 Faculty software was efficient tool for the realization of assessment of the life cycle of the polyamide pants with three disposal scenarios, allowing the analysis of impacts on the category of damage to human health, ecosystem quality and resources, enabling the analysis of environmental load by impact category, according to which it proposed to ISO 14042 on the selection of elements to define categories for the phase evaluation

Mobile commerce through smart phones as an extension of the traditional electronic commerce is becoming widely implemented together with the IT development and increased usage of smart phones. The thesis is limited to the design factors to consider when adapting to m-commerce for the apparel industry, since this industry has a long experience in online and mail order business. Sales of clothing and footwear have its roots in the mail order business, which means that many users are already accustomed to purchase at a distance, which had facilitated the development.Adapting to the m-commerce trend has resulted in both profitable and user related benefits, but there are also some difficulties during the adaption to the several m-commerce solutions as well as to offer the user an accessible design and user experience. It is common that the smartphone is the only mobile device one has at the moment when a need occurs for product search or media consumption. Even though the screen size and the connection speed of a smart phone, people might at least make an attempt to use their smartphones for these purposes. For example, users keep having experiences of struggling with an unwieldy website on the smartphone to get something done. In conjunction with faster mobile networks and more powerful mobile devices, this behavior will become only more prevalent. The purpose is therefore to investigate the important design factors that exist when adapting to m-commerce and to find out what of these factors are important for the apparel industry to consider when adapting to m-commerce in order to develop an m-commerce design most suitable for the user experience. To obtain the purpose the main research question ”What are the design factors to consider for the apparel industry today when adapting to m-commerce?” is being answered in this thesis.To achieve the purpose of the study, qualitative process and data as well as quantitative process and data were used. From scientific articles, related work and independent surveys a theoretical review was carried out. The literature review has been conducted through search engines such as Summon from Högskolan i Borås and Google Scholar. The empirical study consist of an online self-completion questionnaire done by 40 respondents that has been distributed through social media, and two person-to-person interviews with the two Swedish companies in the apparel industry, Eton AB and a Swedish web shop. In the information collection we have always been concerned to get relevant, unbiased and reliable information. We have evaluated all the materials by the alternative criteria, trustworthiness as mentioned in Bryman &amp; Bell (2011). This is done in order to uphold credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability in the material and conclusions founded in the study.The results from this study involve several factors focusing on the design that may be important when adapting to an m-commerce solution in the apparel industry. These factors are drawn from analysis and discussion of the collected theory and the empirical data, from different perspectives including; user habits, user expectations, perceived security contra actual security, the transaction chain, and payment methods. Factors that are found are: The importance to adapt to m-commerce, even if the smart phone traffic and orders are low at the moment; To achieve a good and trustworthy user interface; To have different options for the user, including payment and access options; The ease of use and navigation on the web shop; The visibility of products and to have clear information on the web shop; Learnability: to make it simple for the users to use the web shop; Efficiency: to secure so that the users don’t has to spend too much time and energy to complete their task; Effectiveness: concerning the speed and to which degree the user successfully complete their task; Satisfaction is critical since if the m-commerce system does not appeals to the user they may feel less inclined to use it; Payment systems concerning the adaption to payment solutions for m-commerce web shops; Liability consider who is responsible of what parts as well as making it easy for the users to understand who to turn to if they have questions or complaints; Privacy and security, considering how to defend the m-commerce solution towards increased security threats users may face as well as making the users trusting the web shop enough to use the solution.

Background Sustainability is one of the hot topics in the apparel industry currently. Companies are working to improve an environmental impact of clothing production and social conditions at manufacturers and communicating to the public about these practices. At the same time, consumers are showing a growing interest towards sustainability in the apparel industry. However, there is little knowledge about how consumers perceive sustainability and how much they pay attention to the apparel companies’ sustainability practices. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine, with a holistic perspective, how consumers perceive sustainability in the apparel industry and how it affects their purchasing behaviour. Methodology A web-based self-completion questionnaire was conducted to examine consumers’ clothing purchasing behaviour and their perception of sustainability within the apparel industry. Convenience sampling method was used for the primary data collection. In total, 423 respondents from Sweden and Finland participated in this study. Findings The findings of this study show that the respondents are generally concerned about environmental issues in the apparel industry. However, their favourable attitudes seldom transfer into their purchasing intentions. Furthermore, the results show that the consumers of this study do not actively search sustainability information. Particularly they are not paying attention to the communication at the point of clothing purchase. Contribution This study gives insights into how consumers reflect upon sustainability when purchasing clothes and how actively they search for sustainability information. These insights are a valuable base for future improvements in order to achieve a meaningful manner in the apparel industry’s sustainability communication.

L’organisation du transport international et la gestion de la supply chain deviennent essentielles pour les entreprises multinationales quand la production se délocalise. Etant une filière dont la production se mondialise très tôt, la filière du textile-habillement illustre bien le processus de la mondialisation. Cette thèse étudie la question du transport dans la filière du textile-habillement à partir de la sous-traitance de production en Chine, actuellement le site de production de vêtements le plus important du monde. Par les entretiens avec des entreprises du textile-habillement et des organisateurs de transport en Chine, à Hong Kong et à Taiwan, nous décrivons d’abord la répartition des responsabilités de transport entre producteurs, intermédiaires et distributeurs. Ensuite nous analysons comment les acteurs s’adaptent à la contrainte du transport en organisant leur production et comment la façon dont ils externalisent leurs activités de transport affecte le marché des organisateurs de transport international. Avec les entreprises hongkongaises et taiwanaises, les acheteurs occidentaux peuvent se décharger de la coordination des activités de production en Chine. Une chaîne industrielle intégrée de l’amont à l’aval dans les agglomérations industrielles chinoises permet de réduire le temps de transport des tissus et d’autres produits intermédiaires. La vente FOB des produits d’habillement chinois laisse toute latitude d’organiser le transport international des produits finaux aux distributeurs. Le marché des produits d’habillement dans la plupart des pays industrialisés se concentre de plus en plus entre les mains des grands distributeurs. Ceux-ci sous-traitent l’organisation de transport aux organisateurs de transport à l’échelle multinationale capables d’organiser le transport international dans plusieurs pays. La domination des distributeurs dans la filière a créé un environnement favorable au développement des organisateurs de transport multinational. Cette thèse montre parallèlement les évolutions de deux systèmes, le système de la production et celui du transport, qui sont liés par l’externalisation des activités de transport. C’est un processus interactif de la mondialisation où l’un s’adapte à l’autre d’une façon complexe dans les deux sens. Le développement technique, la réglementation internationale et nationale, la force du marché, et la particularité historique, géographique et sociale : tous ces facteurs interviennent dans ce processus. Dans le cas de la Chine, nous voyons qu’un environnement de transport qui facilite les échanges internationaux des marchandises est indispensable pour que les entreprises industrielles d’un pays puissent s’insérer dans la chaîne de valeur mondiale. / The subject of international transportation organization and supply chain management are becoming essential for multinational companies in today’s global economy. The textile and apparel industry illustrates well the process of globalization in the manufacturing sector as this is an industry whose manufacture takes on a global dimension earlier than other industries. Starting from 2005, apparel exports from China accounts for more than one-third of world’s total apparel trade. Most researches on supply chain management in this industry emphasize the role of retailers, e.g. brand chain stores, department stores or hypermarkets. This paper focuses on the manufacturing aspect, namely the process from raw materials to products. We have conducted interviews with Chinese manufacturers, commercial intermediaries (Hong Kong and Taiwan), western buyers and freight forwarders. Firstly we analyze the process from textile procurement to apparel delivery, with an emphasis on the Incoterms (Internatonal Commercial Terms) and transportation mode, time and cost. We can see how the actors adapt to the constraints on transportation systems and how this shapes the way that western buyers outsource the manufacture. The apparel industry in China adopted the manufacturing model used in newly industrialized Asian countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. From 1980s, the companies in these countries moved their production chain to China and became intermediaries between Chinese manufacturers and western buyers. The manufacturers take care of everything from textile procurement to apparel making instead of handling only the final stage. A complete vertical integration in the industrial clusters in China can reduce the transport time of tissues and other intermediate products. Subcontractors in China usually sell the goods on Incoterms FOB that gives western buyers the latitude to organize international transportation. Besides, the ways they externalize their transportation activities affect the market share of international freight forwarders. Western buyers often externalize the transport organization to those freight forwarders who have their own network in multiples countries. The dominance of distributors in the apparel industry has created an environment favorable to the development of multinational freight forwarders. At last we examined the market of freight forwarders in China from the viewpoint of regulation. The western freight forwarders groups expand their global network while western industrials establish their foreign sites. As western buyers have more power to decide the transportation of exporting goods, western forwarders have also the dominance in the China’s market. In this condition, it is difficult for local Chinese forwarders to develop their own worldwide network. Hence, Chinese government takes measures to comply with the WTO principles but protect the local Chinese forwarders at the same time. This thesis shows in parallel the development of two systems, the one of production and the other of transportation, which are bound by outsourcing of transportation activities. It is an interactive process of globalization where one fits the other in a complex way in both directions. Technical development, international and national regulations, market power and historical, geographical and social features: all these factors involved in this process. In the case of China, we can see that a transport environment which facilitates the international trade is essential for the industrial enterprises of a country to integrate into the global value chain.

The present Master's thesis seeks to evaluate a business plan of Start-up Company in apparel industry. The purpose of the paper is to determine the acceptability of an introduced project. As a starting point, the theoretical part elaborates indispensable principles of the business plan providing the fundamentals for further work. Since the project is taking place in another country, the second part describes its macro-environmental factors including the analysis of essential aspects of apparel industry. Finally, the last part provides the concrete business plan, the results of which adduce a possible acceptance of the project.