I recently attended a faculty curriculum review at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). I have been on faculty since 1997 where I teach 4 separate classes designed to give graduating students updated FACTS about the Textile/Apparel manufacturing industry. FIDM is a private college, and is rated by certified academic organizations that not only rate the curriculum, but the compliance to be allowed to maintain accreditation. FIDM was rated at the highest levels of academic teaching by the two top accreditation institutions in the USA.
One of the key reasons for the high ranking of the institute is the constant changes in the course curriculum to meet evolving needs of the industry. Since I wrote the curriculum, I have been updating these courses of study every year. These courses are as follows:
1. Labor Compliance Regulations Domestic USA, Federal, and State, and International;
2. Branding and Licensing for our apparel industry;
3. Free Trade Agreements (FTA), now established, and working, and those still pending; and
4. Full Package Manufacturing covering Sales/Marketing, Merchandising/Design/Engineering, Production, and Finance.
Roochi Traders Inc., USA Direct your queries to: bberton@roochi.com
I sat in a room listening to very professional teachers, discussing their particular courses, for curriculums of both 2 year AA degree, and 4 year courses of study to obtain a BS degree… to discover that the most strategic new innovation technology was the sourcing by the intranet!
I questioned what is happening to the relationships built on face-to-face, or eye-to-eye contact, between facility owner and the buyer in their business dealings, or the true profiling, and the understanding of the variables in the manufacturing of a garment at each facility?
I was told this is either done by 3rd party service firms, or just contractual forms filled out and signed by both parties. I guess I am getting old, and of the old school of “HANDS ON” relationships when purchasing millions of dollars worth of product, and trying to have my product produced at the most competitive cost, made to my quality of specifications, and on-time delivery is just going to take place automatically… How can you buy without knowing the people you are buying from?
I believe understanding the cultural differences in the countries you are working in, having first-hand knowledge of the quality of the workers, the infrastructure both of management, and equipment to be able to perform is knowledge, I need prior to placing an order.
The knowledge of the weather, fuel or power needed to function in order to produce, and what is available in the particular region the factory is located, is all part of knowing the facility and the relationship that is built first hand.
I was told all this can be obtained easily by using intranet or other means from second party information… It reminded me of many, many years back, I was producing tailored suits for a famous designer (still recognized today), in Korea, and the fit models in Korea available being used were about the difference between a male Lion and male Tiger, both are of the cat family, but they surely do not look alike!
True today we have tech packs, marking equipment that can be transmitted globally, in order to try and establish uniformity in each and every garment, but it is also true that “YOU ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK”!
Having the ACADEMIC knowledge is the beginning, so we can speak the same language of our industry, but academic knowledge does not give you the necessary capabilities to MULTI-TASK, when all the variables start to take place in the manufacturing process, where a “HANDS ON” working relationship between the buyer and factory is the key in solving the problems…
The faster the solution between buyer and factory, the less money it will cost to solve the problem.
The language barrier of just using terms that are industry known, can be misunderstood, that can lead to very costly errors, and hurt future business.
The Textile/Apparel Industry is called the SOFTGOODS INDUSTRY, as we do not use molds, the sewing machine can sew thousands of different styles, so therefore understanding all the technical skills one learns in a academic learning instruction is wonderful, and necessary to accomplish the requirements of the consumer, but I still recommend an eye to eye relationship between manufacturer and buyer.
