I always hear that time has changed and so have the dynamics of the business…, but I am not really sure that it is true! 

Talking to a Buyer or reading about his sourcing strategy will really impress you on the importance given to social, environmental and safety issues. Not only that, every analysis or rating done by any bank or consulting company or even the media will, besides laying importance on compliances, talk about certain other sets of priorities like transparency in the system, the financials, and of course the sewing capacity and support infrastructure. These are just a few among the many other issues, which will tell you what all is important to the Buyer to be its, one among many others, a preferred supplier. 

But don’t get hassled and worried of such a long list of ‘what to do’ because what’s been written as ‘must haves’ is in reality a ‘feel good’ list to make you think ‘he cares’. What the buyer really cares about and has always cared about is the Price, Price and Price…

I have written ‘Price’ three times not just for emphasis but also because of the three phases in the negotiation…, all concerned with the price of the product. Firstly, the buyer gives you his price and asks you to match the price, since you can’t match it for obvious reasons, you will give your price, on which he will ask you to rework on the design or some technique to match his price…, said in a more straightforward manner…; the original price stays!

My conclusion has come after talking to manufacturers all across the globe and for whom the Buyer is ‘penny wise’. He is ready to ignore and overlook many of your shortcomings if you are ready to match the price, even to the extent that you may outsource the entire style. The reasons are many; firstly, he does not have enough manpower in the manufacturing destinations to monitor each and every manufacturing unit where the program is placed to ensure that the entire style is made in the same compliant unit. 

Neither does he have detailed information on the orders booked or in the running of that factory, to help him take an informed decision on whether to place the program with that factory or not. And finally he is not ready to pay a penny more to compensate for ‘the matters he claims are important’ like Living Wages of the workers or even willing to extend help and compensate for the cost towards safety and other welfare schemes being asked by him. 

What the Buyer does, in exceptional cases where he doesn’t want to pull out orders, again for obvious reasons like in Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza incident, is to become a consultant for ‘change’ advocating what needs to be done and making sure the world is listening, while production continues as usual. I may sound like a cynic…, but I have seen and heard enough to know that it is the industry which is making the efforts for change, while buyers are sitting on the fringe looking for the ‘right price’.

But in all honesty there is only so much one can push operators for efficiencies to get that elusive price… I think new yardsticks need to be created. Till then technology is the saviour and CISMA was full of options to support the industry in the endeavour… This issue carries a detailed review of some interesting technologies on offer. Also of interest to our readers is the preview of digital printers to watch out for at ITMA.