1.Short Term View

Every business and clothing supply chain manager has the goal of purchasing more at a lower cost, faster production speeds and better quality. For us, this led to an increase in quality inspectors, a bunch more planners, and eyes on every order. But the results backfired, not only did our goal not materialize, but the process became longer and more painful. This is not surprising at all, as all the above practices are typically performed by companies with short term views.

In the clothing manufacturing industry, we often see brand companies constantly evaluating suppliers delivery rate, quality qualification rate and cost achievement rate. At the same time, various fines and penalties can be imposed on suppliers, and even departments created to rate the supplier's "cooperation score", but the mistake of a brand handing over a shirt to the supplier for development and production of a tweed coat is often conveniently overlooked.

The main reason this happens is that brands work based on orders, rather than managing suppliers. The focus is on the administrative tasks at hand rather than the long-term strategy of supplier relationships.

2. Long Term view

The long-term approach mainly focuses on managing supplier relations and improving supplier performance.  Long term approach style of management is about the total cost and supplier chain efficiency. This is done by encouraging suppliers to participate in product development as soon as possible and by working to suppliers’ strengths to achieve a win-win situation. This structure establishes a set of systems that evaluates supplier capabilities, taps supplier potential, optimizes supplier performance, and mobilizes supplier participation.