Apparel industry survey
APPAREL INDUSTRY SURVEY
1. Introduction to the industry
Companies that design, manufacture, market, and/or license brands for men's, women's, and/or children's clothing, footwear, and accessories (1). The fast-paced exciting apparel industry is one of the largest industries in the United States. Americans spend billions of dollars each year on soft goods ranging from the latest apparel fashion to basic underwear.
2. Recent economic trends
The apparel sector is an important element in early economic growth of countries in early stages of development. The abundance of low-skill workers fits well with an industry that requires physical labor rather than mechanized production methods to produce its goods. As the economy develops in time, the education and skill levels of those workers rise, and with them rise workers' wage rates. They become less and less able to produce apparel at prices competitive with other countries that are not yet as developed. But they become better able to manufacture products that require greater levels of skill, like cars or steel. Apparel production begins to shift gradually out of the country to countries that still have an abundant supply of low-skill workers.
3. Major firms, their size in sales, number of employees, assets
Table 1. The top 5 companies of the apparel industry (2)
Company Name Revenues($ Millions) Number of employees Assets($ Millions)
Nike 9,893 22,700 6,443.0
VF 5,182 60,000 3,503.2
Jones Apparel Group 4,341 17,112 3,852.6
Levi Strauss 4,137 12,400 3,017.3
Liz Claiborne 3,718 12,000 2,296.3
4. Segments, niches, and competitive patterns
Segments and niches: The consumer apparel segment includes jeanswear and related products, women's intimate apparel and children's apparel, occupational apparel, knitwear, outdoor apparel and equipment. The outdoor apparel and equipment segment consists of the company's outerwear and adventure apparel, plus daypacks and technical equipment, sports apparel and distributor knitwear operations.
Competitive patterns: The branded companies of the apparel industry are capable of designing, manufacturing, and marketing apparel products, thus making themselves very competitive.
5. Subsidiary industries (suppliers, vendors)
The subsidiary industries include design, manufacture, and marketing consisting of departmental stores, outlets, company-operated specialty retail and outlet stores, and concession stores where its products are sold in third-party-owned locations.
6. Cross-national (international, Multi-national) opportunities
At the age of globalization, products of the U. S. apparel companies can be found in every corner of the world.
7. Unique practices
Unique practices include implementation of leading-edge supply chain capabilities combined with a holistic business process that dramatically reduces cycle times, [next page]