With the increasingly competitive nature of the footwear industry, it is imperative that businesses have accurate, up-to-date information concerning the status of their orders and their position in the supply chain. Speed to market and better efficiency play a crucial role, more so today than ever before, and now is the perfect time to look at ways to ‘get ahead' and embrace technology for better working and shorter lead times.
Well, times have changed and Colvanbridge Ltd has evolved into something far from the routes it laid down 30 years ago when its only customer was the British Shoe Corporation and the company's sole role was moving footwear from origin to delivered BSC Leicester warehouse.
The Leather Working Group (LWG) environmental stewardship program has carried out over 100 audits of leather suppliers around the world. This equates to 1.7 billion ft2 of leather or approximately 15% of global footwear leather production. This coverage continues to grow as more brands engage with the program. Brands currently involved are; adidas-group, Clarks International, IKEA of Sweden, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Nike Inc, Pentland Group including (Berghaus, Boxfresh, Brasher, Ellesse, Franco Sarto, Gio-Goi, Hunter, KangaROOS, Mitre, Kickers UK, Lacoste Chaussures, ONETrueSaxon, Radcliffe, Red or Dead, Speedo, Ted Baker Footwear), The North Face, The Timberland Company, Wolverine World Wide Inc including (CAT, Merrel, Hush Puppies, Patagonia, Wolverine, Track n Trail, Sebago, Chaco, Hytest, Bates, Cushe, Soft Style), Airwair International Ltd, K-Swiss International, Marks & Spencers and Nine West Group.
Cris Stephenson, Divisional Managing Director, TNT Fashion Group maintains that speed to change is more important than speed to market:
"I was struck by a comment Sir Philip Green made on Radio 4 recently. Looking at pressure on retailers to be competitive in a rocky climate, he said that the supply chain is everything.
With over 30 years' experience in the footwear industry, Essex-based Unique Forwarding Ltd.'s team of footwear specialists in air and sea transportation guarantee rapid delivery times in accordance to fixed timetables
Logistics are increasingly becoming tougher for most companies in the manufacturing and distribution sectors, says Joanne Bentley, Managing Director SPH Europe plc. "Given the current state of the economy, budgeting for logistics will be difficult, that is why outsourcing to a third party company such as SPH makes sense, not only do you just pay for what space you occupy, but a company will only ever pay for what resource is required."
Combining traditional values of quality service to its customers with rapid response to the demands of the modern marketplace, the Jacobson Group develops its brand-led business model. Its partnership with international logistics service provider, Dachser, ensures the streamlined distribution of its products to European retail outlets.
