Questions are to be expected when you come out with an industry-changer. So we sat down with the man behind the team that brought forth Project F.L.X. – Bart Sights, vice president of technical innovation at our Eureka Lab.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Levi’s® has partnered with Girlgaze to create four short documentary films about women who have stepped up and made a difference in their communities and the world at large.
The history of Levi Strauss & Co. and our products is often told through men. But the contribution of women here were just as crucial to the company’s success. This month, we look back at some of those who impacted LS&Co. in ways big and small.
This past year was a turning point for Levi Strauss & Co.’s business, with the highest annual revenue growth rate this company has delivered in a decade. Learn more about our 2017 accomplishments.
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EU takes on digital giants with new revenue tax
“Under the current proposal — which needs to be approved by all EU member countries before becoming a reality — EU governments stand to collect some €5 billion a year in revenues from the proposed 3 percent tax, which is a major shift from the traditional policy on corporate tax that goes after company profits where they are booked.” [Politico]EU leaders show UK the Brexit runway
“The ambition on the U.K. side is to secure a bespoke Brexit deal — one that maintains as many of the benefits of U.K.-EU trade as would be feasible outside the single market and the customs union. And they seem increasingly confident that they can achieve it. On the Brussels side, there is still a bright red line when it comes to any attempt by the U.K. to cherry-pick EU benefits.” [Politico]
Middle East
Total to seek waiver if U.S. reimposes sanctions on Iran
“US sanctions will resume unless Trump issues fresh ‘waivers’ to suspend them on May 12.” [Tasnim News Agency]
Africa
New US$1bn financing programme to promote South African trade
The financing will support the South Africa-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Programme, which “will focus on South Africa-based entrepreneurs, helping them join regional supply chains. It will offer trade and project financing, guarantees, twinning/business matchmaking services, export logistics facilitation, capacity-building and trade information and advisory services to companies seeking trade and investment opportunities in Afreximbank’s member states.” [Global Trade Review]One-month pilot production phase begins at Algeria-Turkey textile factory
“The factory will be built over an area of 250 hectares in Sidi Khattab, in the north western province of Relizane, and includes eight units which will produce various types of textiles under the project’s first phase. According to the ministry statement the second phase of the project will include 10 factories that will produce ready-made garments, industrial fibres, denim, and knitted and woven fabrics.” [Middle East Monitor]
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Almost three years after the struggling department store chain revealed it would stop selling consumer electronics, Sears has announced that it will start offering the product category again in one-third of its stores.
Worldwide logistics company DHL has unveiled a new delivery service specifically for online retailers. DHL Parcel Metro is a fast and flexible service that offers same-day and next-day delivery in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Aaron Brothers will close its own locations and offer framing services inside Michaels stores, Target and Kroger are discussing a merger, plus more need-to-know news from the world of retail.
Tracking shoppers across channels and serving up useful products and solutions in real time is within reach. Download this eBook to learn how to successfully compile data from all available sources into actionable information.
Tracking shoppers across channels and serving up useful products and solutions in real time is within reach. Download this eBook to learn how to successfully compile data from all available sources into actionable information.
Zombie Brands: Kozmo.com, the poster child for late-’90s ecommerce fails, is being revived (at least in name) as a grocery delivery service. This is an increasingly crowded space, but the company is focusing on bulk purchases, which would put it in competition with Boxed Wholesale and Costco.com. KB Toys is also potentially being revived. The name was bought in 2016 by a firm that repurposes defunct brand names, with the intention of using it for an online store. With Toys “R” Us’ demise, though, KB Toys might get new life in pop-up retail.
Good News for Advertisers: Amazon is forecast to take a greater share of ad revenues, eMarketer estimates, so retailers might want to know how shoppers interact with ads on the online platform. According to CPC Strategy, 65% of US internet users said they rarely notice ads on Amazon, and around one-quarter described Amazon ads as useful and helpful, which sounds promising for advertisers. Only 9.6% didn’t trust ads on Amazon.
eMarketer’s Snapshot of infographics illustrates our US estimates on mobile usage and ad spending activities from in-app ads, to mobile ad formats and more. Compliments of Oath, eMarketer’s industry-leading research will help marketers recognize the opportunities within the 2018 mobile landscape.
Discount Fashion Winners: Off-price retailer T.J.Maxx tied with big-box discounter Target for first place among value-oriented fashion retailers, with 47% of the US consumer vote, per research from Market Force Information. When it came to specific attributes, different stores came out on top. Burlington was ranked first for merchandise selection (36%), ability to create a “look” (37%) and ability to find correct sizes (37%). Ross Stores scored highest (57%) in value for money spent. Target had the top website: Over half (51%) of respondents had visited it in the past 90 days, and 72% went on to make a purchase.
US apparel import volumes declined in December as the holiday season came to an end. But while shipments from Vietnam continue on an upward trajectory, other top suppliers China and Bangladesh have seen their fortunes fluctuate.
Executive Summary
Key Findings
In this study, conducted in November-December 2017, RSR in partnership with JDA
Software, set out to learn about “retail disruptors” – retailers that are defining the game of
retail transformation. What we found will surprise you. We dispel several commonly held
myths about who industry disruptors are and how they do it, and along the way also learned
that disruptors share several characteristics: Disruptors “live” at the intersection of growth vs.
scale; they focus on the best products, delivered in the fastest, most responsive way, through
the best customer experience; and they deliver on their promises consistently and profitably.
The following are some of the highlights of our research:
• There are four major areas that disruptors focus their differentiation strategies on: unified
commerce, informed insight, customer acquisition, and the role of the store. We discuss
each of these in the section entitled Disruptive Behaviors.
• One myth about retail disruptors is that they must be digital pure plays. As even giant
Amazon.com has come to recognize with their purchase of Whole Foods Market, this
simply is not true. Disruptors are positioning the transformed store as an essential
component of a unified commerce experience. Find out how in the section entitled The
Role Of The Store.
• Disruptors think about technology in a different way than non-disruptors. They make
judicious investments in technologies that keep them close to the customer and also
support speed and efficiency. But disruptors are also more interested in a fast learning
curve than they are in the “perfect” solution or a well-defined ROI from their technology
investments. Read about how disruptors use technology in the section entitled How
Disruptors Use Technology: What’s The Vision?
• Finally, we discuss What Happens As Retail Disruptors Mature.
The history of retailing has seen many retailers burst onto the scene in a blaze of glory, and
burn out in the business equivalent of seconds. On the flip side, the past decade has shown
us that staid retailers with long and storied histories can and will fail if they don’t adapt to
changing times. As RSR always does in its benchmark studies, we offer several
recommendations – this time to both non-disruptors and disruptors – to help them avoid
burning out too quickly or moving too slowly in these changing times. Learn more in the
section entitled Recommendations.
We hope you find value in this study,
Nikki Baird and Paula Rosenblum
If your company imports wearing apparel and need expert guidance sorting through the many layers of customs rules and regulations, then this webinar series is meant for you! Learn how to classify wearing apparel under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule in five sessions. In this five-part series, Tom Gould will review a variety of apparel samples and discuss the specific features that US Customs and Border Protection focuses on when determining the correct HTS classification and duty rate. The first webinar in the series will cover the basics of Apparel Classification.
Key Topics:
Knit v. Woven
Gender & Age
Resources
Definitions and Terminology
Stitch Counting for knit Tops
Fiber Content & Composition
Cotton
Other vegetable fibers
Man-made fibers
Silk, Wool & Animal Hair
Mixture of 2 or more Fibers
Our Speaker:
TOM GOULD is Senior Director, Customs and International Trade, for Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. He is based in Los Angeles, where he has been involved with the international trade community since 1989, and is affiliated with ST&R’s San Francisco office. Mr. Gould joined ST&R after running his own customs consulting business in the L.A. area for more than a decade. A licensed customs broker and certified customs specialist, he regularly advises clients on customs and international trade compliance matters, classification, origin determination, qualification for free trade agreements and special duty reduction programs, product safety and supply chain security. He works with retailers, importers and exporters of textiles, wearing apparel, footwear and consumer electronics, among others.
How do you deliver high-quality, durable denim styles to consumers when and where they want them while improving and modernizing the manufacturing process for the 21st century?Welcome to the future of jeans manufacturing, where Levi Strauss & Co. is leading the way.
Today, we announced Project F.L.X. (future-led execution), a new operating model that ushers denim finishing into the digital era. It digitizes denim finish design and enables a responsive and sustainable supply chain at an unparalleled scale. By replacing manual techniques and automating the jeans finishing process, Project F.L.X. radically reduces time to market — and puts us on a path to eliminate thousands of chemical formulations from jeans finishing. In short, Project F.L.X. delivers a cleaner jean that fully adheres to the Levi’s® standards of craftsmanship, quality and authenticity.
“We believe it is possible to be both agile and sustainable without compromising the authenticity our consumers expect from us,” said Chip Bergh, president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.
Specifically, Project F.L.X. enables us to:
Replace manual techniques and automate the time-consuming, labor-intensive and chemical-reliant process of hand-finishing: For more than 30 years, the apparel industry has used hand-finishing to accentuate worn, faded design elements on denim. By using lasers in new ways, finishing time is cut dramatically – from two to three pairs per hour to 90 seconds per garment, followed by a final wash cycle.
Create “photo-real” finished garments digitally: By digitizing the finish design and development process, LS&Co. designers can now create finishes and final garments with a revolutionary new imaging tool. Built by LS&Co., this advanced imaging capability cuts finishing design and development time in half (from months to weeks and sometimes days) and is so accurate the digital files can be sent directly to the vendor and quickly scaled to mass manufacturing.
Take advantage of on-demand and even hyper-local production capabilities: By delaying decisions on final products until much later in the process, LS&Co. can radically reduce its lead times from more than six months to as fast as weeks or days in some cases. This is made possible by staging garments that await their on-demand finish order closer to the market.
Eliminate thousands of chemical formulations from its supply chain:LS&Co. plans to reduce the total number of chemical formulations used in its finishing process from thousands to a few dozen. This is a major step forward in the company’s commitment to achieving zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020 and furthers its goal of pioneering more sustainable apparel.
“With this new model, we can deliver the authentic and iconic products we’re known for in an incredibly responsive and responsible way,” said Liz O’Neill, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer for Levi Strauss & Co. “The advanced imaging capability is a game-changer for us, and something that has eluded our industry for years.”
Born in Eureka
Project F.L.X. was built in-house at LS&Co.’s Eureka Innovation Lab by a team of designers, developers, chemists and engineers passionate about revolutionizing the apparel industry to better meet consumer needs while also doing right by the planet and the people who work in the apparel supply chain. A number of LS&Co. team members were retrained and reskilled in software development and laser operations. Retraining will be a key tenet as this new model rolls out globally.
To help unlock the benefits of more sophisticated laser technology, LS&Co. turned to long-standing partner Jeanologia, a leader in eco-efficient solutions for fabric and garment finishing. Since 1993, Jeanologia operated with the ambition of advancing sustainable apparel manufacturing by delivering disruptive technologies, including ozone, laser and e-flow finishing systems. The company’s like-minded focus on scalability was essential to supporting LS&Co.’s end-to-end, transformative vision.
An industry-changer
LS&Co. has begun piloting Project F.L.X. with select vendors and retail partners and will roll it out across its supply chain in a phased approach over the next two years.
“One of the biggest challenges we face as an industry is ensuring we have the right products at the right time as well as the ability to respond to our customers’ evolving needs with speed,” said Paige Thomas, Executive Vice President and General Merchandise Manager for Men’s and Kid’s at Nordstrom Inc. “The team at Levi’s is working towards this challenge by contributing to the future of the apparel industry as one that’s both agile and uncompromising on quality, while improving sustainability. We’re excited to be part of it.”
WASHINGTON — American manufacturers say they expanded in February at the fastest pace in nearly 14 years.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reports that its manufacturing index climbed to 60.8 in February from 59.1 in January. This was the strongest reading since May 2014. Any score above 50 signals growth.
The gains largely came from a surge in the employment and inventory components of the index. New orders and production expanded in February but at a slower rate than in January.
Among 18 manufacturing industries, 15 reported growth last month, including electronic products and transportation equipment.
U.S. manufacturing has expanded for the past 18 months. Solid economic growth around the world and a weaker dollar — which helps exports — have fueled the gains.
Specifically, Project F.L.X. enables us to:
