26 November 2022, Mumbai:
Shifting GSCs geographically is not something new as it keeps shifting from country to continent. Breaking down the conundrum & dilemma of disruption by means of changed strategies, shifting priorities, and raising safeguards after the onslaught of the pandemic which is not still not gone out of the system and still is very much within the system.
Central banks have injected steroids into the economies through the last two and half years but anyone would know they are a big enemy to the system's health in the long term as it has debilitating effects. The burden on GSCs is immense as time is ticking in the face of everyday disruption and, the courage to pursue is the only silver bullet if one has any, help come out of the trough to the ilk.
Often it has been witnessed during the downcycle that companies have different ways to navigate by being productive in challenging, volatile times testing the resilience of any supply chain on the back of intense belief as a testament.
De-risking global supply chains (GSCs)
The principle guiding force for GSC rejigs/reinvigorating figuring out how to de-risk & build credible alternate GSCs of intermediate goods and services is quite a challenge in the anxious times we are living in. The disruption in GSCs caused/upended by covid-19 adversity, followed by another demand and in some sense supply shock battering the global textiles and garment industry's (T&C) supply chains gasping for revival, throwing companies and other stakeholders in a tizzy.
Changing geopolitical landscape
As we see resources getting more scarce and, the impending "Law of Inverse Consequences" of the US-China trade war has already made the situation unamenable upending the global textile economy turning the supply chain on its head.
But it was 1st time when we saw the urgency of serious global players having a large sourcing base in China looking at especially China Plus/China plus two/China alternate/Europe plus one strategy given their recent commentary as a GSC narrative.
Therefore, one of the foremost considerations was cost mitigation by reconsidering/reinventing the supply chain building blocks of the critical-most need for many, given the transformation necessitated flexibility, competitiveness, innovation hack, self-help, and agility as cornerstones.
The ecosystem is trying to re-balance the risks well decoupling to the degree possible without being obligated to the stark reality of unfolding geopolitical developments and not giving away any intentional appetite to veer away from the past when the world is in a unique place to discover the world beyond China as far textile GSCs scenario is concerned and, the theme is so well fitting to create alternate pathways or Atmanirbharta/self-help models in the textile GSCs.
Where do we go from here?
There is no debate on China being globally numero uno among garment and textiles exporters, but one cannot close eyes to unleashing developments on the ground leading to several emerging markets pivoting likes of Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia lately taking a prominence portending a future trend of wresting control of a slice of global textile cake/pie playing a pivotal role in the global fashion industry's dynamics.
Albeit the trouble is there are pain points/prime obstacles/imponderables as inexperience plays out & suppliers in these countries are still in the infancy level of cultivating their production processes and the transition definitively is not going to be a cakewalk as rediscovering unrivaled China still remains challengingGlobal Supply Chains (GSCs).
What is remarkably arguable is," India is in a uniquely good place & well poised to be the next ‘+’ opportunity for the global supply chains as new narrative building in the globalized markets interestingly is discovery mechanism, The Geopolitical Economic Imperative for Reorganising Global Supply".
Supply Chain Management
Just to set the records straight; according to USDA, a deeply incisive survey result conducted earlier in one of China’s leading provinces for textile and apparel/garment manufacturing outlined the killing effect of the so-called PRC’s zero-tolerance COVID policy in what we regard globally as championing the cotton market/critical piece of textile and apparel/clothing (T&A) market where things have gone awry; 'LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS' and just not a tick box exercise, something unthinkable before faltering on the metrics of production estimates been down, escalating costs in a nation having exported deflation for decades, chronically delayed deliveries, constantly acute labour shortage and administration struggling to get the dichotomy right/need to take some tough decisions and it is proxy to the world trying to look at parallel GSCs as long as risks are priced well.
