Diversification of Suppliers to Ensure Continuity of Wholesale Apparel Supply

Citation: Kostiuchenko Kyrylo, "Diversification of Suppliers to Ensure Continuity of Wholesale Apparel Supply", Universal Library of Business and Economics, Volume 02, Issue 02.

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This paper examines systematic supplier diversification as a key mechanism for ensuring the continuity of wholesale apparel supply under conditions of high volatility in global markets and escalating logistical and geopolitical risks. The study aims to develop and substantiate an integrative multi-sourcing strategy that combines traditional supply-chain optimization methods with advanced digital tools, enabling prompt response to disruptions. The relevance of this work is dictated by the concentration of over 70% of global apparel exports in Asia, a sharp rise in spot rates and an increase in transit times by 3–4 weeks, which have driven logistics costs up by as much as 20% and threatened disruptions during the golden quarter of sales. The novelty of the research lies in the combination of risk-pooling and postponement with formal segmentation methodologies and the digital-twin and control-tower platforms, as well as the introduction of financial models for evaluating the economic efficiency of diversification scenarios. The methodology is based on the analysis of 17 sources: UNCTAD statistics, McKinsey and Bain reports, industry case studies, and proprietary data from the Fashion Atlas Group, together with a quantitative assessment of key KPIs. The main findings demonstrate that a comprehensive approach—including geographical, structural, model-based, and logistical diversification—allows for reduction of safety stocks and smoothing of demand fluctuations, reduces Time-to-Recovery by 20%, and that the application of a digital twin plus control tower enables operational switching of supply flows in the digital circuit and shortens Time-to-Switch to 7 days. A practical case study of the Fashion Atlas Group, which has integrated over 600 factories and 40 brands, confirms the feasibility and significance of the proposed strategy for the fast-fashion industry. This paper will be useful to supply-chain managers, strategists, and researchers in the fields of logistics and fast fashion.

Keywords: Supplier Diversification; Supply Continuity; Apparel Supply Chain; Risk Pooling; Postponement; Kraljic Matrix; ABC-XYZ-FSN; Digital Twin; Control Tower; OTIF; Time-to-Recovery.

https://doi.org/10.70315/uloap.ulbec.2025.0202007