Performance apparel is a fascinating microcosm to examine. Even though many performance garments are worn for strolling through malls, the business is highly competitive. Athletic wear designers are constantly searching for innovative fabrics, thus providing new markets for textiles. All this requires quick response manufacturing of ever more complex styles. Offshore manufacturing struggles to meet the demands of this environment.
New styles require constant equipment tinkering, new line configurations, and operator retraining.
On the other hand, if a particular product takes off, the lower offshore manufacturing costs will pay off handsomely. However, the domestic manufacturer cannot survive with small runs and samples, there has to be some domestic volume to support their facilities and staff. Second, we propose that standard accounting practices make offshore manufacturing appear much cheaper than it really is. The true costs and the associated accounting practices must be identified. Their initial order might be a few garments in each size of a dozen styles for 20 stores.