Zara: The Spanish Fashion Chain

Zara: The Spanish fashion chain

Zara is a Spanish art fashion chain, (La Coruña) belonging to the Inditex Group. It was founded by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera. It is the flagship chain of the Inditex textile group and has more 2.040 stores distributed all over the world. Zara’s success must mainly a synergistic system of three principles: 

1. Close the communication cycle. Its supply chain is organized to transfer quantitative data and less relevant information in a quick and easy way from buyers to designers and production staff. It is also designed to monitor the materials and products in real time at each stage, including inventory at each of the points of sale. 
2. Keep rhythm throughout the chain. Thanks to the rapid synchronization, the company allows an approach that can be described perfectly as “not to spare on small expenses to obtain great benefits”, thanks to this investing in things that contribute to increase and reinforce the speed and response capacity of the chainIn its whole. 
3. Take advantage of your capital assets to increase the flexibility of the supply chain. Capital investments are made in production and distribution centers and used to increase the response capacity of the supply chain to the new and fluctuating market demands. 

Each of them could only improve the response capacity of the supply chain of any company. However, combined, they reinforce each. 

It is important to mention that the administration of the supply chain is the key to Zara’s success and is mainly based on the short life cycle that their products have, as well as the strong reorientation to the organization of production and logistics processes that it to itThey allow to be innovating their products, as well as avoid losses that are presented in excess inventory.

conclusion

 Zara has a great ability to maintain an optimal environment in its supply chain in each of its stages of production and distribution of its products which implies a great challenge that Zara managers keep firm and resist establishing performance measuresin the operations that focus on efficiency at the local level at the expense of global response capacity.