Zara :Apparel Manufacturing and RetailZara is a chain of fashion stores owned by Inditex, Spain’s largest apparel manufacturer and retailer. In 2007, Inditex reported sales of about 9.5 billion euros from more than 3600 retail outlets in 68 countries. The company opened about two new stores for each day in 2007. In the industry in which customer demand is fickle, Zara has grown rapidly with a strategy to be highly responsive to changing trends with affordable prices. Whereas design-to-sales cycle times in the apparel industry have traditionally averaged more than six months, Zara has achieved cycle times of four to six weeks. This speed allows Zara to introduce new designs every week and change 75 percent of its merchandise display every three to four weeks. Thus, Zara’s production display match customer preferences much more closely than the competition. The result is the Zara sells most of its products at full price and has about half the markdowns in its stores compared to the competition.Zara manufactures its apparel using a combination of flexible and quick sources in Europe (mostly Portugal and Spain ) and low-cost sources in Asia. This contrasts with most apparel manufacturers, who have moved most of their manufacturing to Asia. About 40 percent of the manufacturing capacity is owned by Inditex, with the rest outsourced. Products with highly uncertain demand are sourced out of Europe, whereas products that are more predictable are sourced from its Asian locations. More than 40 precent of its finished-goods purchases and most of its in-house production occur after the sales season starts. This compares with less than 20 percent production after the start of a sales season for a typical retailer. This responsiveness and the postponement of decisions until after trends are known allow Zara to reduce inventories and forecast error. Zara has also invested heavily in information technology to ensure that the latest sales data are available to drive replenishment and production decision.In 2007, Inditex distributed to stores all over the world from eight distribution centers located in Spain. The group claimed an average delivery time of 24 hours for European stores and up to a maximum of 40 hours for stores in America or Asia from the time the order was received in the distribution center(DC) to the time it was delivered to the stores. Shipments from the DCs to stores were made several times a week. This allowed store inventory to closely match customer demand. In 2007 , Inditex distributed 627 million garments globally.The following questions raise supply chain issues that are central to Zara’s strategy and success:1.what advantage does Zara gain against the competition by having a very responsive supply chain?Whereas design-to-sales cycle times in the apparel industry have traditionally averaged more than six months, Zara has achieved cycle times of four to six weeks. This speed allows Zara to introduce new designs every week and change 75 percent of its merchandise display every three to four weeks. Thus, Zara’s production display match customer preferences much more closely than the competition. The result is the Zara sells most of its products at full price and has about half the markdowns in itsstores compared to the competition.ZARA的灵敏供应链系统，大大提高了ZARA的前导时间。
（前导时间是从设计到把成衣摆在柜台上出售的时间）中国服装业一般为6～9个月，国际名牌一般可到120天，而ZARA最厉害时最短只有7天，一般为12天。
这是具有决定意义的12天。
ZARA之灵敏供应链所展现出来的韵律，使得有“世界工厂”之称的中国相形见绌。
ZARA一年中大约推出120000种时装，而每一款时装的量一般不大。
即使是畅销款式，ZARA 也只供应有限的数量，常常在一家专卖店中一个款式只有两件，卖完了也不补货。
一如邮票的限量发行提升了集邮品的价值，ZARA通过这种“制造短缺”的方式，培养了一大批忠实的追随者。
“多款式、小批量”， ZARA实现了经济规模的突破。
ZARA的零售只设专卖店，那是ZARA的窗口与眼睛，不搞特许经营。
专卖店每周根据销售情况下订单两次，这就减少了需要打折处理存货的机率，也降低了库存成本。
款式更新更快增加了新鲜感，吸引消费者不断重复光顾。
快速更新店面里的货品，也确保了它们能符合顾客的品味，从而能被销售出去。
“品种少，批量大”是传统制造业的天条，而在“长尾市场”中，“款多量小”却成为当红的商业模式。
ZARA以其灵敏供应链，创造了长尾市场的新样板。
2.Why has Inditex chosen to have both in-house manufacturing and outsourced manufacturing? Why has Inditex maintained manufacturing capacity in Europe even though manufacturing in Asia is much cheaper?Products with highly uncertain demand are sourced out of Europe, whereas products that are more predictable are sourced from its Asian locations.生产基地设在西班牙，只有最基本款式的20服装在亚洲等低成本地区生产。
ZARA自己设立了20个高度自动化的染色、剪裁中心，而把人力密集型的工作外包给周边500家小工厂甚至家庭作坊，而把这20个染色、裁剪中心与周边小工厂连接起来的物流系统堪称一绝。
在西班牙方圆200英里的生产基地，集中了 20家布料剪裁和印染中心，500家代工的终端厂。
ZARA以“欧洲制造”为主要营销策略，成功切入消费者内心对“欧洲制造”等同于高级流行服饰品牌的意向，其以市场需求驱动之营销策略是成功打入市场的关键之一。