Evaluation of risks in a supply chain for customised knitwear

Purpose of this paperIt is generally accepted that short lead-times, postponement of processes and production close to the market decrease risk in supply chains. Knit-on-demand is a research project at the Swedish School of Textiles in collaboration with a knitwear manufacturer and a fashion retailer. In the project a business concept for mass customised knitwear has been developed and tested.This paper presents an evaluation of a risk analysis performed in 2007 on the Knit on Demand project. The evaluation in 2011 is made to conclude whether risks decreased with the mass customisation concept and if the expected results were the same as the outcome.MethodologyThe case study method is used and sources of evidence are interviews, documents, and value stream mapping. The data from the case studies are then converged in a “What-if” analysis.FindingsThe evaluation revealed how the risk level changes in a supply chain when introducing a mass customisation concept for fashion garments.Practical implicationsThe concept was tested in its business environment for one year and four months. The tools developed for managing supply chain complexity and -risk in the Knit on Demand project are applicable to conventional knitwear production as well