Understanding the supply chain is an essence to understanding how to manage products and how to manage ones store, thanks to Sauder Professor, Mahesh Nagarajan I have a better understanding of the supply chain, mainly the demand forecasting and acting upon it.

Going into clothing stores now I have to wonder about the supply chain management of the clothing and the difficulty it is for people to predict the new fashion and quickly being able to produce it to match up with consumers’ preferences. Companies such as Zara, need to try to get the right product at the rights place for the right time and must predict the proper amount that will be sold for it to be efficient. This is no doubt an immense task that is difficult to manage, this is also where marketing has the opportunity to come in and play an essential role. Companies need to be able to market their product properly so that consumers will buy the amount of products that the company predicted so that they do not lose any money in over stocking.

Going back to Zara, they have to forecast the demand of clothing, not only how many but in which color, size, and style. All these aspects are mandatory to produce an accurate prediction; meaning extensive research has to be done on consumers’ behaviour before the company acts. Following the forecast of demand, the company the clothing company has to design the clothes and put it into production rather quickly before the trend is out. This form of mass customization is difficult but is necessary to be well executed for companies to succeed.