Global Supply Chain

Global supply chain is the sequence of manufacturing processes involved in a product. In the fashion sector, supply chains are highly fragmented and include the sourcing of raw materials, conversion of raw materials into fibres, then fabrics, and garments. Large brands usually scatter their manufacturing processes globally to reduce costs, leading to challenges in traceability.

Outsourcing is the business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services or create goods that were traditionally performed in-house by the company's own employees. Outsourced workers usually is hired with short term contracts in order to reduce labour costs significantly such as salaries and overhead. Together with the production process, legal responsibilities of companies were also outsourced. When there are violations, companies usually claim innocence, sometimes a fund or partly remedy.

Purchasing practices refers to the ways that global brands and retailers interact and work with suppliers, including how brands source, buyers pricing, lead times for placing orders, payment terms, forecasting and stability for suppliers. Brands purchasing practices are often competitive, and push for the lowest possible prices and fasted turnaround on orders. During COVID-19, big brands specifically used their purchasing practices to minimise profit loss, such as paying suppliers only after the delivery of goods. Given the extreme power imbalances in the garment industry, where brands call the shots, it is possible for big brands to mass cancel orders or impose discounts on orders that are already completed or in production. While big brands can limit their obligations to suppliers in order to protect their profits, suppliers are left unable to pay workers and workers are left unable to buy food or pay their rent.

A factory or workshop where people are employed at very low wages for long hours. Typically used to refer to the garment industry, people work under slave labour conditions in sweatshops in unsafe environments which pose multiple health risks. People subjected to these oppressive conditions tend to die young and many take their own lives.