Distribution: Just in time

Just in time is a concept that has become key in the apparel industry and more specifically in fast fashion stores such as Wet Seal, Forever 21, and Zara. We never ended up talking about Zara in class but in my AMT 450 course: Strategic planning and decision making, we completed a case study on Zara and the corporation that owns Zara, Inditex. Zara defines fast fashion and just in time delivery which is "inventory management and purchasing processes that manufacturers and resellers use to reduce inventory to very low levels and ensure that deliveries from suppliers arrive only when needed." Zara is able to take an item from design to in stores in 6-9 weeks, this is unbeatable by any competitors. Items only remain in the distribution center for 3hours to 3 days and Zara's advantage works because all their stores are near to the flagship store and distribution center. In new areas such as New York and Los Angles they don't have such a good advantage. In general other stores could be modeled after Zara's fast fashion and just in time distribution and inventory management.