Made in China- Moving On?

There has been an awful lot of talk lately about China becomming a has been in the garment manufacturing sector. Arguments of a rising currency, less government support/subsidies, labor cost issues, labor shortages, etc have all contributed to the conclusiveness that China has become non-competitive with other low cost producers like Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, et al. A great article on the subject can be found here at http//www.just-style.com/comment/made-in-china-continues-to-make-sense_id108334.aspx?lk=dm .
What many easily pass off is the infrastructure that has been set in place to support the burgeoning textile and apparel engine. Very few countries in the world have the dedicated and versatile supply chain that the Chinese have built. True, there is a labor shortage, and true, there are many cost pressures affecting the cost justification basis for sourcing there, but they are still the place to service low minimum high custom programs.
If you read the article you likely know that the cost of cotton has been a very signifigant issue over the past year. It will continue to haunt our bottom lines as we attempt to absorb some of the impact while passing on what we must. Being this is a unilateral issue affecting every manufacturer worldwide, we at least can be comforted by the fact that EVERYBODY has had to raise prices over the past 3-5 months. The fact that China may be the least impacted by this cotton shortage /pricing may play out as a major offset to rising prices due to currency appreciation and rising labor costs.

Style Source Inc is constantly involved in strategic conversations regarding apparel sourcing and importing custom apparel programs. For customers seeking custom made clothing or private label garments at highly competitive pricng in smaller sized programs Style Source is your management solution.