http://www.birnbaumgarment.com Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:11:46 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Two men are on a dungeon wall, chained, with their arms extended and legs spread apart, totally immobilized. One turns his head to the other and says,“Now here is my plan.” Old New Yorker Charles Addams cartoon This book is all about strategies – not a good way to begin a book for people ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=50 A factory that does not supply fabric or trim is called a CM (cut-make) factory, or in Latin America, a maquila. These are terms which will gradually disappear from the apparel industry vocabulary because in the post-2005 era, there will no longer be factories exporting garments on a CM ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=48 This book is a tool for buying and producing at the lowest cost. The tool is Full Value Cost Analysis (FVCA). As with any tool, you have to read the operating instructions before turning on the power. The operating instructions for FVCA are very simple. There is only one instruction: Forget ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=46 Twenty years ago, we in the business were taught that customers evaluate factories by looking at three factors – PRICE, QUALITY, DELIVERY. We were told that these are the variables in the selection formula.  Customers will favor higher quality over lower quality, faster delivery over slower delivery, and lower price over ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=15 WANTED:  A new center for the global garment export industry. If you ask professionals where the center of the global garment industry is located, most would say China.  After all, China is by far the world’s largest garment exporter and is growing larger every year.  Furthermore, just about every major garment ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=18 I was taught that there were two absolute rules of design: Design is provided by the customer. All design takes place in the country where the goods are to be sold. In accordance with these two iron rules, the customer and the factory carried out a series of set procedures.  First, the customer’s ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=9 I am a great believer of the cobbler-stick-to-your-last school.  For this reason I do not make it a practice to wander into the subject of sales projections.  Frankly, I do not understand the factors involved, and I am also somewhat skeptical of the data.  However, a friend recently sent me ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=12 (April 2006) Traditionally importing countries try to protect their local industries against competition. This starts when politicians, labor unions and local factories band together to limit imports.  They argue that in most cases imports come from developing countries with low labor rates, poor working conditions, and where industry receives special government ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=33 Twenty-seven years ago, in 1979, the U.S. recognized the Mainland Chinese  Government.  Everybody wanted to work in China but they did not want to work with Chinese factories — at least not the Chinese-Chinese factories.  Of course Hong Kong factories were an altogether different story and everybody wanted to work ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=4 How many of you importers/retailers are in a position to send an email like this?  How many of you factories could deal with an email like this? To: Schmata Knits Factory From: Schmidlap Stores Dear Frank: As you can see from the readouts, your style 1145 is doing very well.  I would like ... http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/?p=7