There are times in the life of a business when a dramatic shock to the system forces employees to look for new ways of working that make sense for the long haul. For Levi Strauss & Co. and its global supply management team, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was one of those moments.
In March 2020, the team was finalizing orders for the next season when the world effectively shut down. In a matter of days, consumer demand declined radically and we, like many other companies, found ourselves with fabric and sundries – things like buttons and zippers – that now had nowhere to go. We and our suppliers were already on the hook for the materials, however, and therefore looking at a sizable loss for orders already placed.
Though the problem itself – fluctuations in demand that results in extra materials here and there – was not new, the scale was unprecedented. We were suddenly looking at material excess that was 25 times greater than in an average year. But instead of writing off the moment as a once-in-a-lifetime problem, business partners across product development, finance, controllership, design, merchandising and more came together quickly to not only find products for these materials but also to study the systemic aspects of the issue to reduce the overall amount of leftover materials within our supply chain going forward.
Based on that work, we put in place a fabric planning system that both tracks excess material we have on hand across the supply chain and informs teams of which materials are available and can be used in product for upcoming seasons or for alternative channels like outlet stores. This process resulted in transparency and efficiencies across functions that identify resources already available before placing the next order and help us all move faster.
“While no business can perfectly align their materials purchases with demand, we saw a clear solution that would make the company stronger and narrow the gap,” said Vishal Mankotia, vice president of global supply management at LS&Co. “We have built the muscle memory to make better use of our resources in a way that makes our company more resilient to the unpredictable nature of the industry.”
And it worked. It helped us weather the supply chain crisis caused by the pandemic and became a new way of working that’s still in place today. Between 2020 and 2024, this process assigned 16 million yards of fabric and 12 million sundries to future designs. Today, it continues to reduce the risk of waste to landfill at our suppliers around the world. And it’s being applied across LS&Co. brands and regions, reducing the average lead time by more than 35%.
“This all started as a response to an immediate problem, and it helped us get through that time,” said Anne Madison, senior vice president of product development and sourcing. “But because the issue predated the pandemic, it helped us address a longer-term challenge in a way that continues to make us more agile, more efficient and more resilient to this day.”
