PVH Readying Its Value Chain Reinvention ‘Blueprint’

If apparel industry supply chains of the past 20 to 25 years are represented by long, batch-process seasonal calendars, based on low-cost mass production “where we either buy too much or too little of what the customer actually wants” as Bill McRaith, chief supply chain officer at PVH Corp. puts it — then “all of this is changing.” Or rather, has the opportunity to change, as even present macroeconomic factors like the coronavirus disrupt not just retail in at-risk regions but supply chains, in the near-term. Going from “data lakes to data oceans” with the entry of 5G networks and quantum computing offering a lightning promise of historically unprecedented processing speeds, as well as the addition of neuro networks and AI and ML-powered technologies — McRaif sees an opportunity to “completely reinvent the ‘traditional value chain.’” Denoted by long-lead times, fragmentation and data gaps, he brings up another point; “And, all too often, shortening the supply chain meant using air transportation, which, in a drive for sustainability, is no longer an acceptable solution.” Seeking access to the best and brightest start-ups in Silicon Valley and beyond, last year PVH tapped into the start-up network at Plug and Play, where Kohl’s and P&G also find

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