Alternative marketing systems for the apparel wool textile supply chain: filling the communication vacuum

Analysis of secondary data and information gathered from interviews with downstream wool supply chain members suggests that problems exist with the sourcing of raw wool for the apparel textile industry. Specific problems relate to ‘hard’ attributes, such as contaminated fibres and fibre diameter, as well as ‘soft’ attributes, such as origin of the wool and the nature of wool production systems. These problems may arise due to inadequate communication of quality attributes between chain members. The authors argue that more effective communication in the apparel wool supply chain requires the removal of ‘functional silos’, where supply chain members fail to look outside (upstream and/or downstream) their specific sectoral interests, and the continued dominance of the auction as the primary marketing system. The authors conclude that the apparel wool industry needs to co-operate to compete in dynamic, global markets increasingly dominated by synthetic fibres, in which vertically co-ordinated supply chains are the norm, auctions non-existent and communication is seen as a strength, rather than a weakness.