A hot button issue for Jennifer Guarino, President and CEO of the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center (ISAIC) located in Detroit, and in fact for the industry at large, is overproduction. About 30% of apparel produced ends up in the landfill. It’s hard to imagine any other industry that has that magnitude of waste. And this is due to obsolete manufacturing and supply chain strategies that have not kept up with technological, market, and other changes in recent years.

“Overproduction is entirely in our control,” Guarino states. “We can’t control what the consumer does, but we can control what digital forecasting techniques tell us we will need. What is causing overproduction is speculative buying, well advance of the season in which is it planned to be sold. Today, we have so many forecasting tools that can change that model. But we have to have the courage to reserve some of that demand for domestic—close to consumption—production. We need to be producing what we need when we need it so we are not manufacturing from a speculative standpoint. So we are manufacturing from a well-informed standpoint.”

For readers familiar with other industries that have undergone this just-in-time manufacturing transformation—think automobiles, and even printing and packaging—taking advantage of digital technologies, this is a no-brainer. But although the technologies are in place to address it, most brands and retailers have not made the leap to this new—and necessary—model. Guarino adds, “I’m making a plea to all executives that have influence over decisions to step up and be courageous, and look at new models. At least try them. Because overproduction is totally 100% within our control.”