Standing in a sunny office in Indochine International’s brand-new factory, Raghav Pattar, vice president of this Chinese apparel manufacturer, is ebullient. It’s November, barely six months since the Hawassa Industrial Park opened, and already he has 1,400 locals at work.

Wool isn’t just for winter wear anymore, and its use in everything from shoes to underwear briefs is pushing prices of merino, the most popular type of wool fiber for clothes, to near-record highs.

Increasingly, the old, functional ways of operating across the supply chain are working less effectively. New ways of working have emerged, which put collaboration at the heart of establishing a powerful rapport with the consumer. Successful retailers understand this. The new creed is to work more effectively and efficiently, both internally and externally, to derive more value from the supply chain and, crucially, to get closer to the customer. -Nancy Marino, Senior Vice President, Tompkins International, and Chief Development Officer, MonarchFx

Faced with increasing pressure to meet today's digital consumers' demand for personalization, varieties and values – all under shrinking lead times and heightened competition – the foremost strategy in the apparel industry is to minimize time and cost related to product development and market launch. Top companies are leading the field in 3D virtual technology applications in this area, enabling them to reduce time and cost to market, while simplifying process and improving supply chain collaboration. -John Coyle, Professor Emeritus, Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Steve Tracey, Executive Director of the Center for Supply Chain Research; and Kusumal Ruamsook, Research Associate of the Center for Supply Chain Research, all at Penn State