KOHL's Factory Visit (Blog Essay) Kelly Van Gompel

On Thursday, April 1st, our group had the opportunity to visit the Shinsun Garment Factory (KOHLS factory) in Shanghai, China. 

We started our visit with a presentation about the production process of the facility.  One of the main points of the presentation was the rigorous quality control process they employed.  The factory expends great resources and takes great pride in ensuring their garments are always up to par. 

The Shinsun Factory consisted of 2 main floors in a warehouse-like building:  the first primarily to house inventory, and the second for production.

Although the entire first floor was devoted to storing a large quantity of fabric, the factory churns through the ENTIRE stock in about ONE WEEKS TIME!  Talk about an impressive inventory turnover rate!

Shinsun management indicated that 30-40% of their total production output was purchased by KOHLS, their largest customer, with the remaining 60-70% of production sold to Urban Outfitters, Anthropology, BCBG, Free People, and others.  The factory is responsible for producing, tagging, and even hanging the garments so that upon their arrival in the US, all that needs to be done is remove them from the shipping cartons and display them in stores!  We learned that this is one VERY important way to avoid incurring handing fees in US DC's and to drive significant costs out of the supply chain.

During our tour, someone noticed that only men were doing the final pressing of the garments.  Management explained that men were better suited to stand on their feet all day and could handle the heavy ironing equipment more easily, which is why only men were hired for this job. 

 

Management of the factory was extremely ambitious, and spoke of plans for future expansion and automation.  Overall, the visit was highly informative and interesting!  Look for the garments below to hit KOHLS stores within the next few months!