Benetton's 'Dual Supply Chain' System

Production and Distribution

Benetton operated through production facilities which produced garments in high volume and with few varieties. In 1984, Benetton planned to invest in advanced production facilities in Castrette, Italy. The plant became fully operational in 1986. However, investments in this plant continued through the 1990s, leading to an increase in production capacity. By the year 1999, the plant covered an area of 190,000 sq. meters, and capacity to produce upto 100 million units every year. By 2006, the automatic sorting system in the plant, could sort garments for more than 5,000 Benetton outlets...

Every year Benetton came out with two collections, one for each season (spring/summer and fall/winter). The collection primarily comprised of a base collection , which included the classic items, and garments according to the prevailing trends. For collections that were to reach the stores in January every year, the final designs were decided in March of the previous year. The store owners could place orders for the new designs till July. In July, Benetton began producing the clothes, considering the first 10% of the orders...