1.2 The supply chain of a t-shirt

Whichever retailer we buy our t-shirt from, whether it is an online retailer, a supermarket, market trader or high-street shop, it is likely our t-shirt is part of a supply chain that includes several firms.

Activity 4

Consider the process of making a cotton t-shirt. This starts with growing cotton plants on a farm to make cotton fibres. Once the cotton fibre is harvested it can be turned into a yarn and woven into fabric. This fabric is cut and sewn to produce the t-shirt, which is then distributed to retailers to sell to the final consumers. Use this information to create a supply chain for a cotton t-shirt.

Retail

Fourth

Spinning and weaving

Second

Cotton production

First

Making the garment

Third

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

1. Retail

2. Spinning and weaving

3. Cotton production

4. Making the garment

• a.Second

• b.Fourth

• c.Third

• d.First

The correct answers are:

• 1 = b
• 2 = a
• 3 = d
• 4 = c

Discussion

Here is an example of the supply chain of a t-shirt.

Figure 3 The supply chain of a t-shirt.

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This shows the supply chain of a t-shirt in the following stages: cotton production, harvesting and baling; textile spinning and weaving; making the garment; packing, trading and retail.

Figure 3 The supply chain of a t-shirt.

A cotton t-shirt is a cheap, lightweight product which is not fragile. This suggests that it is easy and inexpensive to transport. As a product it has a simple design which is easy to convey to workers elsewhere. There is less need to be continuously checking design and quality. The t-shirt is therefore a commodity which may be easily moved from one firm to another or one country to another so that its supply chain can involve many firms and many countries.