During the Covid-19 year, the firm responded by emphasising the significance of closeness in its manufacturing, with 49 percent of total suppliers. The company cut ties with 65 Chinese suppliers.
Inditex shifted its sourcing centres as a result of the Covid-19 effect. For the first time in at least five years, the Spanish firm has cut its number of Chinese suppliers. In a year highlighted by sourcing reorganisations in response to the pandemic, the firm cut its manufacturing output by 17%. Inditex manufactured around 545,000 tonnes of clothing in 2019.
Inditex cut its number of suppliers for the first time in at least five years during the fiscal year of Covid-19. This significant cut accelerates a pattern that began in prior fiscal years. The company divides its global supply into twelve clusters (Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Argentina, and Brazil), which account for 97 percent of its total supply.
Inditex has 412 Chinese suppliers as of the end of 2020. This was a 13.6 percent reduction from the 477 they worked with the previous year. These suppliers collaborated with 1,414 garment manufacturers (1,465 in 2019) and 1,323 other processing facilities at the same time (853 in 2019). The firm reduced the number of suppliers but worked with larger enterprises, which is reflected in the company’s 26 percent increase in manufacturing workers in 2020: up to 635,532 people.
