VF Corporation has unveiled a transformation plan for its Asia Pacific operations focused on evolving the region’s organisational design and footprint, and building new capabilities to accelerate growth for its brands. VF Corporation is an apparel, footwear, and accessories company connecting people to lifestyles, activities, and experiences they cherish.
As part of its transformation initiative, VF will move the centre of its brand operations from Hong Kong to Shanghai where the company currently employs approximately 900 office and retail associates. VF’s Asia product supply hub, which serves as the base of operations for its global supply chain in the region, will also move from Hong Kong and relocate to Singapore. An additional shared services centre for the region will be established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The company will activate a phased transition plan to guide these relocations over the next 12 to 18 months with the first moves expected in April 2021, according to a press release by the company.
By placing its brands’ centre of operations in Shanghai, VF aims to forge stronger and more relevant relationships with Chinese consumers. Relocating its product supply hub to Singapore will enable greater integration across VF’s global supply chain network, which also includes key hubs in Europe and the Americas. Additionally, VF will redeploy some of its product supply talent and resources throughout its primary sourcing countries in the region to work more closely with key suppliers and drive greater efficiency.
VF’s additional shared services centre in Kuala Lumpur will help the company further expand the footprint of the back-end business functions that support its brands and supply chain operations across the Asia Pacific region. The new centre will house various functions including digital technology, finance, human resources, and logistics. Hong Kong will remain a key retail market for VF and its brands.
“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to invest in our business across the Asia Pacific region, while also supporting VF’s overall transformation plan to become a more consumer-minded, retail-centric and hyper-digital enterprise. We established our presence in Asia 25 years ago and have continually shaped our business around the region’s many evolving opportunities. Now, we’re further transforming our Asia operations so we can better serve this fast-moving, technology-driven market with increased speed and capabilities,” Steve Rendle, VF’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer said.
“We’ve made great strides in recent years to advance our brand strategy in Asia with new capabilities in digital and analytics, stronger relationships with the region’s digital titans, and the appointment of new VF leaders in both Tokyo and Shanghai. As we build on this strong foundation, we also see significant opportunities in creating a hyper-digital supply chain with a key hub in Singapore that will enable us to unlock greater speed and agility in how we make, source and move our products around the world,” Rendle said.
