Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1524423
APPAREL HEADWEAR Panama canals impacted inventory levels in a few key colors. How are you handling these challenges? Nixon: Our priority is keeping our custom- ers aware of any issues or situations that may arise. ough there is little we can do to control the shipping environment (i.e. weather, civil unrest, peaked demand, etc.), we have found that the more advanced notice we are able to give our customers, the more time they have on their end to work with us on alternative solutions. Klein: Challenges are a part of growth. Champro is looking for sustainability in caps and a focused development plan that allows for continued success in the cap line. Garrett: We have prioritized forecasting, material planning and capacity needs to scale for expected growth. Bradney: We were able to minimize the impact by air freighting inventory and utilizing our domestic Custom USA and Custom Express programs. Fortunately, the relationships with our factories have never been stronger. Kennedy: Even though we have not had any issues we are staying in front of po- tential challenges that could come. We have just been extremely aggressive in inventory buys, especially in core styles. While supply chain has not been an issue, we have maintained the same thinking to make sure nothing does arise. Are your team customers making any concessions to supply concerns? Bradney: We are seeing more business shi to our stock Performance Team Series (PTS) styles for quick turn. We are launch- ing new programs to secure orders earlier in the selling season to help our dealer partners plan their business. Kennedy: e one thing that happened during the supply chain issues was increase the urgency to order sooner. But with early buy incentives we offer that has always been a goal to achieve. Our custom cap lead times were never really affected and lead times stayed consistent. While our stock business is strong, we have not seen much change in stock versus custom. Nixon: We have not noticed our team cus- tomers making any concessions to supply concerns, but we have noticed an uptick in our pull from stock orders. Currier: We see both sides of the issue. Some customers have shied their buying patterns due to volatility in the supply chain, opting for domestic stock based on timing and overall needs. In other cases our customers have done a great job of ordering early. Klein: Custom continues to be a source of growth. Maintaining inventory levels in the popular colors will continue to feed this growth. Garrett: We are seeing sales growth in both stock and custom product lines. Team dealers continue to ask customers to order early, but we have also expanded our stock offering with new styles and additional col- orways to handle at-once needs. 22 • Team Insight ~ July/August 2024 teaminsightmag.com