The sectoral contribution of strategic logistics implementations in apparel sector and looking ahead

Global competition urges firms not only to develop a strong commercial presence in the world market, but also to assume an international configuration with regard to operations. Today this challenge tends to concern the majority of firms, including small and medium ones. Competition is not only between what companies produce in their factories, it is between what they add to their products as packaging, customer advice, delivery arrangements, warehousing and other value added services. Since relying on product attributes as a means of retaining customers is found to be insufficient in this context, logistics management is applied as one of the key business processes in delivering value and quality to the customer and in gaining a competitive edge.The Turkish textile and apparel industry has had great importance to the historic economic development of the country. Throughout the 1950s, the textile and apparel sector grew. By the 1960s, textiles and apparel was the prime manufacturing subsection in Turkey but the industry was primarily focused on meeting the needs of the domestic market. Since the 1980s, increasing global competition has forced companies to find worldwide alternatives for sourcing, manufacturing, distributing and selling their products. And with abolishing the worldwide quota system for textiles and apparel on January 1, 2005, it is started a new period for Turkish textile and apparel industry.In todays high competitive world, firms have to direct their sources for managing their core competencies. Therefore, firms have to outsource their non-core competencies. In the practice, customer specific solutions, management of the system by integrated system approach of multidimensional transporting,warehousing, storehousing, decreasing the risks of costs and technology that Ekol Logistics applications for Adidas, point out the advantages of outsourcing for Adidas.