A new type of supply chain is emerging in the industry, the late design responsive supply chain (LDR). This offers an alternative to traditional supply chains for the survival of enterprises in the global clothing industry - paper presented to the 84th Tl Annual World Conference. A supply chain is a network of suppliers, manufacturing tres, distribution centres and retailers, as well as the stock of products that flow between them (Simchi-Levi et al., 2004). A supply chain is an extended enterprise because the partner enterprises have long-term relationships (Browne and Zhang, 1999). There are different types of supply chain depending on their ultimate goals. Yusuf et al. (2004) have identified three types of supply chain - traditional, lean and agile. Traditional supply chains include enterprises that have buyer-seller relationships, but are competing instead of collaborating. Lean supply chains include enterprises that collaborate to eliminate non-value added activities with the final goal of minimising the costs of the extended enterprise. Agile supply chains include enterprises that are integrated by computers to capture and make unpredictable styles and quantities of products required by the end customers (Christopher and Towill, 2001).
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