Gerald Reiser | September 10, 2026
Short product life cycles, global supply chains, and growing competition from fast-fashion providers are making reliable planning increasingly challenging for companies in the fashion industry. At the same time, geopolitical crises, disrupted transport routes, and new regulatory requirements mean that supply chains are significantly more complex and vulnerable to disruption than they were just a few years ago. For fashion companies, this means that transparency across the entire supply chain is becoming a critical success factor. Only companies that always know when and how much inventory is needed, where goods are located, which suppliers can deliver at short notice, and what impact potential delays could have on orders and customers can respond quickly to customer needs.
Understanding Supply Chains Instead of Just Managing Them
Whether unexpected supply bottlenecks caused by disruptions such as blocked shipping routes and material shortages or a surge in customer demand – the desired level of product availability cannot always be guaranteed.
It is therefore crucial to identify the impact on supply chains as early as possible and develop alternative courses of action to meet customer needs wherever possible. Modern ERP solutions such as SAP Fashion provide the necessary data foundation. They connect information from procurement, production, logistics, sales, and finance, enabling a holistic, real-time view of the supply chain.
This allows companies to quickly identify which products are affected by a disruption, whether delivery delays are likely, and whether alternative ordering options are available. Different scenarios can also be simulated: Is switching to an alternative supplier worthwhile? What impact would a short-notice replenishment order have on costs and margins? Which suppliers could actually provide the required goods at short notice?
Such analyses help companies make informed decisions and minimize business risks. Solutions such as SAP Fashion are also increasingly incorporating AI. AI agents can continuously analyze large volumes of data, detect potential supply bottlenecks at an early stage, place necessary replenishment orders during a season, or review incoming orders.
Sustainability Requires Reliable Data
In addition to stability and transparency, sustainability continues to play an important role in the industry. Large fashion companies are increasingly required to demonstrate how their supply chains are structured and what environmental impact production and transportation have.
Individual pieces of information are not sufficient for this purpose. What is needed is reliable, consolidated data across the entire value chain. Digital solutions help companies systematically collect and analyze this information.
Applications such as SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, for example, enable companies to analyze CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, or water usage across individual supply chains and compare the impact of alternative sourcing strategies.
AI also opens up additional possibilities here. It can automatically consolidate sustainability data, identify anomalies, and uncover optimization opportunities. This will make it easier to align environmental and economic objectives in the future.
