026. Manufactured x GIZ FABRIC: Edwin Keh on Getting Beyond Transactional Buyer-Supplier Relationships

As a result of our collaboration with and support from GIZ FABRIC we had the immense good fortune of connecting with Edwin Keh.

Edwin is currently CEO of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel. Prior to that, he worked in senior supply chain roles within companies like Walmart, Donna Karan, and Payless Shoes as well as an educator at the Wharton School and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – to name just a few.

This episode picks up right where part 1 left off. If forecasts are moving away from past-oriented regression models, and if a rapidly changing world is making it harder and harder for brands to accurately forecast, what comes next?

Edwin shares his thoughts on predictive analytics, and how this will shape brand and supplier roles. This sets the stage for some even bigger questions, like: what will it take for brands and suppliers to take the long-term view? How do we get to a place where brands and suppliers behave more like they’re on the same team? How do we get beyond the transactional nature of brand-supplier relationships?

Want to dig deeper ?

The FABRIC project is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and supports the Asian textile industry in its transformation towards fair production for people and the environment.

Learn more about GIZ FABRIC’s online seminar series “Getting Through the Crisis Together: Asian Dialogues on Sustainability in the Textile and Garment Industry.” Back in November 2020, Edwin was a speaker on the eleventh seminar within this series, which aimed to tack stock of where the industry is now, more or less one year into the pandemic. All the seminars are free and available online, and we highly recommend checking them out.”

Watch this short introductory video about predictive analytics.

Though a bit outdated, this short article paints a helpful picture of how forecasting is changing in the fashion industry.

Find out more about the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel.

“I helped create a unique upcycling system—but it won’t solve fashion’s waste problem” – we loved this article by Ronna Chao, Chair, Novetex Textiles Limited, and one of HKRITA’s partners.

Photo Rodolfo Clix