Chapter 5 — full chapter
Chapter 5 — full chapter
5.3 On-demand production
Digital product development tools introduced in Chapter 4 can also enable new production models. In this section, however, the focus shifts from how a product is designed digitally to when and in what quantity it is manufactured.
The prevailing fashion-production model relies heavily on speculative demand forecasting, creating mismatches between production and actual demand. Although transparent industry-wide data remain limited, available European studies indicate that an average of approximately 21% of textile products remain unsold (European Environment Agency, 2024).
On-demand production aligns manufacturing with actual customer demand rather than long-term sales forecasts. This approach aims at reducing resource consumption, minimises deadstock and enables greater product customisation. Digital product development, automated planning systems and flexible manufacturing technologies are essential enablers of efficient production of smaller batches while maintaining quality and responsiveness. This strategy supports product customisation, reduces financial risks and minimises the environmental impacts associated with surplus production. The scope of on-demand manufacturing is to transition fashion from a volume-driven model to a value-driven model. However, the obstacles to adoption include, firstly, the prevailing consumer culture that favors the convenience of instant fulfillment; secondly, the challenge of managing stable textile supply chains without maintaining extensive raw material inventories; and thirdly, the significant initial investment required to retool traditional, high-volume automated factory lines to accommodate dynamic, single-unit batch sizes.