Global fashion giant H&M has full control over its logistics. That’s essential in an industry that moves faster than most others.
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t’s early in the morning. The sun has just started warming the streets, the cafés are shut and a few people are out and about on their way to work. At half-past six, Bengt-Olov Carlbom fetches the day’s first container of clothes, packed in boxes and hanging on clothes-hangers, at haulage firm Green Cargo’s terminal. Green Cargo is responsible for global fashion giant H&M’s transportation to and from shops in the company’s home country, Sweden. And that’s a whole lot of transportation. Larger H&M shops receive several deliveries a day. Bengt-Olov Carlbom usually does a morning shift to a couple of shops in central Göteborg and to one just outside the city. Now his Volvo FM9 is parked on one of the streets in downtown Göteborg, reflected in the display windows on the other side of the street. Bengt-Olov moves swiftly between the truck and the shop, pushing piles of boxes on his trolley as he walks. Two shop assistants wearing white cotton gloves so as not to dirty the fresh delivery of clothes receive the consignment and immediately start unpacking and hanging them up.
“Everything has to be on display within a specific time,” says Bengt-Olov. “So we also have to keep to our timetable.”
H&M has expanded considerably in recent years. Today the company has 1500 shops in 28 countries. The largest market is Germany, followed by Britain and Sweden. H&M has its own warehouse and shops and more than 100 designers who work on creating the various collections, but the company buys in transportation services and actual production. It is often said that one of the secrets behind H&M’s huge success is its efficient logistics system. Every year, millions of items of clothing are handled in a continuous flow that is controlled centrally from the head office in Stockholm. The mixture of goods is tailored to suit customer demands on each respective market, and the size of the shops also determines how the product range is distributed. Clothes with a high fashion rating, for instance, are produced in limited quantities and may perhaps only be sold in shops in selected large cities, while modern base items are produced in larger volumes and dispatched to more shops. And it’s vital to respond quickly if an item turns out to sell particularly well – or poorly.
“Today a loaf of bread has a longer shelf life than a fashion item does,” comments Per Isacsson of Green Cargo, Fashion Logistics. “The big challenge for us is the time requirement. When it comes to topping up goods, clothes that are sold one day must be restocked on the shop shelves the very next day. For new items there is somewhat more space and when it comes to campaign items, huge volumes have to be transported and delivered within a very short time.”
Green Cargo works with groupage traffic and with a combination of train and truck that offers immense flexibility. Everything is transported on demountable bodies that can easily be switched from train to truck and vice versa.
Facts, Green Cargo
Green Cargo offers transportation by train and truck. The company operates about 30 terminals and logistics centres and has about 3000 employees in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Green Cargo Fashion Logistics accounts for almost one-quarter of all distribution of ready-made clothing in Sweden.
He stacks up empty packing units and pushes his trolley out to his waiting truck.
“We have to optimise our efforts so they are in proportion to the flow of goods. On a single day in high season, we may for instance transport 400 percent more than on a single day during low season,” explains Per Isacsson.
After Bengt-Olov Carlbom has brought the day’s consignment of clothes, accessories, cosmetics and other items into the shop, his next job is to deal with all the empty plastic boxes and clothes-hangers. 30 percent of the delivered volume actually gets sent back.
Up to a few years ago, large quantities of corrugated cardboard and plastic were used and thrown away. Now the company uses plastic boxes and protective covers that can be reused time after time. All the clothes-hangers apart from a few more exclusive models that can be reused a number of times are returned and broken up, the material being reused to make new hangers or other plastic items. Every year, Green Cargo handles about 12,000 cubic metres of clothes-hangers. Environmental issues are high on the agenda at both H&M and haulage firm Green Cargo. The clothing industry is highly vulnerable to public opinion and this is one of the reasons why H&M pushes all its suppliers to constantly improve the eco-suitability of their operations. If the company’s buyers want the clothes to have been produced with minimum impact on the climate and environment, from dyeing of the fabrics to transport of finished products, then that’s exactly what they get. For several years now, H&M has evaluated the haulage firms it has used on the basis of a number of environmental factors. Since 2005, for instance, there has been a requirement that all vehicles purchased must meet Euro 3 or the US 98 requirement, and at least 50 percent of all drivers must have undergone both a theory and practice training course in economical driving.
“When we plan new routes, we discuss what the various alternatives would mean in terms of kilograms of carbon dioxide,” relates Per Isacsson. “We have concrete goals that have to be reached, and our trucks must be traceable, which means that we must be able to show afterwards that we have driven exactly as we planned.”
Bengt-Olov Carlbom is ready to depart for his next shop. He signs the relevant freight papers and chats for a couple of minutes with the girls in the shop. One of the reasons he likes his job so much is that he gets to meet so many different people. It’s been 28 years since he started his own haulage firm and he has always transported clothes, in the past few years for Green Cargo.
“It’s sort of developed into something of a niche,” he explains.
“I’ve had nine trucks over the years, all of them Volvos,” he says. “It’s worked very well for me. I’ve gotten to know the people in the workshops and I’ve always had excellent service.”
It’s obvious that Bengt-Olov Carlbom likes his truck. It is almost pedantically well-looked-after. The paintwork gleams and inside the cab everything is spick and span. Everything is in its place and the blue velour seats are clean and inviting. But what Bengt-Olov likes best about his truck is its I-Shift transmission.
“That’s absolutely wonderful – it’s brilliant! It means I’m free to concentrate on the road and the traffic instead of gearchanging.”
It can sometimes be tricky to make one’s way along narrow streets in the heart of the city. There Bengt-Olov is also amply aided by the fact that his truck is equipped with a steered rearmost axle. And in addition he is very satisfied indeed with a solution that he worked out himself together with his bodybuilder: “A sliding, hydraulically operated container carrier. It makes it simplicity itself to use containers of different lengths.”
28 years in the same industry – has the job increased your interest in clothes?
“A little bit, actually. My wife sometimes asks if something interesting has turned up, and then I’m able to tell her what colours are on the way for the coming season, for instance. So sure, clothes have become more interesting to me, I guess.” ■