Benetton

Founded by the Benetton family in the 1960s, Benetton is one of the largest garment retailers, with stores which bear its name located in almost all parts of the world.. It could be interesting to analyse the technical development of such an important company going through the different theories of technology.

Concerning the technological approach to the activity that Benetton carries on inside its group, the Company adopted a not fully integrated system: not all the activities, namely the technologies, are held “in-house”.

First of all Benetton purchase the principal raw materials (wool, raw cotton, yarn, cloth and denim fabrics) from its supply chain. Even if the Company doesn’t seek formal, long-term contracts with its suppliers, it has not experienced interruptions in supply that have had material impact on its activity.

From 2005 the textile segment has been made up of 2 companies, transforming raw materials into fabrics, from spinning to finishing and ennobling. Handicraft product quality and technological research development characterize this business segment which works with internationally recognized names of the apparel and fashion industry.

Benetton does manufacture much of its production itself, producing in its own factory, but on its supply side the Company also relies heavily on ‘contractors’. Contractors are owned or part-owned companies that provide services to the Benetton factories by knitting and assembling Benetton’s garments. These contractors, in turn, use the services of sub-contractors to perform some of the manufacturing tasks. At the moment Benetton has 22 factories operating, 15 of which are located in Italy and one each in Spain, Croatia, India, Portugal, Tunisia, Slovakia and Hungary. The Company utilizes almost 900 subcontractors in Italy to perform one or more steps in the production process.

The Company's manufacturing processes utilize modern technology and automatization to reduce costs and accelerate its execution. In addition the “contractor system” allows Benetton to keep its production costs significantly below some of its competitors because the small supply companies have lower costs themselves. Secondly, Benetton is able to allay the effects of the demand fluctuations: in fact the Company can adjust its supply chain, absorbing so all the changes without feeling the full effect.

Before the production processes, Benetton performs an exceptional product design through a staff of 300 designers from all over the world, that creates the collections for the casual brands United Colors of Benetton, Undercolors, Sisley and for Playlife leisure wear and Killer Loop streetwear brands. Benetton aims to offer products characterized by their creative use of exclusive designs.

The Group produces two main collections (spring/summer and fall/winter) each year for all its labels. The design team is also engaged in researching new materials and creating new lines for different targets (children, men, women, expectant mothers), offering them not only practical and modern styles but also maximum comfort. The result is the latest trends in design and a rich output of many models a year which are realised with computer assisted design systems fully integrated with the rest of the company's production phases.

On the demand side of the chain, Benetton operates through a number of agents, each of whom is responsible for their own geographical area. Indeed, many of the agents actually own some stores in their area. Products are shipped from