An Empirical Study on Lead Time of Readymade Garments in Bangladesh

This paper addressed the issues that lead up to the higher lead-time in readymade garment industries of Bangladesh. Lead-time involve the time required to deliver any good to the specified destination since receiving the order. For Bangladesh, usual lead time is 90-120 days which is very high compared to competing countries like China, Vietnam etc. This time span is prolonged by issues such as worker unrest, political instability, poor productivity, poor production planning etc. The aim of this paper was to pin point these factors and explain exactly how these issues increases the lead-time. Another objective of this study was to propose realistic solutions to the stated lead time problem. This study was conducted with a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The factors working behind higher lead time and the proposed solutions are being suggested by industry experts working in the supply chain management sector. This study was conducted with hope to help the supply chain professionals working in the readymade garment industries in reducing lead-time by various SCM strategies.