Screen Shot 2016-10-28 at 5.36.23 PM.png Screen Shot 2016-10-28 at 5.36.40 PM.png Screen Shot 2016-10-28 at 5.37.51 PM.png Screen Shot 2016-10-28 at 5.38.08 PM.png Over 1 Kaan Over James K. Lill, Adriana Gil-Matos Introduction to Engineering Management October 30, 2016 Zara International: Fashion at the Speed of Light This study analyzes the status of Zara International taking a broader look at the apparel industry where it operates and the competitive factors, its current operational performance, its market competiveness and its response to the new trends such market globalization. The study also stretches to find out whether Inditex is still providing worthy management benchmarks that firms such as Zara could follow. Apparel Industry and Its Competitive Factors The global apparel industry continues to grow healthily into the future. This is attributed to the absence of switching costs for consumers and great product differentiation which has resulted into moderate competition rate. Apparel industry is important to all the economies across the globe as it contribute immensely to trade, employment, investment and revenue all over the world. The industry has vast product differentiation, short product life cycles, and is characterized by great pace of demand change that is coupled with rather long and fixed supply processes. According to statista.com, the US Apparel industry is estimated to be around $225billion with the women accounting for the largest sales volume at $110,826 million. As of 2015, the market was valued at approximately 343 billion U.S. dollars. Price per apparel article in US was estimated to be about $19. The clothing stores sales in the industry was also estimated to about $183.01bn. The U.S. Apparel Manufacturing was reported to have employed about 89,588 people as of 2014. At the retail level clothing store sales in U.S. was estimated at $183.01bn while the U.S. apparel and accessories retail e-commerce revenue was reported to be about $63.5 Major retail and discount stores are the likes of Target, Wal-Mart, and Kohl's; these firms operate by keeping profit margins thin at stores which sell moderately priced apparel. As seen in the figure below, the market value of the apparel industry in the United States has been on the increase since 2011. In 2011 the market was valued at $309.98 billion, in 2012, this increased to $316.92 and in 2013 it reached $323.75 billion. In 2014, the market again recorded an increase standing at $331.49 billion. In 2015 it increased to $342.94 billion and currently it stands at $358.88 billion. Fig1: Market value of apparel and footwear in the United States from 2011 to 2016 (In $billion) The major competitive factors in the apparel industry include the cost of labor, cost of raw materials and the shipping costs (Lu 32). Besides these, in order to remain competitive within the apparel industry, firms must updated on the latest trends in the market. As such, firms must ensure tha.