Kia Kaha Clothing: Design to Production
From its earliest days Kia Kaha prided itself on being New Zealand made, outsourcing production work to sewing plants in the Wellington region. However, Dan concedes that the rapid increase in wholesale and retail sales has necessitated some changes, with work now being outsourced to China and Fiji.
"But when it comes to the team wear and group stuff, most of that is made in New Zealand. We've got a small factory in Upper Hutt that does some sewing. Other stuff goes to different places in New Zealand. For example there's a couple of companies in Christchurch that have the machinery and are very good at making up the jackets."
Dan Love
On the production side, cost is obviously a big issue but turnaround time between ordering and getting stock onto the shop floor can be equally important – particularly when large volumes are ordered from overseas suppliers in countries such as China.
"The quantities are that much bigger, and the lead times are a lot greater. But at the end of the day its just a matter of being organised and being ahead of yourself – which is hard to do sometimes. "
Dan Love
Production planning used to be done on a seasonal basis – summer/winter. However the rapid rise in international sales has meant a move to a yearly planning cycle.
"With the seasons being very different we now plan for a broader range covering a bit of winter and a bit of summer. The first stage in the annual process is the completion of the graphics for the new designs."
Dan Love
The graphics are sent off to the production plants and a set of sample items are produced and sent back for evaluation. All design and production decisions are made by Dan and Charmaine.
"We'll look at them and say things like: 'Yes that's fine... but we want this to be a bit darker' or, 'This stitching isn't in the right place'. We'll try the samples on people, making sure they're the right fit and everything."
Dan Love
A second set of samples are usually all that is required to firm up on the design and then the numbers required are finalised.In terms of planning decisions T– shirts are still the biggest selling item.
"Everybody buys T-shirts, so our focus usually goes on the T-shirt side ... followed by jackets ... but we've also got to make sure we offer a variety of products, so that the customer has a range of buying options and doesn't just come in and see T-shirts and that's it. In terms of the colours – we look at the fashion trends and what's happening and take it from there."
Dan Love
Decisions on the quantities required are most often based on the previous years sales. Ensuring a high quality product has underpinned production from the earliest days and so quality control procedures are a key aspect of all production procedures. For off-shore bulk production in China, the company uses quality control people based in Hong Kong.
"They go across to China and check each batch of the product before it comes over here. We pay them a percentage to do the quality control and it means that we don't have to whip across there and check it every time its getting bagged up or packed up. If it comes over and it's incorrect, then they are responsible for it. The New Zealand produced material comes through the company base in Petone where staff go through all incoming stock for a final check on the quality before it is sent out."
Dan Love