I worked in the apparel industry for many years; From what I remember, Uniqlo focused obsessively on quality control and unit economics.
They have very few fabrications that are shared across many styles so they can order an entire mill's supply for a season in some cases. In this industry segment, materials costs can be ~70% of total production cost so this make an enormous impact.
They outsource to factories outside of Japan, but they will
send in their own operations team to do production line setup and training. Their tolerances were very tight and QC process rigorous. If you walk into a factory, you will see Uniqlo branded posters up everywhere with "10 rules of quality control" and the like.
My former employer really prized hiring the same factories that Uniqlo used because we knew the QC was going to be a step above and the unit costs optimized.
They have very few fabrications that are shared across many styles so they can order an entire mill's supply for a season in some cases. In this industry segment, materials costs can be ~70% of total production cost so this make an enormous impact.
They outsource to factories outside of Japan, but they will send in their own operations team to do production line setup and training. Their tolerances were very tight and QC process rigorous. If you walk into a factory, you will see Uniqlo branded posters up everywhere with "10 rules of quality control" and the like.
My former employer really prized hiring the same factories that Uniqlo used because we knew the QC was going to be a step above and the unit costs optimized.