The last week

Now my internship is over, it was a hectic last week even though most of the purchasers were off to Hong Kong. The ones who were left at the office had a lot of products to get in to the systems for publishing online since most of them already were delivered to us.

When I look back to the first week I really understand how much I’ve learned during these 8 weeks of internship and that feels really good. It is now possible to work with their different systems and programs, without any problems, that from the beginning felt impossible to understand. These 8 weeks have passed by fast and I the new people I have gotten to know during this time have been really great and I hope that I will meet them again in the future!

Last weeks and last tasks

This is the second last week of my internship. The time is flying and I should be finished soon!

I gave a presentation on my findings yesterday and it was nice to notice that my work was appreciated. The results were not groundbreaking or a total surprise but still it raised interest and there were some questions. My project report with all the results for the company is not ready yet and I will mainly work on that next week. I would have preferred to present later this week but as you know, the Copenhagen Fashion Week is starting and also my jefe and other colleagues will be there.

It has been an experience to intern in such a small company. I have heard a lot, learned a lot and made new connections. Working in a company this small it is nice to notice that you can really do anything from folding and packing t-shirts to researching the manufacturing process and how it could be turned more environmentally friendly. This applies to the CEO as well as the product assistant. Few days are similar.

I'm happy to have had the chance to calculate the Higg Index for real products and in a real company. It is totally different than doing it in the classroom with examples. Now I can say that I actually can use the RDM and I have a small hint of what it requires to calculate Higg Index. However, as with many other things in life - the more you learn about something the more you realize how little you actually know. This is my feeling at the moment. Happy for the experience but still a tiny bit confused about everything that has to do with the Higg Index.

This is my last post when it comes to my internship project. Hopefully I will see you guys at the uni soon! Ciao!

Noora

Data collection at INDISKA Borås.

This was the third occasion for our data collection. The first one was a telephone interview with the CRS manager at INDISKA headquarter and the second one was a single email questionnaire. Now finally we where allowed to interact with actual consumers and get some indication of how all the theoretical work could be interoperated in real life.

Matthildur at INDISKA =)

When it comes to doing research, collecting data is a crucial part of the process. There is a lot that can go wrong, especially when you dealing with people and technology. Our data collection was depended on three basic features that all had to work to be able to get any valid data at all. First it was the previous research done by us. As with most research you have to have some idea of what part of the world to interpret and what questions to ask. Secondly we had to have the right equipment to be able to read the participants. In our case, the QR-code technology had to be running as smoothly as possible. And at last, we were dependent upon a proper environmental setting/stage in order to conduct the study. The setting/stage we had chosen was the retail location. 

Confident and ready to start collecting data, we had set up everything at the INDISKA retail store in Borås and participant started to try the technology. Everything went on as planned until around three in the afternoon when people just stopped coming into the store. We needed only a few more participants to reach our data collection quota but there was barely anyone left in the store, which made things very difficult. But again patience paid off and about an hour later we had all the data we needed and could pack up and leave with a smile. Ready to analyze the data and continuing the research.

Discovering the design and textile world

Hello everyone!

As I have already mentioned the marketing department where I have been doing my internship is situated next to the product development one, meaning also a close cooperation with the design team. At the beginning I was working with designers in order to get familiar with all the products the company offers and the design process itself.

First of all I have mastered the ability of textiles construction, different types of fibers as well as production methods. I could see and learn a lot from really first design steps, through the verification of initially arriving textile samples, wash tests until the confirmation of the final production order and the quality control of the already produced textiles. It was very interesting to get familiar with all the creation and production steps performed especially while dealing with individual orders, particularly of carpets. The design and production process is really as complex as it is described in the academic literature, especially if the company stands for the highest quality of provided textiles, sustainability and high standards and requirements concerning its suppliers.

In my opinion only the real work experience allows for the most exciting form of teaching and introduces various and numerous alternatives of production as well as types of fabrics which can be chosen depending of the pricing strategies but also end use of the textiles.

As the fabrics and textiles are designed for the commercial and domestic use it is necessary to meet required standards and assure that all of the products will pass all applicable tests. First of all I got familiar with the abrasion test which is performed mostly with upholstery fabrics as well carpets and is caused by rubbing and contact with another fabric. Additionally I got familiar with the measure of colorfastness to light and colorfastness to wet and dry rubbing as well as crocking. As many of fabrics are intended for the commercial end use it is also necessary to ensure high fire-resistance. Therefore I have learnt about different flammability tests and their applicability depending on the end use of the fabric and their construction.

Each day brings a new challenge and knowledge and I am really happy that I can compare the theory with practice, especially if surrounded by so many different textiles!

Greetings from China IV

Hej!

So my fourth week in China is coming to an end....I have to admit it feels like four months....one of the good things about living in a new culture is that there are so many little things to discover that you are always tired at the end of the day.

Well so where shall I start….I could talk one page about funny facts in Chinese culture I discovered, or about all the fake products one can find at the night market. All the different food I ate and did not eat could fill at least 3 pages.

But I think I will just tell you about some discoveries I found rather interesting. So let’s start with the 2 billion people living here. My biggest concern about living in China was that the masses of people would just swallow me. That I would be pushed through the streets by all these people rushing to the metro getting lost and finding myself in some slum-like suburb surrounded by street dogs and trash. That I would disappear in this “small” city Hangzhou of only 8.8 Million people and nobody would notice. Well there are quite a few skyscrapers decorating the sides of the….river with room for many people and I surely cannot be claustrophobic when taking one of the 7 elevators to our office in the morning but besides that….I’m still here, not swallowed, not drowned, did not disappear….walking through Nordstan on a Saturday is for sure more frightening than taking the subway in Shanghai. You want to know why? Because people have time….or they at least take their time…there is no hectically running and pushing, “Excuse-me” and “move bitch”. It seems like Chinese people realized that it just does not make any sense and for sure will not get you faster to your destination to rush everywhere. 

Of course this “patience” can also have its downsides, especially when it comes to work.  My German engineering heart is bleeding when I think about efficiency and effectiveness. There is this “bakery like” chain called bread talk where you can watch the “baker” do their work. This one day I went in there when the staff was finishing some pastries with a powder sugar topic. One girl was holding the sieve and another one was hitting a spoon against it. I think this sums it up quite nicely. Sure there are a lot of people and manpower and it is good that people have a job but sometimes things just take twice as long when two people work on the same thing.

The same situation applies in the office. There are 150 people in our office who are all overloaded with work and super busy when they are asked but once you follow them everything just takes for ever and will be done in the way it is always been done, which can be quite frustrating. It is in the office when I feel like getting lost even though I am surrounded by people. Besides the fact, that the English level is very poor at our office (which is still way above average for the average Chinese) people are just afraid. Afraid to talk to me or to each other, afraid to be caught doing nothing or doing anything wrong, afraid to ask, which results in an office full of people where nobody knows what the other person does and me being the top of the iceberg of anxiety as a foreigner, a possible future client as they always say, which means if they do anything wrong with me it might mess up everything….By the way I am just a little intern. All leading managers here are Indians, which I think is very sad, but the Chinese are just too nice, too shy, too afraid. The Chinese are so restrained and subservient that they ask me questions about their job but cannot share their work tasks because they are probably afraid I could do or know it better than them. This means, 70% of the time I am doing nothing…and that sucks…I tried everything….I talked to my mentors, to the HR lady, even to the general manager, but they just don’t understand it…I gave so many suggestions about how my internship could be somehow a win-win but I think their biggest fear is to change. You don’t experience the communism on the streets but in people’s minds. My exaggerated picture of Communism was that all people look the same, wear the same, eat the same and say the same but the possibilities of luxury shopping and the unassailable power and influence of the Alibaba imperium say the opposite. It is in the people’s minds and behaviour where I can see the phasing. With the awareness of me generalizing from only a few weeks living in China I claim that Chinese people don’t question anything, they don’t come up with new ideas, are not curious and don’t think innovative. It feels like they don’t have a thrive to improve, they just accept their working conditions and bypass any possible confrontation. They copy but they don’t invent. This on the other side has a positive side effect again….Chinese people hate confrontation, which means they are not aggressive at all. Thus I can walk around, take a cab at night, talk to whoever comes up to me and stick my nose in every side street without being afraid myself. I always feel safe J. China is just very two-sided.

My resume in one sentence right now: I like China, I like the Chinese people, I love the Chinese food (well besides the chicken feet…this will not be my favourite snack no matter how long I will stay here) but working here is incredibly hard.

Greetings from China III

Hi!

 

Let’s talk about business. There are 150 people in our office who are all overloaded with work and super busy when they are asked but once you follow them everything just takes for ever and will be done in the way it is always been done, which can be quite frustrating. It is in the office when I feel like getting lost even though I am surrounded by people. Besides the fact, that the English level is very poor at our office (which is still way above average for the Chinese peope) people are just afraid. Afraid to talk to me or to each other, afraid to be caught doing nothing or doing anything wrong, afraid to ask, which results in an office full of people where nobody knows what the other person does and me being the top of the iceberg of anxiety as a foreigner, a possible future client as they always say, which means if they do anything wrong with me it might mess up everything….By the way I am just a little intern. All leading managers here are Indians, which I think is very sad, but the Chinese are just too nice, too shy, too afraid. The Chinese are so restrained and subservient that they ask me questions about their job but cannot share their work tasks because they are probably afraid I could do or know it better than them. This means, 90% of the time I am doing nothing…and that sucks…I tried everything….I talked to my mentors, to the HR lady, even to the general manager, but they just don’t understand it…I gave so many suggestions about how my internship could be somehow a win-win but I think their biggest fear is to change. You don’t experience the communism on the streets but in people’s minds. My exaggerated picture of Communism was that all people look the same, wear the same, eat the same and say the same but the possibilities of luxury shopping and the unassailable power and influence of the Alibaba imperium say the opposite. It is in the people’s minds and behaviour where I can see the phasing. With the awareness of me generalizing from only a few weeks living in China I claim that Chinese people don’t question anything, they don’t come up with new ideas, are not curious and don’t think innovative and at the very least they like confrontation. It feels like they don’t have a thrive to improve, they just accept their working conditions and try to get through the day without talking to anybody. They copy but they don’t invent. This on the other side has a positive side effect again….Chinese people hate confrontation, which means they are not aggressive at all. Thus I can walk around, take a cab at night, talk to whoever comes up to me and stick my nose in every side street without being afraid myself. I always feel safe J. China is just very two-sided.

My resume in one sentence right now: I like China, I like the Chinese people, I love the Chinese food (well besides the chicken feet…this will not be my favourite snack no matter how long I will stay here) but working here at least as an intern is incredibly hard, if not impossible.

 

Kick-off Meetings For a Good Start

Hello everyone!


              The last two weeks were the opening weeks for a new busy year for the company. They started with the company's kick-off meeting where the plans and targets for the Company for the next 5 and 10 years were revealed and discussed. That introduced all of us to the priorities and challenges for the international sportswear market and this Company in particular.
              This meeting was followed by the big kick-off meeting for the Buying&Design team. It took the whole day, while the presentations and focus group discussions were followed by the team-building activities. We talked about the target consumer and the Changes in the sportswer market and social forces which could influence the demand,  we also pin-pointed the competitors and discussed the possible outcomes of the marketing compains planned for this year and how will it influence the work of our Buying&Design team and what it requires from each and everyone of us.
              A peculiar fact is that the reasults of the discussion in mini-Groups of the challenges of this department and possible sollutions showed that the team members outlined the same issues and needs independantly from one another. It can be considered to be an obvious strength of the Company to be aware of its weaknesses and not be afraid to reveal them with the strong motivation to improve. Some of the targets and needs have become the part of my future Projects, as I was offered a job in this Company and am delighted about that.


Wish all of you an interesting week, and talk to you later :)


Kind regards,
Victoria

The end

I am back from my Christmas break and getting some routines again. We are now having a more relaxed period since all the orders are placed, the main focus right now is to get as many samples as possible before the Chines New Year that is coming up. That means that all factories and our office in China are closed and we cannot get in contact with them.

This week we had most focus on the shipments and that all garments will be here in time.  It is important to supervise and follow up so that the products will not be delayed. To see this we are working in different programs, but we also have a logistics department where they track all the products.

I have now done my last week at the internship and the whole experience has been great. I know that I have learned a lot and created some great contacts that can be useful for the future. All my colleagues have been wonderful and I know that I have made a couple of new friendships and that we will have further contact, I hope I will meet all of them in the future.

Back in the office

It has been almost two weeks since I came back to the office after the holidays. That I didn’t work too much during christmas did not really coma as a surprise, but coming back from the lazyness (and massive colds that hit me!) was a bit overwhelming. I realized that I still had a lot of work to do before the presentation, almost everything to be honest, since I’d been waiting for the last survey entries for a couple of weeks. In the beginning of my last week I finally received the last entry, so now it was time to start putting everything together and start analyzing.

From 9 invitations to take part in the study 6 companies answered, quite a good amount compared to the response I’ve received as “only a student”. It is obvious that the SSNC is an important stakeholder, with whom companies want to keep a good relationship. Of course it’s a bit scary when one of the largest environmental organizations want to discuss your company’s sustainability practices. I’m happy with the answers I received even though it would be interesting to have at least one more fast fashion company, or at least more thorough answers from the one who took part in the study. In the end, the study consisted of 3 outdoor brands, 2 slow fashion brands and 1 fast fashion brand.

As mentioned previously the study focused on the definitions, drivers and communication strategies regarding sustainability in these companies, aiming on mapping the different concepts of corporate sustainability in the fashion industry as well as describing the situation and ambitions of today.

Part of what I found out was:

• Theoretical concepts such as Triple Bottom Line and CSR is well understood and is the foundation of companies’ sustainability definitions. Continuity and long-term perspectives are also important concepts.
• Sustainability, long-term thinking or sense of responsibility is expressed in 4 out of 6 companies business ideas.
• Sustainability is one of the most prioritized business areas today
• Code of conduct and auditing is the most prioritized sustainability issue today. Philantrophy and charity is not prioritized sustainability issues from a Swedish business perspective.
• Corporate sustainability has become more strategic in the last years
• The main drivers for corporate sustainability are internal, such as the owners interest, sense of responsibility and hopes of contributing to a better world. Sustainability as a commersial precondition as well as risk reduction are also identified drivers.
• The focus area for the future is to minimize the negative impacts of products, which is why goals and key figures are mainly about the amount of BlueSign-certified products, recycled products, and recyclable products among the studied companies
• The main barriers to a more sustainable business is the conventionality of the industry and consumption of fashion and textiles
• Transparency and simplifying complex issues are keys to communicating sustainability
• A global, uniform, covering and easy-to-understand form of reporting, as well as for a certification system, is requested to guide both companies and consumers
• Companies drive the development, consumer behavior is still not responding enough to the sustainability issues of fashion and clothing 

Accept from the study I've had two other tasks during my fieldstudy time. A couple of days in december I spent on researching potential licencees for the certification Bra Miljöval (Good Environmental Choice) among different kinds of textile companies in fashion, childrens wear and home decoration. I also helped out planning an event that the SSNC is having together with the Textile museum in the end of January. The event is called “Länge leve kläderna!” (“Long live the clothes!”) and is based on a debate article from the chairman of the SSNC, published in a Swedish news paper last year. The aim of the event is to raise questions about what both companies and customers are responsible to do in order to prolong the life of garments, in order to achieve a more sustainable textile consumption. There will be short speaches from three companies, the head of department of the SSNC office for environmental consumption, as wella as the head of the Textile museum. There will be a panel discussion and exhibitions from the organisations taking part in the event as well. The invitation for the seminar is for industry representatives and media only, but in the afternoon the museum will be open for the public to see the exhibitions and ask questions. The time for the public part of the event is the 29/1 17.00-19.00 on the second floor of the Textile museum in Textile Fashion Center.

I'm just about to leave the office after my last day here, even though my work with them doesn't really end until after the event. I'm greatful for the time that I've spent here, the people I've gotten to know and everything that I've learned. But it's been a lot of work, and quite a warm up for the coming thesis period...

Emelie

The Nordic heritage in Germany

Moin!

I have moved to the north of Germany to do my internship in the company which is at the same time a premium interior brand with the Nordic heritage, providing unique and high quality textiles as well as carpets. All of the products are characterized by brightness, pureness and clearness typical for the Scandinavian design.

The company is a medium size enterprise with hundred years of experience that offered me the internship within the marketing department. The marketing office is located in the company headquarters and is directly connected with the textile showroom allowing being constantly in touch with current collection of textiles and carpets. Additionally marketing team is in a close cooperation with a product development department so I am very excited to work together and learn from designers. Every day brings new knowledge and challenge.

At the beginning of my internship period I was involved in cross-training in all departments of the company. I have learnt how to use the main computer program which integrates all departments within the headquarters as well as all subsidiaries around the world. In the purchasing department I developed abilities of managing the stock based on the evaluation of sales sheets with hundreds of data, therefore I have mastered the capability of placing orders of new textiles and carpets for a warehouse.

I feel that I have learned so much already during the cross-training before starting the work in the marketing department. And the real work brought much more!

Tschau und bis bald!

Internship in Vietnam part 1

Hello mates! 

I am finally back in Swede after two months i Vietnam. I will share my experience with you but we need to rewind to 2014. 

My internship took place in a company that works with leather good are of crocodile skin and ostrich leather. The first two week started off with an introduction of the entire company and I got loads of documents to read in order to understand the different divisions but the tricky part was that all were in vietnamese, so I had to google translate it all even though I can speak the language reading is a totally another thing since the different signs above and under the letters. However I mange to go trough the papers and joined the division that I was learning about at the same time. 

After introduction I worked with the marketing department. I had so many questions regarding their marketing approach, from a westernized pair of eyes confusion was all that I saw. I could not receive the image of the brand and what they wanted to project, maybe it was me that could not decode the messages or could a local receive the message? I asked the marketing manager how they reason regarding their brand appearance in the different marketing channels, she said that she knew that is not optimal but the question is not what you do rather how you do it. Vietnam is a market with consumer that generally have low brand awareness, how does branding works then? 

An interesting question for all of you textile management students out there, something to think about if you have one or two minutes over. 

How to become best friends with Google

The question of how to become best friends with Google was the focus during the seminar I was participating in today. Since the company I am doing my internship at sell solely online, and the way customer mostly find the company is by using Google to search for that specific product they are looking for, I understand why you should work on your relationship with Google and make sure that the two of you get along. You do not want to end up on the black list!

During the seminar SEO was discussed and how to optimize your webpage/webshop to make Google happy, which of course is even more important for companies that only exists online. This is something that I have started to notice now during my internship, how important it is to work with SEO and it is therefore interesting and fun to be able to listen to these people who are the experts within this field.     

Allt går i cykler

Efter några veckor på pappersfabriken börjar jag komma in i vardagsrutiner. En utav mina arbetsuppgifter är att visa runt besökare som är nyfikna på hur man tillverkar återvunnet, handgjort papper. Det är en enkel och miljövänlig process som kräver erfarenhet och fingertoppkänsla för att uppnå den bästa kvalitén. Tsering Phuntsok, före detta chefen för pappersfabriken berättade med djup inlevelse fördelarna med återvinning av papper vid ett besök.    

- Föreställ dig att en bok köpt här som är tillverkad av återvunnet papper motsvarar en gren på ett träd. Köper man femtio böcker har man räddat ett helt träd och om alla människor skulle köpa återvunna böcker skulle vi kunna rädda jorden.

Att se sitt bidrag i ett större perspektiv skapar engagemang och syfte, vilket är något som genomsyrar arbetet på pappersfabriken.

- Allt går i cykler. Om fler kommer hit och ser hur vi producerar papper och blir intresserade kanske de köper fler böcker och då räddar vi fler träd. Ju fler som köper desto mer pengar får hantverkarna till sina familjer, för flera av de är detta familjens enda inkomst.

I den tibetanska kulturen är det vanligt att tänka i cykler. Många tror på återfödelse och lever sina liv sparsamt och med respekt och medkänsla för människor, djur och miljön. De ser sig som en del utav helheten och känner därför ett ansvar inför de utmaningar som mänskligheten står inför. I förra veckan höll Dalai Lama en utav sina årliga undervisningar som jag och min kollega Jenny deltog i under tre förmiddagar. Dalai Lama är inte bara tibetanernas spirituella ledare men en viktig del i deras identitet. Att handla utifrån sina medmänniskor och miljöns bästa är något som Dalai Lama förespråkar starkt.

If you want to read more of my entries for IM, please visit

http://manniskohjalp.se/search/site/?f[0]=im_field_author%3A1514

Holiday waiting line …

The Christmas holidays can for some people be quite a hectic period. Especially if your working within the fashion retail industry. Christmas gifts here and Christmas gifts there, everyone seams to spend way too much time and money at shopping, leaving the retailers with an overload of work. I’m sure most of us knows what I mean and I’m also sure some of you who are out on your internship sometimes feel left out or down prioritized do to the heavy work load. But what else to do then to sympathize and be patience, you don't want to be too much of a burden for the company. Frustration builds up when your work becomes dependent of somebody else’s progress and you can do little to affect the time schedule. Either it is because an overwhelming workload or and extra long Christmas vacation, patience is the key to survival. =)

Filip & Matthildur

Impressions within Fast Fashion IV

Hallå!

  





The new year just began and I'm already back in business. More and more colleagues return from vacation and the normal daily routine sets in. For the retail establishment department this means that all the rental contracts are checked very carefully for expiration dates and of course the sales data from the Christmas period arrives from the stores. Otherwise it is quiet now as within the beginning of the year as shop openings are very seldom and not so efficient as the buying power of the customers is not as high right now.

As my internship ends this month I finish more and more of my tasks as for instance a construction supplier overview in Germany divided in regions. Next week I will join a business trip to Stockholm in order to assist my mentor and to look at some locations for evaluation purposes. Looking back at the last two months I have to say that I am extremely grateful for my time here as I experienced a wide overview within the business of retail development. My internship took me through all the steps; from the retail establishment to retail design and visual merchandising, I received a 360° view over all the process and I learned a lot from the time that I spent here.

Also, when it comes to fast fashion and the efforts I've seen towards a more sustainable approach in terms of quality and environmental use, it made me happy to see that there are people working very hard to achieve sustainability.

Now the fun part of writing my field study report begins and if the weather stays that way, it cannot take too long.

Best regards,

Sven