Supra owner One Distribution has made a significant investment in controlling its supply chain by opening its own footwear development facility in Dongguan, China.
The office employs 17 One Distribution employees and is lead by Supra VP of Footwear Udi Shiloah.
One Distribution CEO Scott Bailey said in an interview that Supra has reached the point of critical mass where it made sense to make this kind of investment, especially with the manufacturing challenges that have developed in China due to price increases and other issues.
Now, One Distribution employees will oversee all aspects of production including development, picking suppliers for materials and fabrics, working directly with factories, and overseeing quality control and logistics.
One Distribution will also be on the factory floors and can stop production if a problem is found, rather than discovering an issue after the fact.
The ability to oversee quality control directly is especially appealing since Supra is shipping directly from China to its larger retail customers, Scott said.
Adding a logistics division to the new facility is also important because 40% of Supra’s sales are outside of the U.S., and the China office can ship directly to distributors and to other One Distribution offices in other parts of the world.
The company also wants to stay on the forefront of footwear innovation, Scott said, and likes that its own staff is now on the ground searching out what is new in materials and fabrics.
Previously, many of the duties were handled by an agent, which Supra has been working with since it launched six years ago. Scott speaks very highly of the agent and about how they have helped the company learn and grow over the years.
But now, it will be nice to have employees that are solely dedicated to the Supra brand. One Distribution officially took over the duties previously handled by the agent on Sept. 15 after an eight-month transition period.
VP of Footwear Udi Shiloah, who previously worked with Palladium Boots, Royal Elastics and K-Swiss before joining One Distribution in December 2011, has moved to China to oversee operations.
“This is one of the biggest things we have ever done as a company,” Scott said. “Without it, we felt we would not be as competitive with the larger footwear brands.”
I asked Scott if he was referring to competition on price.
“Price, quality – just everything,” he said. “You have to have someone that is dedicated to you and staff that is on the same page.”
In 2010, Betram Capital, a private equity firm based in San Mateo, financed a recapitalization of One Distribution, which also owns the KR3W apparel brand.
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