H Garment Company removed its production base back to South Korea this year. In last four years, all its garments were produced in Guangzhou by OEM. However, it places orders to manufactories in Seoul now. The head of H Garment Company says that cost in China was quite low four years ago. But with the growth of salary, the cost rises, too. As a result, H Garment Company prefers to produce in South Korea.
Another company GoocyFlow does the same thing recently. For the general manager of GoocyFlow, Mr. LeeSeung-u, the production costs in China and South Korea are almost the same. Even the cost in South Korea is a bit higher than that in China; the company will still choose to produce in South Korea because of the good quality and convenience.
Although, cost is one important factor for this fleeing flow, there are other reasons behind it.
First, it is the “flexibility” that South Korea garment manufactories enjoy. If garments are produced in China, the Just In Time production pattern cannot be realized because of long distance. However, if garments are produced in South Korea, the garment company can work close with the manufactories in terms of designs change and stock management. The head of Sejin Co., Ltd thinks that it is a great advantage that you can check the whole production process.
What's more, Chinese manufactories only accept orders of over 1000 pieces. But in South Korea, manufactories can accept orders of small quantity.
