International Journal of Engineering and Technology

Key factors of outsourcing strategies include cost and capacity flexibility. Cost saving and capacity flexibility depend on the connection between product characteristics and the supply chain network. Functional products involve efficient supply chains. Fashion products should move in the production and distribution system as quickly as possible in which maximum capacity flexibility provides a responsive supply chain. Moreover, complex products with global parts sourcing involve comparatively more risk. This paper evaluates an outsourcing strategies considering functional and fast fashion products in the textile supply chain. There are four categories of production options. Textile manufacturer receives production contracts at in-house facility in home country. Capacity flexibility is measured as the combination of destinations with maximum capacity. Product complexity risk is incorporated as the number of parts/components sourced domestically and internationally at each production destination. A multi-objective model for outsourcing strategiesis proposed based on operational cost, capacity flexibility, and product complexity risk. The model is solved using three variants of goal programming. Based on the results, several insights are proposed for outsourcing decision making.