C&A is again making clothes in Germany. The fashion group sees the jeans factory in Mönchengladbach as a blueprint for the future of production in the heart of Europe. Is he setting a trend for the clothing industry? A multimedia visit.
There is a spirit of optimism in C&A’s new jeans factory in Mönchengladbach’s Monforts district. The sewing machines are humming in the high factory hall, and up to 900 pairs of trousers are produced here every day. About two years ago, C&A decided to start manufacturing in Germany again, and production started in the fall. Six months later, the manufacturing process in the factory is still being continuously optimized.
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The cutter could cut even more layers of fabric at once, process larger orders, says Uwe Gansfort, the plant’s managing director, as he walks through the hall at the end of April. The factory has 83 employees who work diligently on the sewing machines, ironing stations and the laying machine.
Not complete yet
“We’re still not complete when it comes to machine equipment,” says Gansfort. Like the entire industry, C&A has been suffering from the since the coronavirus pandemic faltering global supply chains; the containers for sea freight are in short supply, there is a lack of microchips for machines.
“We still have space here at the front, there is to be an ingredient magazine – for zips, rivets, sewing threads and so on,” he says, pointing to an empty wall in the hall that looks quite spacious. “But that hasn’t been delivered yet, so it will be a few months before we can get it up and running.”
In his long career, the manager has witnessed many upheavals in the fashion industry. Most recently, Gansfort was Managing Director of Canda International, a subsidiary responsible for C&A’s international sourcing of formal wear. The unit will now be dissolvedbecause the pandemic has reduced demand for formal wear.
Closer to demand
Another trend that experts have been predicting for years is re-shoring – the return of textile production from countries in the Far East such as Bangladesh or China. Apart from showcase projects like the Adidas Speedfactory in Ansbach, those of the sporting goods manufacturers have been discontinued Has, but the fashion industry is holding back. However, the delivery difficulties during the pandemic have once again shown how advantageous it would be to manufacture clothing exactly where it is bought.
At C&A, it wasn’t that long ago that the group had clothing made in Germany. Uwe Gansfort worked for the Mettinger factory that made suits. In the 2000s, the factory at the headquarters of the owning Brenninkmeijer family was finally closed and production was relocated. But the expertise in clothing production remained with employees like Gansfort.
But how can C&A with its factory in Mönchengladbach keep up with low-wage countries in the Far East? One pillar is automation and digitized manufacturing processes, which should enable profitable manufacturing in Europe.
“Whatever automation there is, it will be used”
“We are among the most modern factories in the world. Whatever automation we have in the apparel sector is being used,” says Gansfort. It starts with the warehouse robot, which takes the rolls of denim fabric from the warehouse, which are then automatically laid and cut to size. There are machines for steps such as putting on and sewing on the pockets, inserting the buttons and zippers. However, the majority of the sewing process, which includes sewing the trouser legs together – i.e. everything that still happens on the sewing machine – is still done by hand.
“60 to 70 percent is still manual,” estimates Gansfort. The degree of automation in the industry is not as high as in the automotive industry because the soft materials cannot be gripped so well by robots. However, Gansfort hopes that the global labor shortage will increase the pressure on automation. “We hope that this will unleash innovations, that at some point you will be able to close side seams automatically, that you will be able to work more with robots and gripper arms, but that will certainly take a few years,” says the manager of the factory, which is officially C&A’s “Factory for Innovation in Textiles” is called. Or C&A FIT for short.
The clothing group has invested a total of almost five million euros in the factory. Experts have calculated for C&A that the factory with 90 employees achieves the best possible productivity with the factory size of 4300 square meters, the existing number of machines and the investment. Some people must therefore be employed in addition to the previous 83 in order to achieve the optimum.
“Absolutely profitable”
“We definitely want to work profitably with this factory here and not just stage a showcase,” emphasizes Gansfort. “We’re a mass manufacturer, and we built this factory for mass, meaning large volumes.” Currently 800 to 900 pairs of jeans are produced per day. This amount must increase to 2000 to reach the annual production of 420,000 pairs. C&A has set itself this goal for the first year, later this number could increase to 800,000. When the factory reaches full capacity, it is expected to produce about 3 percent of all denim for C&A Europe. That’s the goal.
The denim made in Mönchengladbach has been sold in the online shop since the end of March and is expected to be in the branches in August. “We’ve been satisfied with the sales so far,” says C&A Head of Communications Betty Kieß during a video call at the end of April. Also in view of the consumer mood that is suffering from the war in Ukraine. She does not give exact sales figures.
More sustainable fashion for everyone
C&A sells six jeans models online, three each for men and women. So far, women’s models have sold better than men’s, which according to Kieß is not unusual. From the returns, C&A can see where the trousers still need to be improved in terms of style and fit. “We want to keep learning while we’re producing,” explains Kieß. Another overall evaluation will take place in three to four months. New styles may also be added.
At EUR 59.99, the pants produced in Mönchengladbach cost around twice as much as other jeans from C&A, making them one of the most expensive products in the range. With the promise of fair production in the European Union and denim made from organic cotton, the group hopes to convince people to spend more. The higher price also contributes to the fact that manufacturing in Germany is profitable. However, the margin of these jeans is slightly below that of the other denims in the range, says Gansfort.
Compared to jeans different manufacturerwhich are made in the EU and source denim fabric from organic cotton from the Italian weaver Candiani, the pants from C&A are still cheap.
“C&A has always stood for democratizing fashion and now we want to take the next step and democratize sustainable fashion,” says Kieß. With the modern factory in Mönchengladbach, C&A aims to resume the pioneering role of the past, when the retailer made ready-to-wear fashion – the latest trends such as bikinis and miniskirts – accessible to everyone.
blueprint
In order to regain the pioneering role, since the beginning of Managing director Giny Boer started a lot. The formerly rather secretive group C&A is not only more open and transparent in its communication, many media have visited and reported on the flagship plant in Mönchengladbach, for example. This openness is unusual for the fashion industry – what it looked like in Adidas’ Speedfactory was a well-kept secret until the end. C&A is also changing internal structures, cut jobs and concentrated on own brands.
The range is also currently being revised to offer “more modern fashion” for women, which is accompanied by a change in the range of products. “We want a clearer line, our handwriting, to be recognizable for customers in the stores and in the shop. We are therefore reducing the number of product variants by around 30 percent,” says Kieß. In this process, the company also looks at what requirements there are and how they can best be served.
“Then where is the best place to manufacture and manufacture the products in terms of the entire supply chain?” This is an important question, says Kieß. Because merchandise, product range and production are very closely related. This is where the Mönchengladbach factory comes into play again. With its own production, C&A can react quickly to.
“If the materials are on site, we’re certainly able to reproduce pants within two to three weeks and bring them to the stores,” says Gansfort. With an order for 20,000 parts, one could think about quickly reproducing certain sizes that are selling faster than expected. However, he also emphasizes that the plant is designed for large quantities and completely for the production of trousers. “Individual parts on-demand“Three to four jeans you put together yourself may come in the future, but that’s not the case now,” Gansfort said.
C&A wanted to start with a product like jeans that it knows well. But other products are not excluded, says Kieß. A plot next to the hall where the jeans are made in Mönchengladbach is still free – if there is to be further expansion one day. A second shift could be introduced and more people could be hired, says Ganfort.
But that depends on how the trousers sell, then the hall and machines can be utilized even more. A lot is still possible, how much time does C&A have for the project? The lease for the hall in Monforts Quartier runs for at least ten years.
What the group learns here should also be carried to other production sites or to Asia. “Ultimately, it’s important to us to reintegrate production in Europe into our portfolio,” says Kieß. “It’s something that can be a blueprint for us. We do not rule out producing even more in Europe.”