Supply Chain of Gap

Supply Chain

A supply chain is not merely a mechanical process designed to create and ship products. It is a complex network of workers doing different jobs in many parts of the world. In the case of a T-shirt, for example, the supply chain includes everything from people working at farms where cotton is grown to the cut-and-sew factories where the garments are put together.

Decisions made at Gap Inc. headquarters can affect people in other parts of our supply chain. The supply chain is a system, not a linear collection of discrete events, and decisions that are made at one end of it can have consequences, positive or negative, elsewhere in the system.

Gap Inc. seeks to ensure that the people working at various points along the supply chain are treated with fairness, dignity and respect - an aspiration that is born out of the belief that each life is of equal value, whether the person is sitting behind a sewing machine at a factory that produces clothes for Gap Inc., working at one of our stores, or wearing a pair of our jeans.

We know that our efforts to improve the lives of people who work on behalf of our company help us to run a more successful business. People who work a reasonable number of hours in a safe and healthy environment not only have a better quality of life, but they also tend to be more productive and deliver higher quality product than those who work in poor conditions.

To achieve this aspiration, our Social and Environmental Responsibility department has a full-time staff of approximately 70 people dedicated to these issues, partnering with hundreds of factory owners and managers, NGOs, and industry associations worldwide that are experts in social and environmental issues.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) today announced that Nick J. Cullen is joining the company as Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, and Michael B. Tasooji is joining as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer. Mr. Tasooji succeeds Senior Vice President and CIO Ken Harris, who has decided to leave the company at the end of this fiscal year to pursue other professional interests. Mr. Harris, who has been with the company since 1999, will work with Mr. Tasooji on the management transition. Mr. Cullen, 49, will oversee Gap Inc.'s global supply chain. He will be based in San Francisco and report to Paul Pressler, Gap Inc. President and CEO. He succeeds Chuck Crovitz, who resigned his position in July. Mr. Cullen's responsibilities will include global product sourcing, quality assurance and distribution for the company's Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy brands. Through a network of offices in Asia, the Americas and Europe, the company sources products from more than 1,000 garment vendors with factories in more than 50 countries. Merchandise is routed to more than 3,000 store locations in six countries through five domestic and three international distribution campuses. "Gap Inc.'s diverse, global sourcing base and logistics network is a strong point of competitive advantage for us," Mr. Pressler said. "Nick's experience in developing and implementing highly integrated supply chain networks will help us expand our current capabilities and create even more robust, flexible and cost-effective ways to serve our customers. Nick will work closely with our brands to optimize product development cycles and create innovative supply chain solutions to support our business strategies." With a 25-year career covering all aspects of integrated supply operations, Mr. Cullen has extensive experience managing large, customer- oriented sourcing and distribution networks. Most recently, Mr. Cullen was President, North America Supply, Diageo PLC, a division of the global beer, wine and spirits distributor. In this role, he provided strategic direction for