By strategically balancing global and regional production, it’s possible to achieve both scalability and efficiency. Leveraging Guatemala’s geographic advantage for North American distribution, paired with Italy’s craftsmanship and Asia’s production scale, created a cohesive, resilient supply chain ready to meet high-volume demand without sacrificing quality.
Global Supply Chain Strategy: Costco Belt Program
Objective: To design, source, and scale a premium full-grain leather belt program by leveraging a global supplier base, optimizing cost efficiencies, and maintaining material consistency and quality across multiple regions.
Challenge: The goal was to coordinate a multi-country supply chain where each region specialized in a critical stage of production—leather development, hardware manufacturing, and assembly—while ensuring all components met identical standards. Balancing cost, volume, and logistics required deep supplier collaboration and data-driven decision-making to align production capabilities with demand.
Delivering 800,000 units through global coordination, reliable sourcing, and precision execution for 3 consecutive years.
The Process
Italy
Leather Development
Partnered with three Italian tanneries to develop premium full-grain leather, ensuring color, grain, and finish consistency across all production regions. Italy served as the foundation for material innovation and technical development, setting quality benchmarks for global replication.
Taiwan
Hardware Production
Collaborated with buckle manufacturers in Taiwan to standardize hardware across multiple production partners. Worked closely on finish, durability testing, and plating uniformity, while negotiating cost per component based on forecasted volume commitments.
Italy, Guatemala, China, and India
Production Execution &
Cross-Supplier Coordination
Established production across three key manufacturing hubs, each selected for strategic advantages in capacity, efficiency, and regional logistics.
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Guatemala: Managed 20% of total order volume, serving as a nearshore manufacturing partner. Proximity to the western United States enabled faster transit times, reduced shipping costs, and provided a strategic advantage for regional fulfillment.
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China and India: Supported high-volume production with scalable infrastructure and advanced finishing capabilities, ensuring consistency with Italian-developed leather and Taiwanese hardware standards.
Italy, Guatemala, China, and India
Results
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Established five-country alignment from material development to final production.
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Reduced total cost per unit by 15% through volume-based negotiations and regional sourcing strategies.
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Shortened lead times by 20% by distributing production and optimizing freight routes from Guatemala to U.S. western states.
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Delivered consistent quality across all factories, maintaining premium standards through unified development and quality control systems.