"Tomorrow Belongs To Those Who Can Hear It Coming...." David Bowie

This week, I’ve been delving into carbon footprints, reflecting on how ours has likely improved since switching to 'on-demand single-piece' manufacturing.

While there may not be a precise standard for measuring this, I focused on the resources, fuel, electricity, heat, lighting, and packaging required to deliver a single polo shirt into a golfer’s hands.

Previously, like many brands, we would place forward orders six months before the season, estimating what retail customers and end consumers would want. We’d place bulk orders, hoping our forecasts were accurate. This kicked off the large-scale production of fabric, garments, and packaging.

Once production was completed, the goods would be shipped to the UK. Upon arrival, they would be transported to our warehouse by a freight company—a process requiring significant heating and lighting resources.

We also had three salespeople driving around the country to meet customers, covering thousands of miles and consuming lots of diesel. Each salesperson needed a full set of samples for their meetings.

When orders came in, we would break down the bulk packaging, repackage the items, and send them to individual retailers. This process generated substantial amounts of cardboard waste every week.

Over the next few weeks, we’d ship orders using various couriers’ vans and trucks, consuming even more diesel fuel.

For pro shops, retailers would need to heat and light their stores. Larger retailers would receive bulk deliveries, which they would break down again for distribution to their branches—resulting in more packaging, more warehousing with heating and lighting needs, and additional trucks for distribution.

Finally, after all this, the products would be placed on store shelves, where they would continue to consume resources until a golfer purchased a polo shirt.

Without precise measurements, it’s clear that this process was resource-intensive. Diesel for ships, trucks, vans, and salespeople’s cars, plus the energy needs of warehouses and retail stores, contributed to a very large carbon footprint. And if we misjudged demand, we’d end up with excess stock, which often meant discounted sales or even landfill disposal.

By contrast, our new 'on-demand single-piece' production uses significantly fewer resources.

We no longer need to forecast demand. Customers simply browse our website, choose the polo they like, and place their order. This order activates the factory to produce just that one polo shirt, using only the necessary resources to print, cut, sew, and pack it.

The finished shirt is then shipped by plane to the UK, transferred to a courier van, and delivered directly to the customer's door.

The resource usage is drastically reduced. There’s no bulk production, no excess transportation, no need for warehousing, and far fewer packaging materials.

There’s really no need to calculate the carbon footprint for a comparison—it’s abundantly clear that 'on-demand single-piece' production is the more sustainable choice.

Robert