摘要：Analysis of secondary data and information gathered from interviews with downstream woolsupply chain members suggests that problems exist with the sourcing of raw wool for the appareltextile industry. Speci.c problems relate to `hard' attributes, such as contaminated .bres and .brediameter, as well as `soft' attributes, such as origin of the wool and the nature of wool productionsystems. These problems may arise due to inadequate communication of quality attributes betweenchain members. The authors argue that more effective communication in the apparel wool supplychain requires the removal of `functional silos', where supply chain members fail to look outside(upstream and/or downstream) their speci.c sectoral interests, and the continued dominance of theauction as the primary marketing system. The authors conclude that the apparel wool industry needsto co-operate to compete in dynamic, global markets increasingly dominated by synthetic .bres, inwhich vertically co-ordinated supply chains are the norm, auctions non-existent and communicationis seen as a strength, rather than a weakness. # 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
