This paper on Inditex, a Spanish leading group in the
fashion sector, analyses how transport and logistics fit into
the production network and provide the firm with one of
its most notable competitive advantages. We first discuss
the dilemmas that fashion retailers face when organising the
supply chain and the contribution of logistics and transport
to its functional and geographical integration. We then open
the study of Inditex by describing the network of shops and
manufacturing, presenting the principles of the logistical
model, and providing details of the procedures applied for
the functional and geographical integration of the chain
of production of Zara, the best known of the company’s
11 brands. The analysis, based on recent and previously
unpublished data on the brand’s logistics hub in Zaragoza
(northeast Spain), sheds light on the modus operandi of the
group and confirms the crucial importance of logistics in all
facets of the production model. First, efficient logistics and
sufficiently fast transport, allow the company to enjoy short
lead times and be present in economically and geographically
very disparate markets. Second, the productive structure,
combining nearby and distant manufacturing, and both
dispersion and concentration spatially and in production,
also relies on the effectiveness of the logistical model. On
the one hand, better internal and external communication
and greater productivity compensate for the company’s
higher costs of manufacturing in nearby areas. On the other,