New production partners for Styrian traditional children’s costume fashion – with support from the Enterprise Europe Network

This success story shows how the Enterprise Europe Network and the ICS can help Styrian companies safeguard international supply chains and find new business partners across borders – even in highly specialised and traditional sectors.

In Styria, high-quality traditional costume fashion for children combines tradition, craftsmanship and regional identity. At the same time, the market in this premium price segment is comparatively small, and the number of suitable production companies is limited. Rising production costs and increasingly scarce manufacturing capacity pose additional challenges, especially for smaller providers.

A Styrian company that has high-quality traditional children’s costumes made according to its own designs and patterns suddenly faced exactly this problem: its long-standing foreign production partner was no longer reachable from one day to the next. The company first contacted the Styrian Chamber of Commerce and was subsequently referred to the ICS to clarify whether the supplier was still active in the market at all. With support from the responsible WKO Foreign Trade Center, it was ultimately determined that the company had filed for bankruptcy.

This made it clear that, in the short term, a new, reliable production partner had to be found who could meet the existing quality requirements and manufacture the traditional costume designs according to the Styrian company’s individual specifications and cuts.

International partner search via the Enterprise Europe Network

The company was advised to start its supplier search with the help of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) office at the ICS.

The international EEN marketplace was then used to search specifically and free of charge for suitable production and sewing companies abroad.

The response was considerable: 15 international providers of sewing and manufacturing services expressed interest in working together. After an initial review of the offers, the Styrian company entered into direct contact with two particularly suitable businesses. Both potential partners produced sample pieces, which made it possible to assess quality, workmanship and suitability for further cooperation.

“I am very enthusiastic about the ICS service, because I have not received such a satisfactory service for years. Now I can source my sewn items from abroad again – from a newly found supplier. I am very happy to recommend this service.”

Ingrid Wulz, Managing Director, Wulz Kindermoden GmbH

New supplier found in Hungary

The international search ultimately led to the desired success: a Hungarian production company impressed with its sample pieces and was selected as the new contractor.

This not only closed an unexpectedly created gap in the supply chain. At the same time, a new, long-term procurement option was established for the company elsewhere in Europe.

For Ms Wulz, the company’s Managing Director, the successful completion of the partner search above all demonstrates the concrete added value that international networks can offer even to smaller companies and traditional niche sectors.