Apparel manufacturing has a decades-long history of being a race to the bottom. As the supply begins to be reshaped we might finally have hit that bottom.There will always be less expensive places to source products, however, even the cheapest are getting more expensive.A variety of factors are influencing this, from worker wage pressure to growing domestic demand that is offering a steadily growing alternative to exporting.Most manufacturing nations are seeing an influx of investment from companies that are looking to diversify their supply base. For example, one out of every two Samsung smartphones shipped globally is shipped from a Vietnam-based factory, according to a report in the Nikkei Asian Review.In March, Apple for the first time began producing millions of AirPods in Vietnam, with possibly as much as 30 percent of total demand being made there.As big tech shifts away from its reliance on China, one of the effects will be upward pressure on wages in countries like Vietnam. Apparel and footwear companies will find themselves competing with tech, consumer goods, and other sectors for the best workers.Already many manufacturers are seeing better opportunities in their domestic markets, now that consumer markets there are growing. Currently, there are enough factories chasing export business, but that could start to dwindle.However, production price is no longer the only factor – or even the main factor.Increasingly, the operative word in supply chain management is 'speed'. Speed is the core of being agile. The pandemic drove home a scenario that was increasingly being talked about but not necessarily implemented, in the apparel supply chain.That was on-demand manufacturing.The objective was to drastically reduce inventories. The obstacle was the long, laborious process of developing new styles and taking them from concept to retail.With things such as reducing sampling, 3D technology, and other innovations playing a key role in shortening lead times, at the end of the day you still need to manufacture the final product. And that goes from producing the raw materials to then making the garment or footwear.Pre-pandemic, fashion goods relied on Chinese production. Not because of price, but because of speed. However, from trade wars to a global pandemic, the risk of being reliant on one supply base started to vie with the need for speed.As manufacturing continues to diversify into more markets, the orders will go to the fastest, rather than the cheapest.The faster factories in any nation will beat out slower ones for orders. At the same time, buyers will be more inclined to pay a premium for shorter lead times, because inventory risk has its own cost.Thus, we might finally be seeing an end to an era of big volume, rock bottom prices for apparel and footwear manufacturing. Instead, price will start to be part of an equation that includes speed, quality, and creative (design) services.