Customer Story
customer story

a mission for traceable materials

Global sports brand adidas is one of the first large businesses in the footwear and apparel sector to achieve material traceability at scale, gaining greater visibility into its complete supply chain down to the material level, by using TrusTrace’s digital traceability platform. They recorded 1 million traceability data points within the first four months of the project.
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Adidas by the Numbers

Overview

Use Case

Evidence for material claims

Solution

Certified Material Compliance

Milestone

Traced 1+ million data transactions in first four months.
Challenge 1

race to trace sustainable materials

As part of a commitment to sustainability, adidas has set targets to source 100% recycled polyester, the most common material used in adidas products, by 2024. By 2025, adidas is also aiming for 9 out of 10 of their articles to be sustainable, meaning that they are made with environmentally preferred materials. adidas is leveraging material traceability to track and create a digital chain of custody for the use of certified materials, such as organic cotton or recycled polyester, in every batch of production across its supplier network.
Challenge 2

traceability that scales with a global giant

With objectives to trace all products and materials across apparel, footwear, and accessories divisions, adidas had to ensure that the traceability solution could cover large amounts of data, meaning a digital, automated, and scalable solution. With many transactions and data points from multiple systems, manual data entry was not an option.
The Solution

Integrated and Seamless Data

adidas use Real Time Trace from TrusTrace which integrates with their systems including the PLM, Purchase Order System, and other Supplier Management systems. Besides seamless and automated data flows, the integrations also ensure data quality, as the data is continually updated. The system captures last minute changes to designs or purchase orders. adidas and the TrusTrace Business Services team also worked in tandem to onboard hundreds of suppliers and get them familiar with how to share documentation on TrusTrace within the first months.
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The Results

Data Captured with Real-Time Material Movements

Within the first four months of operating the platform, adidas was quick and efficient to scale the solution. Together we traced more than 1 million transactions covering 10,000 materials and styles across 8000 facilities. Subsequently, adidas continues to record millions of data transactions monthly.

Using material traceability data, adidas has achieved better visibility and control of their supply chain data, and can ensure that compliance needs are met. adidas collects all the supply chain data in real time as the materials flow through the value chain, meaning that the final product has all the data attached to it when it arrives on the market.

With this data, adidas checks the finished product vs. the original design/purchase order, ensuring that everything has been produced as planned, and can then easily provide evidence for product or material claims. Through a strong focus internally and in collaboration with their suppliers, adidas was able to implement and scale the traceability program within months.

ready to trace?

Take control of your supply chain risk, compliance, and impact with the world's leading traceability platform for fashion, footwear and textile supply chains. Start by speaking with the TrusTrace team today.