Brooks Running: Disclosures for Tier 3 and Tier 4 suppliers rose by 460% and 62%

Brooks Running creates market-leading performance footwear, apparel, run bras, and accessories distributed to runners worldwide. The company is a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary with $1.4 billion in revenue and operates a global supply chain of 330 factories across 4 tiers in 17 countries, employing over 48,000 workers throughout its manufacturing network by 2024.

Story Highlights

• Increased Tier 3 supplier disclosures by 460% and Tier 4 disclosures by 62% in 2024.
• 94% of suppliers completed at least one of the company's requirements.
• Both disclosure and substantiation rates increased by 30% and 21% respectively.

Brooks Running is committed to “helping protect the planet we run on”, noted Dan Sheridan, CEO of the company. Efforts here include “prioritizing sustainability initiatives, responsible sourcing, and minimizing environmental impacts throughout global supply chain”.

The company's responsible sourcing efforts are guided by three objectives: trace the supply chain, respect human rights, and strengthen environmental management.

To fulfill their responsible sourcing objectives, the company emphasizes that "Visibility into the factories that manufacture Brooks products, materials and raw materials is critical to ensure our responsible sourcing standards outlined in our Supplier Code of Conduct are upheld." However, with 16 Tier 1 assembly facilities, 198 Tier 2 materials facilities, 56 Tier 3 processing facilities, and 60 Tier 4 production facilities, the company recognizes that "the expansive and complex nature of our manufacturing supply chain makes this visibility difficult."

Brooks implemented TrusTrace in 2022 to systematically discover and trace factories throughout its manufacturing supply chain. By the end of 2022, 100% of Brooks’ Tier 1 factories were using the platform, with more than 130 Tier 2 and over 70 Tier 3 factories invited, establishing the foundation for expanded traceability efforts.

In 2024, the company "focused on improving both supplier engagement and disclosure accuracy on TrusTrace through virtual and in-person trainings in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam." According to the 2024 report, a total of 16 Tier 1 and Tier 2 footwear suppliers participated, and each supplier is requested to submit data about their upstream supply chain and substantiate disclosures with documents proving the origin, movement, and handlers of materials and styles. This provides a detailed look at the material journey for individual components.

The results demonstrated significant progress across all supplier tiers. According to the 2024 report, "94% of suppliers completed at least one of our [data] requirements in TrusTrace. This achievement, which represents an increase from 83% in 2023, helps provide deeper supply chain visibility, with disclosures for Tier 3 and Tier 4 suppliers rising by 460% and 62%, respectively”.

Brooks regard that assessing their suppliers’ progress in meeting the requirements is a key indicator of the success of the training efforts to enhance supply chain visibility. The report notes that the company “tracks two key metrics: disclosure and substantiated rates”. The disclosure rate “measures the percentage of completed supply chain disclosures, while the substantiated rate evaluates whether supporting documents have been provided to verify those disclosures”. The report confirms that in 2024 "both disclosure and substantiation rates increased by 30% and 21% respectively compared to the previous year."

Looking ahead, with this comprehensive supplier visibility now established across 330 factories in 17 countries, Brooks has b