In just a few short years, supply chain traceability has been recognized as the central tenet of the fashion industry’s sustainability transformation. Despite a widespread understanding of its importance, both to achieve internal sustainability commitments and comply with legislation, there is still not enough established knowledge on exactly how to achieve traceability.
Know your suppliers
Regardless of whether brands want to avoid greenwashing, communicate product information with consumers, adhere to labeling criteria, or abide by increasingly robust regulations, all of this can only be achieved by identifying and tracing a complex network of suppliers and manufacturers.
We recognized that knowledge is crucial for the industry to understand the complexities of achieving traceability. In TrusTrace’s first Traceability Playbook, released in June 2022, we outlined the business case for implementing traceability and the wider considerations for brands — including incoming regulation, material innovation, and the circular economy.
As the why of traceability has become clear, the next question is how do you actually achieve it? In June 2023, TrusTrace published the Traceability Roadmap to support businesses through traceability with a step-by-step practical guide.
The fact is, there is no easy or immediate solution to establishing robust traceability. Each supply chain and each business is unique, so the right solution depends on a range of factors — from the size of your business and the goals you want to achieve to the maturity of your processes and the product categories you operate in.
prove with primary data
One thing is for sure — capturing, analyzing and building strategies based on primary data is essential, no matter the size of your business. So many of fashion’s ESG commitments thus far have been founded on generalizations and secondary data points that are outdated, vague or downright incorrect.
It’s no wonder that fashion has made little progress in reducing overall emissions.
Across the industry, everyone from the C- suite to sustainability, legal, production and sourcing teams are facing unprecedented challenges and demands in this arena. Everyone has an important role to play in ensuring that traceability not only gives you data, but enables you to create impact. We are here to support you by sharing the best practice for supply chain traceability, based on our years of experience in implementing global traceability programs.
IMPROVE with traceability
In the recently released TrusTrace Traceability Roadmap, we covered how to define your business's traceability needs, ensure your readiness for traceability, find the right solution provider, and guarantee a successful implementation. In the final chapter, we discuss the importance of continuous development post-implementation to ensure the return on your traceability investment.
To start your traceability transformation on the right foot, download your free copy of the Traceability Roadmap today.
