Sweden's TrusTrace announces traceability ecosystem for sustainability

The ecosystem aims to solve major supply chain transparency and sustainability challenges by developing powerful integrated solutions through seamless data integration and knowledge exchange. The ecosystem launches with key industry players Higg, Open Apparel Registry (OAR), circular.fashion, Renoon and Haelixa. This series of collaborations will also reinforce TrusTrace’s position as the mission-critical operating platform for brands aiming to solve major supply chain traceability and sustainability challenges, the company said in a statement.

The traceability ecosystem brings together a series of key collaborations to deliver powerful solutions for both brands and eco-conscious customers. The first phase launches with sustainability insights platform, Higg and global apparel open-source database, the Open Apparel Registry.

With the fashion industry fast transitioning towards products and supply chains with less impact on the environment, there is an increased demand for deep and accurate upstream supply chain data. The Higg partnership will facilitate the integration of TrusTrace and Higg data sharing, allowing TrusTrace clients to understand the social and environmental impact of their supplier facilities and their products by accessing their Higg data on TrusTrace. Users will now be able to understand the footprint of the various materials in a single location and analyse supply chain and material combinations. Customers will also be able to access the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) and Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM) through their supplier facility profiles on TrusTrace, providing them with a single view of all the sustainability information for a facility, according to TrusTrace.

To enable seamless data sharing about facilities with different certification and audit bodies, and other industry solutions, it is important to be able to easily identify a facility across these different systems, using one common industry standard facility ID. Together with the Open Apparel Registry, TrusTrace will map all of its 8000+ supplier facilities using an industry standard unique OAR ID and enable brands to standardise facility information across different systems like Higg, ZDHC and industry certification bodies. This collaboration addresses the lack of standardisation in facility information across multiple databases, helping to streamline and improve facility level information for the fashion industry.

Collaboration with physical marking and tracing technology solution, Haelixa, will develop a joint traceability programme supporting end-to-end traceability through physical tracers such as invisible DNA markers. Finally, Renoon, a platform that empowers eco-conscious consumers to shop according to their sustainability values, will also join the TrusTrace ecosystem to collect supply chain data, manage product evidence and automate the process of checking product compliance to sustainability standards. This provides end consumers with more accurate data driving purchase decisions and brands with a recognition for their sustainability efforts.

“TrusTrace’s open architecture platform ensures we are able to integrate seamlessly with other sustainability solution providers within this ecosystem, allowing us to deliver holistic solutions for some of the fashion industry’s biggest sustainability challenges,” Shameek Ghosh co-founder and CEO, TrusTrace said in a statement.

“Our partnership with TrusTrace demonstrates a joint belief that collaboration is the most effective way to develop the best tools to capture deeper insights into the chain of custody. Together we bring robust new capabilities to both platforms that will support our clients in accelerating towards their sustainability goals,” Higg CEO Jason Kibbey said.

“The opportunity for industry collaboration and accurate factory identification is given a huge boost each time another organisation chooses to connect their database with the OAR via API and incorporate OAR IDs into their systems. The more data we are openly sharing across our respective databases, the more organisations of all sizes are able to access and work with the data that is core to the collaboration and change that so many in the sector are looking to achieve,” Natalie Grillon, executive director, Open Apparel Registry said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)