Eurofins | BLC asked Robert Perkins what the key benefits to traceability were.
What were the drivers for focusing on traceability within your supply chain?
Firstly compliance. In the broadest sense of the word, compliance protects the reputation of the brand. Brands need to know whether they are compliant with environmental and social legislation globally and we need a mechanism to ensure reported compliance is true. Supply Chain Mapping has introduced a lot more rigour into our compliance program.
Secondly, commercial benefits. We work with a number of partners making key raw materials such as leathers or textiles. Hotter has always specified all major materials, but not necessarily the other supporting materials such as threads or interlinings. Now by using Supply Chain Mapping, we know where these supporting materials are coming from, meaning we can negotiate directly with one thread manufacturer, for example, to supply all the threads. Supply Chain Mapping assists us with standardisation, quality control, consistency of fit and price negotiation.
What additional benefits have you seen from Supply Chain Mapping that you didn’t necessarily expect?
We wanted to rationalise our supply chain as a way of getting more purchasing clout. As a business we look to punch above our weight and one way to achieve this is through larger purchasing volumes from fewer suppliers. What we did not realise at first was that the commercial rationalisation process would be beneficial beyond Tier-1 suppliers into Tier-2 and Tier-3.
We have also been able to use mapping to identify where there are common sub-suppliers to our primary suppliers. This knowledge has allowed us to get better strategic purchasing and further agility within the supply chain.
Robert Perkins will elaborate further on these important topics during the conference with his presentation titled: “Supply chain rationalisation, traceability and benefits”. He will be joined by speakers from Stahl, Marks & Spencer, ZDHC, theSauerReport, Eurofins | BLC and Modern Meadow in the half-day event.
About Hotter
Hotter is the UK’s largest shoe manufacturer, manufacturing around 40% of all shoes made in the UK. The brand are experts in comfort and are a growing, progressive business with global ambitions. Hotter are the only shoe manufacture of scale left in the UK with a fully integrated business model of design, build, supply and sell. Having an agile business located on one site has helped the brand continue to grow through a tough trading environment.
Attend the conference on the November 15 in Central London to hear the full presentation and network with other brands and retailers in the leather supply chain – Click here to register.
