Great resource on Achieving Supply Chain Transparency

Ethical trade charity Traidcraft Exchange have published a super guidebook ‘Achieving supply chain transparency, A principles to practise guide for ethical businesses’, which aims to help businesses and social enterprises put the principles of supply chain transparency into practice. The guide which has a focus on textiles, provides smaller businesses with easy steps to becoming more transparent. It explains why it’s important to be open about who supplies a business and gives examples of good transparency and how to achieve it.

Transparency is vital for fair and ethical trade as all types of exploitation, from child labour to low pay, thrives where there is no transparency.

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As well as being the right thing to do, having more transparent supply chains makes good business sense. It results in increased consumer confidence and brand reputation– vital in a crowded market where consumers are increasingly driven by ethical considerations. But it also brings other advantages including:

Better business decisions and better impact: the process of collecting and publishing information gives companies greater insights into their sourcing, meaning they can plan improvements, build stronger relationships and reduce risk.  

Satisfying investor demand: complex and opaque supply chains carry risks not just for the business, but for investors too.Investors are increasingly demanding a much higher level of transparency from companies.

Benefits for suppliers: who may see their reputation and stability boosted.

Benefits for workers: when workers know the standard of labour practices that a brand expects from its suppliers, they can push that brand for better conditions and better pay.

The guide can be found here and is a great resource for any organisations having conversations over the importance of transparency.  

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