Sustainability in practice: VAUDE integrates Retraced for more transparency in the supply chain
Düsseldorf & Tettnang, October 8, 2024 - VAUDE, the renowned outdoor brand that stands for sustainability and innovation, has reached a significant milestone on the way to a transparent and responsible global supply chain: A strategic partnership with Retraced has enabled more efficient and even closer cooperation with suppliers around the world.
Responsible, sustainable supply chain management has been a matter of course at VAUDE for many years, despite the high level of complexity involved. Thanks to Retraced's digital solution, the vendor management team at VAUDE has been able to significantly speed up and professionalize administrative processes. This is because all external partners involved are integrated with their data on a shared platform and can collaborate in real time.
Within just 12 months, VAUDE has successfully integrated 121 suppliers on the Retraced platform and achieved an active supplier rate of 95 percent. This great success shows how professionally VAUDE manages its supplier network and how important good and fair cooperation with its global partners is to the outdoor brand. With over 350 certificates shared on the retraced platform, VAUDE has significantly optimized its processes.
The centralized management of hundreds of certificates and the implementation of numerous Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPAs) underscore VAUDE's proactive approach. With its commitment, the outdoor brand shows that it is possible to make the global supply chain transparent and responsible. The textile industry in particular is partly responsible for major global problems such as CO2 emissions and resource consumption. With the awareness of being part of the problem, VAUDE creates solutions and is committed to the transformation of the textile industry.
Bettina Roth, Head of Quality Management/CSR Supply Chain at VAUDE:
"We introduced Retraced to comprehensively digitalize supply chain management at VAUDE. It is crucial that not only quality and delivery reliability can be monitored, but that social and environmental aspects are also taken into account. With Retraced, we have found a solution to further develop our supply chain sustainably and thus achieve ever higher goals in our sustainability strategy. Retraced supports us efficiently and professionally in determining key figures, determining the status quo of a supplier, presenting the supply chain transparently, managing certifications and audits and tracking the origin of materials (chain of custody and tracing). The digitalization of supply chain management is becoming increasingly important in view of the laws that will be introduced as part of the EU Green Deal."
Retraced was chosen because the solution enables a bottom-up approach that fits very well with VAUDE's approach. Retraced's user-friendly interface facilitates the onboarding process for suppliers, encouraging early integration and active participation. Retraced also facilitates risk assessment, which is anchored in the new supply chain laws. Specific risk maps or risk profiles for each individual partner can be created with a single click.
With the help of Retraced, VAUDE was able to further improve transparency in the supply chain and optimize internal processes. Thanks to the automation of data collection and the centralized management of information, the workload for VAUDE and its global suppliers has been significantly reduced. Lengthy email correspondence can be avoided and time-consuming data entry is minimized. This increases VAUDE's efficiency and saves resources - at the same time, employees can concentrate more on the strategic development of standards in the supply chain.
VAUDE intends to continue using Retraced in the future to further increase transparency, integrate CAPA management and enable product traceability. VAUDE wants to utilize the platform's risk management capabilities down to the factory level to perform comprehensive risk assessments. Working closely with Retraced, VAUDE is committed to continuous improvements that are aligned with evolving stakeholder needs and regulatory requirements.
"We are proud to be working with VAUDE, who have such a strong commitment to sustainability and transparency in their supply chain. VAUDE's commitment to integrating Retraced demonstrates their proactive stance towards a more sustainable future and we will continue to support them on this journey," says Lukas Pünder, CEO of Retraced.
About Retraced
Retraced enables fashion and textile companies to digitize and track their supply chains, efficiently manage compliance data and create more transparency - from raw materials to the finished product. With this forward-thinking platform focused on capturing supplier data, all stakeholders in the textile and fashion supply chain can seamlessly connect and collaborate. Retraced empowers fashion brands and consumers to make informed decisions for a more responsible future. Currently, Retraced brings together over 15,000 suppliers and works with hundreds of fashion brands such as Victoria's Secret, Desigual, Tom Tailor, Calzedonia, Marc O'Polo, Brownie, and many more. Further information can be found at www.retraced.com.
About VAUDE
The outdoor brand VAUDE offers functional, innovative and sustainable products and services for mountain and bike athletes. More quality of life through sustainable outdoor products and forward-looking business practices - with this vision, the southern German family-owned company is committed to high ecological and social standards along its global supply chains and creates products, solutions and services that are environmentally friendly and fair. VAUDE employs around 650 people at its headquarters in Tettnang in southern Germany. VAUDE's corporate culture is characterized by mutual trust, appreciation, diversity and self-efficacy. www.vaude.com