Project Overview
A UK fashion brand sourcing from 180 factories across 14 countries needed to build a supply chain visibility p...
Technology Stack
Compliance & Standards
The Challenge
A UK fashion brand sourcing from 180 factories across 14 countries needed to build a supply chain visibility platform — tracking purchase orders from factory to warehouse, with ethical sourcing compliance (Modern Slavery Act 2015, Higg Index), carbon footprint tracking (CBAM — EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism for EU-destined goods), and supplier risk monitoring. UK GDPR for supplier personal data and CBAM data requirements were the primary compliance requirements. Budget: £100,000.
Our Approach
Supplier/factory portal
mobile-first (WhatsApp Business API as primary factory communication channel in lower-connectivity regions), purchase order status updates (cut, sewing, finishing, QC, shipped), deviation reporting (quantity change, delay, quality issue).
Barcode/QR code
each production order has a unique QR code linking to the platform — factory workers scan at each stage.
Modern Slavery Act 2015
- brands with £36M+ turnover must publish annual statements covering supply chain risks.
- Tier 1 (direct suppliers — 180 factories), Tier 2 (fabric mills, trim suppliers), Tier 3 (raw material suppliers).
- Platform maps supplier relationships to tier level.
Annual statement generation
automated aggregation of: supplier audits, corrective action plans, training evidence, and risk flags for statutory statement.
Carbon Footprint and CBAM
CBAM (EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, phased in from 2024): UK-EU fashion exports require embedded carbon reporting per product.
Carbon calculation
Scope 3 emissions per unit (fabric production, manufacturing, shipping).
CBAM reporting
quarterly CBAM declaration (CO2 equivalent per product category, per factory, per shipment).
Carbon data collection
factory energy consumption per production order (kWh/unit) × regional carbon intensity factor.
Supplier Risk and Higg Index
- Higg Facility Social and Labor Module (Higg FSLM): standardised social audit score per factory.
- API integration with Higg Co platform for automated score retrieval.
Risk scoring engine
- composite score from Higg FSLM, country risk index (Maplecroft), incident history (media monitoring via Aylien News API), and audit recency.
- High-risk factories: automatic escalation to sourcing team with suggested corrective action.
The Results
Platform live at 16 weeks, £92,000 — under budget.
PO tracking real-time visibility: 94% of active POs tracked (vs 31% manual email tracking).
Delivery on-time rate: 71% → 84% (early deviation detection).
Modern Slavery Act annual statement: automated — previously 3 weeks manual.
CBAM quarterly declaration: automated from platform data.
Supplier risk flagging: 12 high-risk factories identified in first quarter (previously 2 per year).
Carbon per unit: baseline established for 87% of SKUs.
“12 high-risk factories in the first quarter versus 2 per year previously. That is what supply chain visibility means in practice. The CBAM automation arrived just as the compliance timeline became real for UK exporters. The WhatsApp factory portal was the decision that made the platform work — email was the wrong channel for factories in Bangladesh." — Head of Sourcing, UK Fashion Brand (name withheld)”
Project Details
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