Tom Tailor Strengthens Supply Chain Traceability with Retraced and Pilots Lifecycle Assessments with BCome
Founded in 1962, Tom Tailor is a Hamburg-based fashion brand with a rich history. As a well-established company, Tom Tailor faced the challenge of integrating sustainability into its existing processes. In recent years, sustainability has become one of the four key pillars of the brand's strategy, alongside people, brand, and product.
3 Months
only were needed to onboard 80 Tier 1 and 160 Tier 2 suppliers
100%
of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers are onboarded
850+
Purchase Orders (17%) are already traced to raw material
650+
Purchase Orders (13%) are already traced to yarn level
Moving from Excel to Retraced for Supply Chain Management
Tom Tailor’s sustainability journey began in earnest in 2020. Some initiatives were already in place before then: Tom Tailor was a member of Better Cotton and a member of amfori BSCI to ensure its supply chain was audited and its suppliers committed to its code of conduct.
Juliane Nowakowski, Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Tom Tailor, was part of the strategy department at the time and took over responsibility for the nascent sustainability team. "We analyzed the sustainability strategies of several other brands, developed our own approach, and had the opportunity to build an amazing team that shares a sustainability mindset," she recalls.
Initially, the company managed its Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier data using Excel spreadsheets, but this process was inefficient. Tom Tailor recognized the need for a comprehensive and intuitive solution to manage its supply chain data and improve transparency. The decision to implement Retraced was made after evaluating several service providers.
“We chose to partner with Retraced because they demonstrated a strong understanding of the complexities and challenges in the fashion industry. As a fellow German-based company, they align well with our priorities, particularly in meeting regulatory requirements such as the Due Diligence Act. In addition, Retraced has been transparent about their commitment to continually evolve the platform to meet market needs.”
Retraced Implementation at Suppliers Within Three Months
The journey with Retraced began in October 2022, and Tom Tailor started the implementation process by informing their suppliers about the collaboration with Retraced, emphasizing two main objectives: to achieve transparency across the supply chain down to raw material level and to ensure compliance with the Due Diligence Act and other upcoming regulations.
Tom Tailor recognized the importance of supplier support in working with Retraced. Given the long-standing relationships many suppliers have with Tom Tailor, this made the initial launch much easier. The brand’s sustainability team understood that the process would require additional effort from the suppliers and adopted a structured approach:
- Supplier Alignment: After the suppliers nominated Retraced users, Tom Tailor organized an introductory call with these users and Retraced to reinforce their plan for a fully transparent supply chain, and to explain what would be expected from the suppliers.
- Supplier Onboarding: To ease the process for suppliers, Tom Tailor and Retraced worked together to overcome potential obstacles and ensure a smooth onboarding experience. Retraced facilitated a series of onboarding calls, starting with a high-level platform introduction and gradually diving into more detailed functionalities such as tracing, risk analysis, and product management.
- Network Effect: Internal onboarding sessions were held with key users from Tom Tailor's sourcing offices across different countries. These key users act as facilitators, providing training, language support, and maintaining close contact with the suppliers.
Within a remarkable three-month period, Tom Tailor successfully onboarded 80 Tier 1 suppliers and 160 Tier 2 suppliers onto the Retraced platform, achieving a total onboarding rate of 100%. Juliane explains this rapid onboarding success:
"We understood that the key to successfully onboarding our suppliers to the Retraced platform wasn't just about emphasizing compliance requirements. It was about genuine collaboration—engaging with our suppliers at eye level and fostering a spirit of partnership. By approaching them with gratitude and recognizing their role in helping us to meet these standards, rather than applying pressure, we achieved a more effective and supportive working relationship."
Leveraging Retraced for Risk Analysis, DPP and Product-Level Tracing
Working with Retraced has led to significant improvements in Tom Tailor's supply chain transparency. Tom Tailor uses Retraced primarily for three key functions:
- Risk Analysis: Tom Tailor uses Retraced to conduct comprehensive risk analysis to comply with the German Due Diligence Act (LkSG). This function allows them to gain a detailed and in-depth understanding of potential risks throughout the deeper supply chain tiers.
- Digital Product Passport (DPP) Feature: Since April 2024, Tom Tailor has implemented Retraced’s
QR codes on every product’s wash care label, detailing each product’s journey. Although the DPP criteria are still evolving, Tom Tailor is preparing to include all data that may be required in the future. This preparation positions Tom Tailor to meet anticipated regulatory requirements while providing consumers enhanced access to product information, furthering their commitment to transparency and sustainability. - Product-Level Tracing: The tracing function enables Tom Tailor to track each product down to the raw material level, ensuring full transparency within its supply chain. This process allows Tom Tailor to comprehensively track each purchase order, improving visibility and compliance throughout their operations.
The tracing journey started with a pilot in early 2023, where Tom Tailor selected three purchase orders per sourcing country, across nine countries, resulting in around 27 to 30 orders to trace. Over six weeks, they conducted structured sessions with Retraced, training suppliers on how to upload orders and component information, sharing best practices, and conducting country-specific calls, some in Mandarin or Turkish, to ensure smooth communication. In addition, Tom Tailor’s nominated key users in each country conducted face-to-face training to give the best support possible to the suppliers.
Following the successful pilot, Tom Tailor decided to fully integrate the tracing process for every product, starting from the January 2024 delivery season. Now, when an order is placed, all relevant data, such as style and component information, is uploaded to the Retraced platform, triggering suppliers to start their tracing tasks.
“Since we started tracing on purchase order level in early 2024, we have already traced 17% of more than 5000 POs to the raw material level and a further 13% to yarn level. Tracing for these POs is still ongoing,” Juliane explains.
To monitor progress, Tom Tailor established a transparency KPI that tracks the tracing status of purchase orders each month. This detailed tracking and monitoring process is shared with suppliers, key users, and sourcing country managers during monthly KPI meetings to ensure that the tracing process remains transparent, efficient, and aligned with their sustainability goals.
"Over the past two years, we've made remarkable progress in our traceability efforts. We started this journey with just a letter to our suppliers, and today, we are proud to say that we trace every product across our supply chain in Retraced. The achievements have been significant, with a high percentage of purchase orders already reaching the raw material level - well beyond the initial Tier 2 tracing we started with. It’s clear that the investment of time and effort has truly paid off, leading us to these impressive results."
Pilot with BCome to Elevate Sustainability Through Lifecycle Assessment
Tom Tailor has also started a pilot with BCome,a lifecycle assessment (LCA) solution that collaborates with hundreds of industry professionals to help them better understand the impact of their products. So far, the brand does not work with a dedicated system for LCAs, making it difficult to assess environmental impact indicators like global warming or water scarcity for their products.
Tom Tailor decided to pilot a LCA of selected styles with BCome. The groundwork laid with Retraced provided valuable insights into their supply chain, making it the right time to expand into life cycle assessment. Juliane Nowakowski envisions a future where Tom Tailor takes carbon impact into account when deciding where to place orders. This desire to integrate environmental impact into daily business decisions makes BCome an ideal potential partner.
The primary objective was to measure various environmental indicators, such as global warming, water scarcity, and other relevant impacts . By comparing these metrics to conventional products, Tom Tailor gained insight into the positive impact of using more sustainable alternatives. For instance, BCome provided comparative data, showing how Tom Tailor's products, which already utilized more sustainable material alternatives, showed significant environmental savings compared to the industry standard.
“It is clear that using more sustainable materials and manufacturing methods is better for the planet. With BCome, we can actually quantify how much better it is with concrete data. For instance, the 100 styles which have been analyzed within the pilot have a 72% lower impact on water scarcity and a 36% lower impact on global warming compared to the average impact for comparable products.”
This visibility was not only eye-opening but also validated the company’s efforts to source sustainable materials. By integrating insights from BCome with existing data in Retraced, the company is able to identify specific areas in the supply chain where the impact can be improved, bringing it closer to reaching its sustainability goals.
Juliane emphasizes the importance of integrating tools like BCome and Retraced to stay ahead of future sustainability challenges. By ensuring that data from these platforms is incorporated into Tom Tailor's systems, the brand expects to be better equipped to meet regulatory requirements and maintain its commitment to sustainability.
Moving forward, Tom Tailor aims to gain more transparency in its supply chain to build the fundament for primary data based LCAs. The brand believes that BCome could become a potential partner. This data-driven approach is a testament to Tom Tailor's ambition to do more than just comply with regulations - it demonstrates their proactive efforts to make sustainability an integral part of every decision, from the supply chain to the final product.
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