Compiling Public Data on Apparel Supply Chains: An Expert Survey
Preliminary Analysis
The WikiRate team ran an expert survey over the summer to learn more about the data needs of those working to improve sustainability in supply chains. We received great responses from practitioners working across the field, which will be fed into the scope of our research project, “Compiling Public Data on Apparel Supply Chains”.
The project is a large-scale effort to research and connect critical data sets on companies and their suppliers and investors, and to provide a shared evidence base for better understanding company impacts on people and planet. The outcomes will include new insights on corporate transparency in the apparel sector that serve to support workers in the supply chain and feed into our Factory-Brand search tool (in proof-of-concept stage).
We developed the survey based on a few key questions we wanted to answer. These overarching questions were broken down into more detailed survey questions, so that responses would point us towards crucial areas to include in our research into the Top 100 Fashion Companies.
- What kinds of data are most important for work in improving apparel supply chains?
- Where do practitioners find the information they need?
- What are the biggest challenges to securing that information?
Here we present Part I: initial findings from the survey.
Respondents
The majority of survey respondents came from NGO or civil society organizations (60%), while a smaller number came from workers organizations (e.g. Trade Unions) (13%), consultancies (13%), companies (7%) and social ventures (7%).
Acquiring & Using Data
Supply Chain Data Sources
Respondents gather data from a variety of sources. Most reported using data from brands and companies (80%), while 66.7% gather data from NGO sources, public documents, field work and workers unions. According to the survey results, civil society representatives and consultants use a wider variety of sources that include journalists, associations, regulators and audits.
Regarding data purchasing, the survey revealed that only 13% of respondents purchase supply chain data, with 80% responding in the negative. Anecdotally, one social venture remarked that they sell data services.
In addition to how the data is acquired, we asked experts where they expect information on suppliers to come from — brands, suppliers themselves, or third parties. The responses varied by types of data, though the majority indicated that much of the supply chain data should be provided by brands and independent third parties. Data on number of employees, geographic location, company identity, and their own suppliers should come directly from the suppliers, while more information on the facilities and working conditions should be coming directly from workers. Experts also noted that information is expected to come from a variety of sources.
Data Challenges
Respondents agree that the biggest data challenges are accuracy, access, consolidation, and verification, all which result in the challenge of scaling data collection.
Specifically, the following are some of the issues mentioned: 1) ensuring accuracy of the data, 2) lack of machine-readability, 3) difficulty to map suppliers to brands (also geographically), 4) inconsistency of information sets, 5) difficulty of verification and 6) lack of authentic worker voice represented. There was both an interest in data from third parties and a general concern about the reliability of, for example, audit information, and ensuring entities acquiring information have no conflicts of interest.
Data Relevance
Supplier Data
Almost all respondents (94%) share that data about supplier relationships is “very relevant” for their work — that is, information on which companies or brands are they supplying to. Many also find address, number of employees, and ownership structure, to be of high relevance. On the other hand, few thought data on EPZ processing zone status or suppliers approach to production planning, was of high relevance.
Company/Brand Data
Regarding the type of data on companies and brands that is the most relevant to their work, respondents similarly consider data on sourcing relationships, that is, who supplies them, “very relevant” (81%) and “relevant” (19%).
Purchasing Practices
Experts most cited information on length of relationship with buyers (63%) and payment terms (50%) as relevant for their work. In addition, the respondents were interested in data on supplier’s itemization of labor costs, purchasing planning and forecasting, exit strategies, price negotiation methods, and penalties placed on them if they fail to meet deadlines.
Working Conditions
Respondents agree that the most relevant data on working conditions are living wage payment (81%), freedom of association / union affiliation (75%), freely chosen employment (73%) and employee working hours (73%). Nevertheless, the majority of respondents cited all working conditions data as of high relevance: payment reliability/disputes (69%), safe & hygienic conditions (67%), employment security (67%), and collective bargaining agreements (63%), with the lowest level of ‘very relevant’ categorization being employee sick leave (47%).
Transparency and Due Diligence
The highest number of respondents (86%) cited information on human rights violations as highly relevant, followed by 73% citing access to remedy, and 71% child labor policy information. Interestingly, 30% of the respondents consider environmental pollution data (as a public health risk) of low relevance for their work.
