Marks & Spencer Executes Broad Traceability Program

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August 18, 2011

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has signed a deal with supply chain traceability specialist Historic Futures that will give the retailer full raw-material-to-store traceability on all apparel and home products it sells.

M&S said it is the first major retailer to commit to full traceability for non-food products as part of its Plan A sustainability commitment to become the world's most sustainable major retailer by 2015.

Historic Futures will work with M&S to phase in the use of its String traceability service, making it possible to collect information from the retailer’s extended supply chain, describing where and how every product is made, including the source of the raw materials such as cotton and wool. String was designed to make it simple for suppliers to record and share relevant information – even at the far end of the chain -- such as cotton fields -- where access to technology can be a challenge, according to an M&S statement.

For a cotton t-shirt, for example, String will provide exact information on where the cotton was grown, the yarn was spun, the fabric was produced and dyed and where it was ultimately manufacturers.

“Full traceability will give us even greater ability to differentiate M&S products from our competitors,” said Mark Sumner, sustainable raw material specialist at M&S. “Identifying every raw material source, spinner and fabric mill gives us the ability to have stronger connections with our extended supply chain, more marketing power and the ability deliver on the trust that our customers expect from us. We already have amongst the best traceability levels in the industry, but this will set us apart from other retailers. Most retailers can only pinpoint the manufacturer of their products and some, who buy through third parties, cannot even go to that level.”

The initial rollout of the system is taking place this year for the U.K. department store chain’s children’s clothing line.

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