Sports kit firm Amer taps Sourcemap for supplier visibility

Amer Sports has become the first company to sign up to use a supply chain traceability system developed by Sourcemap, focusing on materials including cotton and viscose.

The parent company of sports apparel and footwear brands Arc'teryx, Salomon and Wilson, Amer will use Sourcemap's supply chain transparency platform to track and trace materials from raw material to finished product, and verify the chain of custody for the company and its subsidiaries.

Cotton and viscose materials will change hands a number of times as they pass through the supply chain, from the forest or farm at which it is sourced, through ginners, traders, fabric mills, sewers and other middlemen, to retailer shelves.

Tracking where these materials are within the supply chain can typically be a costly and technically difficult challenge, and can be mandatory in some cases.

In the US, for example, legislation like the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act means that importers should be able to prove how their cotton and viscose are sourced or risk legal and financial repercussions. However, fewer than 20 per cent of apparel companies surveyed by KPMG reported having full visibility into their supply chains, according to Sourcemap.

The company's supply chain transparency and traceability software is being deployed by companies to detect instances of fraud, waste and abuse, and spot illegal or environmentally-damaging activities like forced or child labour, deforestation or circumvention of prohibited trade with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

It uses a social network-like model to allow customers to add details of their supplier network, inviting them to validate their data, in order to map their supply chan.

"Customer satisfaction is one of our main priorities, and we achieve this when we create total transparency and compliance with local and international mandates within our complete supply chain," said Pascal Covatta, Amer's vice president of global sourcing.

Towards the end of last year Sourcemap announced a partnership with risk intelligence company Kharon to help businesses stay compliant with emerging trade legislation in the US and EU. It raised $10m in first-round venture capital funding in March 2022 to help expand its business into Europe.

According to Allied Market Research, the global digital supply chain market was valued at $3.91bn in 2020, and is grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 13 per cent to reach $13.67bn by 2030.