Abstract
The purpose of this study is twofold. First, to explore and classify factors influencing traceability implementation, and second, to cluster essential traceability-related information that demands recording and sharing with businesses and customers, in the context of the textile and clothing supply chain. A Delphi study is conducted with 23 experts (including research practitioners and industry experts) to explore, validate, and classify traceability factors and related information using distribution analyses and hierarchal clustering. As a result, 14 factors and 19 information sets are identified and classified with a moderately high agreement among the experts. Among these, risk management, product authentication, and visibility are the highest ranked and the most important factors influencing traceability implementation in the textile and clothing supply chain. While origin, composition, and sustainability-related information are crucial for sharing with customers, the information vital to businesses includes manufacturer/supplier details, product specifications, and composition. It is noteworthy that this research is among the few that classifies traceability factors and information through expert perspectives, and it creates decisive knowledge of traceability for the textile and clothing supply chain. It further provides insights on the extent to which this information can be shared among supply chain actors. Outcomes of this study can be helpful for the development of an information traceability framework. Policymakers can use the results to draft traceability guidelines/regulations, whilst top management can develop traceability-related strategies.
Highlights
Information asymmetry and lack of transparency have made the textile and clothing (TC) supply chain almost untraceable [1,2,3]
For questions related to traceability factors (Level 1), the experts were asked to rate each factor based on their importance for traceability implementation along a five-point Likert scale, where 5 was ‘most important’ and 1 was ‘least important’
This research is one of the few that empirically investigates key factors and their level of influence in implementing traceability in TC supply chains. It is unique in classifying essential information in a traceability system that is needed to record and share among various stakeholders in the TC supply chain
Summary
Information asymmetry and lack of transparency have made the textile and clothing (TC) supply chain almost untraceable [1,2,3]. Ignorance and lack of proper information sharing systems have resulted in unfortunate events in the past and have raised serious concern among governments and consumers [3,5]. These incidences have exposed the unethical and unsafe practices widely followed in the TC supply chain, and have questioned the accountability and auditing methods [6]. Such untraceable or opaque supply chains facilitate easy intrusion of counterfeits, which has always been an important concern for the TC industry. As per the European Union Intellectual Property Office Observatory report, due to counterfeit products, on an average (from the year 2007–2012) the TC industry has lost around 9.7% of sales, EUR 26.3 billion of revenue per year in the sector (EUR 8.1 billion of revenue by the government), and 36,300 direct jobs [8]
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