Shoe Sustainability Series 2021 Sponsor | Material Exchange
Sourcing footwear and apparel materials has traditionally been time-, travel-, and resource-heavy, producing a lot of waste in the process. The sooner our industry moves to digital, the faster we help reduce the carbon footprint and increase sustainability while, at the same time, speed go-to-market potential. Our focus is to leverage accurate data in delivering transparent, efficient, and cost-effective sourcing; protecting the planet is a by-product of doing business better.
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This report provides insights into the fundamental shifts occurring for footwear brands, apparel brands & material suppliers on how they interact with materials in the digital world.
Material sourcing in footwear and apparel continues to be a traditional and analogue process that has lacked the evolution into digital. However, over recent years we have seen the rise in brands leveraging digital materials for product development processes and for virtual product creation. The advance of the global pandemic accelerated digital sourcing propelling it to the forefront as a way for brands and suppliers to collaborate across the globe digitally, and a way for brands to continue to deliver products, even as travel, trade shows and face-to-face meetings all came to a halt.
To understand this shift deeper, Material Exchange has launched their first benchmarking survey aimed to assess the state of material sourcing process and see what stage the industry is at on their digital transformation journeys. Material Exchange aimed to understand how fragmented the industry is in terms of traceability, transparency and sustainability, and gather insights and a deeper understanding about the relationships between brands and suppliers. Lastly, Material Exchange seek to understand how brands source materials – past, present and future – and how they plan to mitigate further supply chain risks for the future now the world has changed, post covid.
Easy and Transparent Sourcing
Instantly access thousands of materials and hundreds of suppliers around the world. Our ecosystem has everything you need.
- Global and available 24/7/365
- Minimize travel needs
- Improve time to market
Smart Search
Buyers can select their preferred material types to instantly access the right materials.
- Keep informed about the latest materials.
- Access new materials first.
- See only the material relevant to you.
Material Management
Why waste time sending and sharing materials across fragmented and analogue supply chains?
- Organize materials into folders.
- Group materials into collections for season or trend.
- Store supplier and material information centrally.