Guess ensures supplier sustainability, quality control
A global fashion brand is obtaining complete visibility across its entire end-to-end supply chain.
Guess Inc. is deploying the Qimaone collaborative quality and supplier management platform from Qima to help certify that all its products are sourced responsibly and manufactured through quality control best practices. As a global brand, Guess sources apparel from hundreds of supplier factories in approximately 30 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.
Guess does not own any factories itself, instead partnering with manufacturing facilities and designers worldwide who supply a finished product. In this operating model, the company seeks to stay connected to its sourcing footprint with the Qimaone platform, to maintain end-to-end visibility across its supplier network.
In addition, the Qimaone mobile app allows inspectors from factories, third-party agencies, and Guess to efficiently collect data, with complete real-time monitoring and collaboration. The data collected on Qimaone produces analytics and insights for Guess, which help the company develop management and projection mechanisms to detect potential issues with suppliers before they become critical risks.
Guess is increasing its view of sustainable supply chain practices as consumers become more generally aware of sustainability in retail. According to a recent survey from on-demand fulfillment platform Ware2Go, a UPS company, 88% of surveyed U.S. adult consumers said sustainability is an important consideration for purchasing decisions, and two-thirds (66%) said it has become more important as a result of the pandemic.
More than half (55%) of respondents are willing to pay extra for sustainable shipping, and two-thirds (66%) are more likely to purchase from a brand with carbon-neutral shipping if the product and shipping costs are the same.
When asked about what sustainable practices are most important in retailers, almost half (47%) of respondents said recycled packaging. This was followed by eco-friendly shipping protocols (41%), carrying green brands (30%), promoting conversations about sustainability on social media (30%), and partnerships with green organizations (27%).
"We are proud to say that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to maintain our quality control program on-site as well as start implementing Qimaone in our distribution centers,” said Cristina Binda, Guess Inc. quality control manager. “We have been working with our strategic partner Qima for over two years, and throughout this uncertain and difficult time, our partnership has strengthened and moved forward to cover more aspects of our supply chain, including much-needed digitization."
"Integrated, intelligent inspection capabilities are key for survival in today's evolving supply chain landscape,” said Sebastien Breteau, founder and CEO of Qima and Qimaone. Qimaone empowers brands like Guess with QIMA's industry-leading best practices to align all stakeholders digitally on a common quality control framework, anytime and anywhere. Armed with real-time data on their suppliers, Guess can use Qimaone to schedule local inspectors or request factories to conduct self-inspections – with just one click. As a result, Qimaone is helping Guess to raise supply chain visibility and agility."