The most common business model in the clothing and footwear industry involves production in non-proprietary factories, mostly in the Far East. To ensure compliance of production with corporate and legal requirements, a significant commitment on the part of companies and rigorous control over all performance attributes deemed relevant is necessary, together with audits by independent third parties to verify the legal compliance of the various activities.
In the evolution process that Nativa is conducting with Geox to make it future-proof, we are applying a new relationship model with the supply chain: a co-evolution framework that envisages continuous exchange between company and suppliers based on transparency and collaboration. For Geox to evolve, it is necessary that all the suppliers on which its performance depends do the same. In this way, suppliers in turn become a local economic development engine. As a first step, we reviewed the partner assessment process: alongside the standard quality, cost and service measurements applied, sustainability parameters are included with equal weight.
The results of this performance mapping are periodically shared with factories to identify areas of excellence and of mutual improvement. Virtuous and positive competition among suppliers is thus triggered to quickly produce tangible results.