How Achille Pinto Defined Its Document Traceability Goals Along the Supply Chain with The ID Factory

Starting Context

Achille Pinto Spa is an internationally renowned fabric producer (Tr2) with roots in Italy, trading its materials with Tr1 and for the world’s most significant brands.

A distinctive aspect is its commitment to maintaining production primarily in Italy, ensuring high-quality standards, and respecting moral and ethical principles. Approximately 90% of the company’s production is located in Italy, including everything from weaving and printing to packaging finished products.

Achille Pinto approached us with a very specific and significant request: to implement a collaborative traceability platform for the structured and digitized collection of data and specific documents based on composition, type of material (fabric, yarn, or raw material), and any certifications.

The textile industry has been under increasing scrutiny for its environmental and social impact, partly due to improper supply chain management, and there is a growing demand for material documents from customers.

Until now, the process of collecting these documents has followed a traditional and manual approach. This has involved the use of phone calls and emails for communication and information collection, as well as the use of Excel sheets to organize and store data. Although this method may seem simple and direct, it represents a series of operational limitations, loss of time, and process efficiency.

The requested solution had to be scalable, capable of effectively managing a growing volume of data and operations, adapting to the company’s continuously evolving needs.

Structured and digitized collection so that all involved parties can have evidence at any time of what data and documents are required, what has already been shared, and what is missing.

Our Solution

Mapping the supply chain – Analysis phase: the first step was to collect as much data as possible from the supply chain, bringing all suppliers together in one place to have control of information and shipments.

It was not just about connecting first-level suppliers but having substantial data sets and ensuring their integrity.  We focused on data cleaning and accuracy along the supply chain.

Onboarding and Pilot
In 2023, we launched a pilot with 10 suppliers by directly involving them in the platform through personalized onboarding – 1t1 sessions – training, and continuous support for a duration of 9 months.

In October, we extended the service to another 12 suppliers.

Material Traceability Management
Through the platform, both Achille Pinto and its suppliers can digitize the entire procurement process. Data and document collection occurs at two levels:

For Article:
• e.g., Technical Sheet, Declaration of Origin, Customs Tariff

For Order and Shipment:
• Delivery date and delivery plans directly from raw material suppliers, 
• Shipping details loading
• In addition to standard commercial documents (invoice, transport document, and packing list), specific data/documents are collected based on composition and possible certification (e.g., in case of certified material, the Transaction Certificate is requested).

Based on the operational dynamics required by the customer, also related to the compliance request of new laws, we gave visibility to all this information along the value chain.

Value Chain Collaboration

Direct supplier participation was crucial for compiling the various required fields.

These are then depicted in the dashboard composed of the Reference Season, Material Type, Articles, and their respective documents, which can be made mandatory.

The Customer can indeed set rules that must be respected by their supply chain: for example, the Transaction Certificate may be requested at the time of shipment or other information at the time of order confirmation.

In the market, there are solutions that create process standards, forcing the supply chain to answer many questions and information requests that may not be available or fundamental for that type of product.

Thanks to our structure, we create rules with the customer to simplify the process and make the passage and retrieval of information much smoother.

Visibility

The platform offers real-time and detailed visibility of every aspect of shipments along the supply chain, including specifics of ordered materials, information on the actors involved in each delivery, certifications, documentation, and related processes.

This tool allows Achille Pinto to effectively monitor and verify the presence or absence of the required documents, allowing them to take appropriate actions based on the current situation of shipments and associated documentation.

Next Steps

Currently, the pilot program has achieved considerable success, especially highlighted by the high engagement of suppliers. This is a clear indicator of the value and effectiveness of the platform, demonstrating ease of adoption and reaching 80% of documents uploaded to the portal.

Looking to the future, the client has confirmed the service with plans to involve most suppliers within the next 6 months.

The main goal is to further expand the reach and effectiveness of the program. In the medium and long term, it is expected to increase document traceability, aiming to reach or exceed 90% of the total volume.

This would not only demonstrate the scalability and effectiveness of the program but also serve as a replicable model for similar initiatives in other sectors or contexts.

Thanks to the efficient collection and management of data and information, Achille Pinto can not only prove and safeguard the authenticity and origin of materials but also ensure the superior quality of its products, thus confirming their ‘Made in Italy’ standard of excellence.

Reference by Alice Vessio – CSR & Sustainability Manager at Achille Pinto Spa

“As a key supplier for the main luxury brands, Achille Pinto SpA faces the challenges that traceability is creating for our industry. In line with our company commitments and sustainability strategy, improving the traceability of sourced raw materials is indeed essential to enable more conscious decision-making and ensure the implementation of a serious due diligence approach.

We are therefore very glad to have found a valuable traceability platform which is supporting us not only with data collection but also with supplier engagement in order to create a fully transparent and sustainable supply chain.

We strongly believe that this will be an enabling factor to help reduce our negative environmental and social impacts. Thanks to the cloud-based platform provided by The ID Factory and the constant support of its pragmatic and solution-oriented team, traceability is no longer a problem for our company but finally an opportunity to use for improving our sustainability performances.”

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