Latest news with #Inspectorio
Business Wire
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Komar Selects Inspectorio to Drive Sustainability, Compliance and Full Supply Chain Visibility Across Global Operations
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Inspectorio, the leading AI-powered supply chain platform for quality, compliance, sustainability and traceability, today announced a strategic partnership with Komar, a global leader in apparel manufacturing. Komar will implement Inspectorio's centralized, data-driven platform to gain a holistic view of its global supply chain, accelerate sustainability goals and ensure supplier and product integrity at scale. Komar, which produces over 115 million garments annually across a portfolio of 100+ owned, licensed and private label brands, is rolling out Inspectorio's full suite of solutions — including quality risk management, lab testing, responsible sourcing and compliance, production tracking and traceability — across approximately 250 tier one and key tier two suppliers. 'Komar is committed to becoming one of the most sustainable apparel companies by 2030, and Inspectorio's platform will be critical for helping us meet that goal,' said Thiwanka De Fonseka, chief sustainability officer, Komar. 'The real-time insights and performance metrics the platform provides will enable us to make faster, more informed decisions, while remaining flexible in the face of evolving regulations and business needs.' This partnership comes as Komar undergoes a major rebranding centered around sustainability, with efforts to digitize 100% of its supply chain and automate Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reporting by 2026. Inspectorio's advanced traceability capabilities will help Komar achieve full visibility down to raw materials — a key requirement for accurate, proof-based sustainability claims. 'By 2026, we want full digital traceability and automated EPR reporting,' said David Bobbitt, president of sourcing & production, Komar. 'Right now, we're scrambling between spreadsheets and partial systems. This is a big lift — and Inspectorio is the partner that can help us get there.' Inspectorio's platform seamlessly integrates with global standards such as the Higg Index, SLCP and ZDHC, enabling Komar to streamline sustainability data collection, reporting and supplier engagement efforts. The partnership also allows Komar to centralize key metrics and gain actionable insights from factory performance, audit results and traceability data — ensuring consistency across all divisions, from sleepwear and intimates to kids and layering. 'Komar is leading the charge on supply chain transparency and accountability,' said Chirag Patel, CEO, Inspectorio. 'We're proud to support their digital transformation and help unlock new levels of operational agility, risk reduction and integrity across their supply network.' At a time when fashion and apparel brands are navigating mounting regulatory pressure and shifting consumer expectations, Komar's partnership with Inspectorio demonstrates the power of investing in a unified, AI-powered platform to ensure visibility, resilience and long-term competitive advantage. To learn more about Inspectorio's platform and how it helps brands and retailers eliminate silos, reduce risk and ensure supplier and product integrity, visit About Komar Founded in 1908, Komar is a privately held global apparel company specializing in the design, marketing, sourcing, and distribution of sleepwear, loungewear, intimates, and layering products. Komar represents more than 100 lifestyle brands and licenses through its global retail partners across every price point. For more information, visit About Inspectorio Inspectorio is the leading AI-powered platform optimizing performance and building resilience across production chains for global brands, retailers, and manufacturers. Its cloud-based solutions digitize and connect supply chain processes — from quality and compliance to sustainability and traceability — giving companies the real-time visibility and intelligence they need to make better decisions, faster. Learn more at
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Southeast Asia ‘Is Not Such a Safe Haven'
Geopolitical uncertainty looms large and in charge over supply chain professionals' heads this year—and alternative sourcing comes with its own challenges. Inspectorio's newly released State of Supply Chain Report 2025 shows that, even as supply chain professionals see opportunity for growth in other areas of their business, they feel keeping up with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff regime has to be the top priority. More from Sourcing Journal Port Fees on Chinese Ships Would 'Distort Competition,' But Who Benefits? Retailers Grow Concerned Over Proposed Port Fees for Chinese Ships China, Hong Kong Cry Foul on Panama Ports Deal The supply chain management software company's data shows that 95 percent of all executives surveyed indicated that tariffs are a primary disruptor to their businesses. Daniel Smith, vice president of product marketing at Inspectorio, said, in previous years, sustainability and compliance have emerged as key focus points for supply chain industry professionals. The shift in prioritization marked a deviation from what the industry has expressed concern over in recent years. 'To see the rise of geopolitical strife, and especially tariffs, in the minds of the market as a really important topic that's overshadowing everything else, was a huge shift,' Smith said. 'It's extremely pressing. If you have slim margins as it is, and then you get a tariff placed on [a] piece of your product or material in your product or the finished good itself, that can really erase your margin.' More than one in five executives indicated that, in response to that threat, their company has looked to diversify their supplier base, and 36 percent of executives said they are looking to either relocate production or shift sourcing to low-risk regions. So far, the winner for alternative sourcing as some brands and retailers shift away from China has been Southeast Asia. Among respondents evaluating alternative locations for sourcing, about four in 10 executives indicated they've turned their interest there. Mark Burstein, SVP Americas at Inspectorio, said companies have shown a particular interest in Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia. That's likely in part because those nations have existing manufacturing infrastructure suited to handle some degree of scale. But that's now becoming an issue, Burstein said, noting that, for brands and retailers looking to enter Vietnam, in particular, factories may not have the availability to create and ship finished goods their way. 'Everyone jumped into Vietnam, and they just don't have the capacity, so it's not like you're going to find a bunch of factories with available capacity,' he said. And, even if companies can strike deals with manufacturers throughout Southeast Asia, it doesn't mean they've found a fireproof solution; Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and a slew of other countries could still be subject to new tariff requirements from the Trump administration, Burstein noted. 'Southeast Asia is not such a safe haven—it's [just] a safe haven to get out of China,' he said. The alternatives don't seem popular among respondents; just over 20 percent said they would look to shift toward South Asia, while nearly 13 percent have an eye on Eastern Europe and about 7 percent are looking toward Latin America. Africa seems to be on the fringes of respondents' considerations on sourcing, with just over 5 percent saying they have prioritized it as an alternate sourcing location. For Burstein, that feels like it could be a mistake. He recently lobbied legislators to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) later this year, alongside the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA). That's partly because he believes it could be a viable option for brands looking for a quick exit from China and a new set of long-term manufacturing partners. But despite the opportunity in Africa, companies don't seem to be biting. That's partially because the continent would need a high degree of further investment to make scalable sourcing viable—and the looming expiration of AGOA could be driving some of the trepidation about sourcing from Africa. What's more, Smith noted, some of the existing investment in the continent has come from Chinese companies, which could spell trouble if Trump continues to show an interest in bringing the hammer down on China. Effectively, the continent faces the plight of every other region vying for new business: businesses have no way of knowing whether tariffs will soon hit African nations. 'China has been investing heavily in Africa for quite a while,' Smith said. 'If you switch some sourcing over to Africa, you might think you're in the clear, but we know that this administration is using tariffs as a weapon. They have certain outcomes that they're wanting; they want certain nations to feel the pain. There's no reason why they wouldn't say, 'Okay, I see you're importing that from Africa, but that factory was owned by a Chinese company…and we're not cool with that, so we're going to slap the tariff on you anyway.'' That kind of strategy isn't totally out of the question; Trump has already proposed a port tax on container shippers with ties to China—whether because they have China-operated ships, China-built ships or orders with Chinese shipbuilders for future ships. The proposal hasn't been finalized, and has faced heavy backlash from the industry because of the gargantuan cost increases it could see logistics companies paying, but Trump proposed it in a play to bring some shipbuilding to the United States. If the president maintains similar aspirations for U.S. apparel manufacturing, locales with factories associated with China could be susceptible to a similar blueprint. Those kind of additional tariffs on any alternative sourcing destination could leave brands and retailers feeling defeated, paying higher prices for goods and passing those costs on to the end consumer. But, as the arena stands today, Burstein said he has yet to see movement from some companies whose sourcing strategies could leave them in limbo. In essence, nowhere's safe, but China certainly isn't. 'People are just waiting to see what happens, because things change every day—even sometimes, every hour, they're changing,' he said. 'People don't want to make a rash decision.'
