Fit for the Green Deal? Update for the sports industry (Part 2)

• Make the first move
• ERP – real time collaborative tool
• SRM and supplier relationship
• Traceability as the holistic graal
• Key data compliance to CSRD & CSDD
• SME’s second chance to start
• Double skills analysis
• The most important takeaways at a glance

To effectively manage an omnibus data organisation, the following key data points and considerations are essential: no need to start over but to capitalize on all the work already done. Although we must wait for The European Coucncil & Parliament to approve or to modify it, This is the time to adapt and to rethink data management.  There are also other ways to adapt and to rethink processes by moving a little thing around. This is what Tim Brown did when he decided to leave the CEO position of All birds™ to focus on his new job of Chief Innovation Officer. We might also suppose that as a good leader, he wanted to work on a lack of understanding to go further and to anticipate next steps. 

We ran the business through the first seven years as co CEOs and, and then now I’m, Chief Innovation Officer, focused on, looking a little bit further or trying to look a little further ahead, about the future of what we create and, and having a great deal of fun doing it. - Tim Brown , Cofounder & Chief Innovation Officer at All birds ™

The first move and the little thing to move around first, if not already started, is to  structure and to digitalize the supply chain data management with the appropriate IA’s tools and training the key people in your company.

An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a real time collaborative tool used to gather,  manage and analyse information related to purchasing, supplier, leadtime, deliveries, logistics, sales … In the luxury industry, a lot of ERP are available. Among them, Trimit, World Fashion Exchange,  ZE DONK, they are managing both production & customers data from planning, fabrics management, product development, PIM (Product Information Management) PLM (product life management), costing to showroom management. They can be linked to the WMS (Warehouse Management System) for the stock allocation & to all sales customer contacts. As a brand you can for instance understand what are the best sellers in terms of fabrics and factory MOQ reach. The role of this tool is to support 360 degrees vision to improve intern performance and operational efficiency in production and stock management. It will support a less waist and decrease range strategy which are key points of DMA (Double Materiality Analysis) requested by the CSRD regulation. By the way, in France there is a dedicated grant to ERP available  from June 2025. Key criteria to choose an ERP are to be discussed with the key role people. For instance, raw material managment, multi currency capacity management and included reporting. Even if the landmarks of those softwares can seem hazy, there is a real logic and strategy to design choosing key systems to adapt. A seamless system reduces the error margins and is flexible to adapt the company size. Also, it shows potential investors how the brand is built. Then, as we know, the only way to achieve a strong data collection and to be internally organized is to get the best of the supplier relationship, including reverse supply chain. In 2025, according to SAAS Launch R:

66% of apparel companies are increasing tech investments to improve operational efficiency and can reduce operational costs by up to 23%.

A SRM is a Supplier Relationship Management tool. It brings digital, centralized and synchronized information concerning all supplying activities. At a supplier level, it helps to better understand the production, lead time and to better communicate with them during the production time. The main information that the SRM is able to deal with are the supplier information, transaction information and strategic partnership information. According to E-SMI SRM supplier, key suppliers data are as percentage of orders delivered on time, average production lead times, percentage of change requests and all compliance systems dats…Therefore, it helps in developing a good supplier relationship and in knowing the impacts a brand can have on. Especially for the supplier onboarding & qualification or risk management. 

Beyond their role in reporting, this data constitutes key indicators for managing procurement. Their collection and analysis should be seen as a strategic opportunity, enabling optimized control of the value chain and strengthening the competitiveness of companies. - Pantxika Ospital, E-SMI consultant &  traceability & transparency PHD

Although the full scope of the omnibus is not yet fully known.The initial information we have today,  is that the quantitative data will likely persist. In addition, some raw material costs are already spiraling out of control due to environmental issues.This is a major economic sustainability issue for both companies and the financial sector that deserve strong & reliable traceability data in order to work on risk analysis. According to Valerie Tiersen, CEO & founder of Green score capital, a traceability SAAS mapping tool: $3 trillion is the loss in global GDP within 10 years if measures to protect biodiversity and ecosystems are not implemented, and this figure is likely an underestimate (World Bank 2021). Moreover: 75% of business loans granted in Europe are made to companies that rely heavily on the proper functioning of biodiversity (United Nations Finance Initiative). Green score capital approach is based on the five pressures exerted on biodiversity in order to provide a holistic view of environmental impacts in a geospatial manner using satellite data. The  goal is to map the environmental risks affecting supply chains and production sites, risks that are leading to increasingly significant financial impacts on companies operating accounts.

This scientific framework serves as the basis for the new standards; even if these are reduced in the future, this will have only a marginal impact on the reports we provide. The  goal is to map the environmental risks affecting supply chains and production sites, risks that are leading to increasingly significant financial impacts on companie’s operating accounts. - Valerie Tiersen Ceo & founder of Green score capital

Not forgetting that a lack of transparency is a kind of communication that might be misinterpreted by the customs and the customers. At the end, traceability from fiber to end of life is a new norm which includes fabric composition, component details and all supply data until the recycling contributors.

In order to create a focus on key data, set up data families : Environnemental, supply chain due diligence, gouvernance stake, business model alignment or redirection. And then work on causes, process and consequences with an improvement target for each of them.

 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions
• Carbon footprint of products and operations from raw material to end of life

Resource Usage

• Water consumption and pollution levels
• Energy usage throughout the supply chain

Materials Information

• Origin of materials used in production
• Percentage and type of recycled content
• Environmental impact of each material
• Synthetics microparticles releases 
• Material & design ecoconception rates 

Supply Chain Traceability

• Detailed production line information from raw materials to manufacturing
• Supplier compliance with environmental and social standards
• ISO’s compliance 
• Reverse supply chain opportunities

Sustainability Targets and improvement 

• Biodiversity targets for environmental improvement
• Baseline measurements and progress reports

As Emilie Carasso, director of sustainability and policy at the European company 2B Policy,  recently shared:

As the CSDDD framework evolves, companies may question whether their early efforts were in vain. However, the recent omnibus changes have not altered the key social adverse impacts that must be addressed—such as child labour, forced labour, discrimination, occupational health and safety, trade union rights, and fair wages. Addressing issues like workplace injuries, inadequate wages, and the right to collective bargaining remains essential, particularly for companies operating in complex supply chains.

Due Diligence Information

• Identified actual or potential adverse environmental and human rights impacts
• Risk mitigation measures implemented
• Action plans and timelines for addressing identified risks (office work,  production, retails, competitions ) 

Gouvernance risk’s stake

• Grievance mechanisms for workers and stakeholders
• Records of issues raised and resolutions

Business Model Alignment

• Strategies to align with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement.
• At large regenerative solutions for innovation stage
• At large circularity opportunities to reduce waste 
• Benchmark range of product & service changes 

By prioritising transparency, risk assessments, and strong compliance mechanisms, businesses can not only meet upcoming regulatory requirements but also build long-term resilience and reinforce responsible business practices. - Emilie Carasso, director of sustainability and policy at the European company 2B Policy

The very happy news is about VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SME. Indeed, SME’s have the chance to be able to get ready with reporting. To Noel Bauza CEO of ZEI, a ESG data specialist platform, by regulation or by market all companies are concerned by ESG’s data. In a two years time, all ESG’s data could be accessible on open source. So if a company is not publishing its report, banks, insurance and a more painful market might detach itself from the brand. So for the SME’s that haven’t yet initiated ESG & CSR’s policies. Start small but start by writing a CSR road map, gathering info through a supplier mapping, carbon footprint for instance.

Human resource wise, skill in understanding, practicing or anticipating audit & compliance are strong assets. Collaborating with the appropriate consultant, federation and professionals are making market differences to have a head start on the market. Training intern resources to achieve double competencies can really be an added value to gather & to translate the collecting data and gap analysis.

At ISPO 2025 from 30 NOV. - 02. DEC. in Munich, you will gain practical insights into how to prepare your brand for the new sustainability requirements of the CSRD and CSDDD. Find out how ERP and SRM systems can help you create transparency in your supply chain and implement your sustainability goals. Take the opportunity to exchange ideas with experts and transform your company sustainably.