Open Apparel Registry Launches Global Map of Apparel Facilities

LONDON-The Open Apparel Registry (OAR) launches a global map of apparel facilities as part of its initiative to improve supply chain transparency. The nonprofit describes itself as a neutral organization “representing civil society, the open data sector, factory groups, industry MSIs, and brands.”

The interactive map allows users to search by filters including contributor, contributor type, and country. The OAR says the goal of the map and its initiatives is to “become the go-to source for identifying apparel facilities and their affiliations by collating disparate supplier lists from industry stakeholders into one central, open source map, and database.” Through the OAR’s system, an algorithm standardizes data from contributors in the apparel industry to build a registry featuring names and addresses of facilities, each of which receive a unique ID number. The OAR says the system helps improve collaboration between organizations like factories, brands, non-profits, trade associations, unions, governments, and academics.

The release of the new map continues a worldwide trend of organizations calling for more transparency in apparel manufacturing supply chains. In 2018, Australian developers released an app called Good on You that ranks more than 2,000 on ethicality and sustainability.

For more information, on OAR, visit info.openapparel.org.