Creating a More Sustainable Supply Chain

December 14, 2020

As a founding member of the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), Target Corporation stands out as one of the leading brands committed to sustainability in the apparel industry. As one of the largest U.S. retailers, Target uses its scale and scope to provide inclusive and sustainable choices to serve its guests.

“Target’s purpose is to help all families discover the joy of everyday life and being part of the Apparel Impact Institute is one of the ways that we live it, said Ivanka Mamic, Target’s vice president of responsible sourcing and sustainability, and Aii Board Member. “We partner with Aii so that not only are our suppliers able to achieve outstanding quality for Target-brand products, but also so that we can help ensure they use efficient and safe factory environments where they produce products that uplift and protect the people, communities and ecosystems along our value chain.”

The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) identifies, funds, scales and measures proven quality solutions to accelerate positive impact in the fashion industry. At Aii, we look for scalable solutions and best practices that can be applied to the entire value chain.

“We’re committed to using resources responsibly and making our supply chain more sustainable, said Bill Foudy, Target’s svp and president of owned brand sourcing and development. “Our strategic partnership with Aii supports the realization of our goals toward scaling positive environmental impact.”

Clean by Design (CbD) is Aii’s most well-known and successful program. Originally created by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc (NRDC), it uses a “best practices” methodology to provide a collaborative and continuous improvement framework for facilities of any size, type or location to reduce their environmental footprint. With this program methodology, Aii is able to provide systematic solutions for reducing environmental impacts of textile manufacturing that is critical for Target to achieve its sustainability goals, from reducing water and energy use to properly managing chemicals and wastewater.

A Partnership Built on Trust

There are several ingredients that go into making an impact program successful. Some of those ingredients include: a knowledgeable staff that owns and outlines programmatic details, a dedicated partner company, and a team of experts on the ground who can execute the program. For the partnership between Target and Aii, there is another secret ingredient that has made their Clean by Design program partnership so successful for nearly a decade: trust.

Target was a pioneer and early investor in impact programming. They piloted their first Clean by Design program in 2011 with three mills, positioning themselves at the forefront of industry innovation and collaboration. Nearly 10 years later, Target now has four CbD programs running in 27 mills. When we spoke to the Target team about what made this partnership so successful, they emphasized the trust that had been built between their company and the Clean by Design team — first with NRDC when the Clean by Design program launched, and then later with Aii when our organization adopted the program — and that trust is what pushed their teams to keep investing time, talent and resources in the program. Everyone involved was invested in seeing the program succeed from the very beginning, making it easier to address any issues head on.

“The Clean by Design team and the Target sustainability team took this on together,” Mamic said. “We supported each other to improve and grow, making the program what it is today.”

Trust was built in a few different ways:

• The CbD team was very knowledgeable about clean production practices and offered regular training on local requirements, which impressed the mills.
• The CbD program offers peer learning workshops for mills to learn from each other and share experiences on tackling environmental challenges, creating a rare learning community in the industry.
• The program led to tangible results, both in resource allocation and cost savings. Most importantly, those results included water and energy savings. Just last year, a total of 30 mills achieved 20 percent in water savings and 12 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Aii’s partnership with Target runs deep and goes wide. We work with their team to develop the highest level of strategy, and we also dig into the weeds of program implementation tactics,” said Lewis Perkins, President of Aii. “They are a deeply valued founding partner and we trust each other to do the hard work.”

Benefits of collaboration

One of the things that makes the apparel industry so collaborative in nature is that brands share the supply chain — there is incredible overlap in the services and facilities that are used among different apparel companies. This provides a unique opportunity to create a positive impact because when one company is investing in impact programs to invest in environmental solutions, other companies also gain positive sustainability results.

In 2012, when Target extended its participation in CbD to an additional 16 mills, the team started to understand the importance of collaboration and how one company’s actions can have a positive ripple effect on the broader industry. With this realization in mind, Target became one of the founding partners of the Apparel Impact Institute in 2017, alongside Gap and PVH, as one way to stay at the forefront of industry collaboration of a shared supply chain and reach their sustainability commitments. We all know we can go faster and scale bigger when we drive impact together.

“As a member of the Aii Board of Directors, I have the privilege of seeing behind the scenes and how Aii is shaping the industry by driving impact programs. Target is a founding partner of Aii because we have believed in its mission from Day 1, and as a mass retailer, we understand our unique position to help lead when it comes to sustainable program adoption. Our goal is to continue to drive large-scale change through initiatives like Aii’s Clean by Design program, and we are invested in seeing it succeed,” Mamic said.

Although sustainability is getting more attention and experiencing growing demand among consumers, Target has been investing in this work for more than a decade and helping lead the sustainability charge in the retail sector. Target sees the need to continue scaling CbD with a collaborative approach so that a broader group of stakeholders in the industry can benefit. They have been actively involved in the conversation with the apparel industry on establishing an alliance with a shared vision of advancing responsible sourcing principles and avoiding redundant efforts.

Final thoughts

When asked what advice they would give others considering participating in Aii programs, the Target team encouraged others not to hesitate.

“This is such a rewarding experience regardless of the size of the brand or company,” Mamic said. “Everyone in the supply chain plays a unique role in shaping the product life cycle, and we each need to do our part to contribute to the health of our planet to leave our home better for future families.”

创建更可持续的供应链

2020年12月14日

Target作为服装行业影响力协会 (Aii) 的创始成员，是服装行业致力于可持续发展的领先品牌之一。作为美国最大的零售商之一，Target为客人提供多样化和可持续的产品选择。

Target责任采购和可持续发展的副总裁兼Aii董事会成员伊万卡·马米奇（Ivanka Mamic）说：“Target的宗旨是帮助所有家庭发现日常生活的乐趣，成为服装环境影响研究所的一员是我们实现这一宗旨的途径之一。我们与Aii合作，不仅使我们的供应商能够为Target自有品牌产品实现卓越的质量，而且我们还可以帮助确保供应商在高效和安全的工厂环境中生产产品，并提升和保护我们价值链上的人们、社区和生态系统的健康和安全。”

服装行业影响力协会（Aii）识别、资助、实施和测量行之有效的解决方案，以加速时尚行业的积极环境影响。在Aii，我们寻找可扩展的解决方案和最佳实践，以应用于整个价值链。

“我们致力于负责任地使用资源，并使我们的供应链更具可持续性，”Target的高级副总裁兼自有品牌采购与发展总裁Bill Foudy说。“我们与Aii的战略伙伴关系有助于实现我们扩大对环境的积极影响的目标。”

清洁始于设计（CbD）是Aii最著名和最成功的计划。它最初由自然资源保护委员会（NRDC）创建。它使用“最佳实践”方法，为任意规模、类型或位置的工厂提供协作和持续改进框架，以减少其环境足迹。通过该计划方法，Aii能够提供系统的解决方案，以减少纺织生产对环境的影响，这对于Target实现其可持续发展目标至关重要，从减少水和能源使用到正确管理化学品和废水。

建立在信任基础上的伙伴关系

影响项目成功的因素有很多。其中一些要素包括：拥有并概述项目细节的知识渊博的员工、专注的合作伙伴公司以及能够执行项目的专家团队。对于Target和Aii之间的合作关系，还有另一个秘密因素使他们近10年来的清洁始于设计合作如此成功：信任。

Target是影响项目的先驱和早期投资者。2011年，他们与三家工厂进行了首次清洁始于设计项目的试点，将自己定位在行业创新和合作的前沿。近10年后，Target现在有四个CbD项目在27个工厂运行。当我们与目标团队谈论是什么使这一合作如此成功时，他们强调了他们公司和清洁始于设计团队之间建立的信任-首先是在“清洁始于设计”项目启动时与NRDC之间建立。后来，当我们的组织采纳了该项目时，这种信任促使他们的团队继续在计划上投入时间、人才和资源。每个参与其中的人都从一开始就致力于确保该计划的成功，从而更容易直接解决任何问题。

“清洁始于设计团队和Target的可持续发展团队共同承担了这一任务，”Mamic说。“我们互相支持，不断改进和发展，使这个项目成为今天的样子。”

信任是通过几种不同的方式建立起来的：

• CbD团队对清洁生产实践非常了解，并定期提供关于当地要求的培训，这给工厂留下了深刻印象。
• CbD项目为工厂提供同行学习研讨会，相互学习，分享应对环境挑战的经验，在行业内创造了一个难得的学习社区。
• 该方案在资源分配和成本节约方面取得了切实的成果。最重要的是，这些成果包括节约用水和能源。就在去年，共有30家工厂节水20%，温室气体排放减少12%。

“Aii与Target的合作关系深入而广泛。”Aii总裁刘易斯·帕金斯（Lewis Perkins）说：“我们与他们的团队合作，共同制定最高水平的战略，同时我们也会深入研究项目实施策略中存在的问题。他们是一个深受重视的创始合作伙伴，我们相互信任，共同努力。”

协作的好处

使服装业如此协作的一个原因是这些品牌共享供应链——不同服装公司之间使用的服务和工厂有着惊人的重叠。这为创造积极影响提供了一个独特的机会，因为当一家公司投资于环境解决方案的影响项目时，其他公司也会获得积极的可持续发展成果。

2012年，当Target将其在CbD的参与扩展到另外16家工厂时，团队开始理解合作的重要性，以及一家公司的行动如何能对更广泛的行业产生积极的连锁反应。有鉴于此，2017年，Target与Gap和PVH一起成为服装环境影响研究所的创始合作伙伴之一，这是保持共享供应链行业合作前沿并实现可持续发展承诺的一种方式。我们都知道，当我们一起推动可持续供应链时，我们可以走得更快，规模更大。

“作为Aii董事会的一员，我有幸看到幕后，以及Aii如何通过推动影响力项目塑造行业。Target是Aii的创始合作伙伴，因为我们从第一天起就坚信Aii的使命，作为一家大众零售商，我们了解我们在可持续发展项目中的独特地位。我们的目标是继续通过Aii的清洁始于设计计划（Clean-by-Design）等举措推动大规模变革，我们投资以确保它成功” Mamic说。

可持续发展受到越来越多的关注，消费者对可持续性的需求也在不断增长。Target在这方面的投资已经超过十年，并帮助引领零售业的可持续性收费。Target 认为，有必要继续以协作的方式扩展CbD，以便让行业中更广泛的利益相关者群体受益。他们一直积极参与与服装业的对话，讨论建立一个联盟的共同愿景，即推进负责任的采购原则，避免重复劳动。

结语

当问及对正在考虑加入Aii项目中的人有什么建议时， Target团队鼓励他们不要犹豫。

Mamic说：“无论品牌或公司规模大小，这都是一次非常有益的体验。供应链中的每个人都在产品生命周期的塑造中扮演着独特的角色，我们每个人都需要尽自己的一份力量，为我们这个星球的健康做出贡献，为未来的家庭留下更美好的家园。”