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ZDHC Gateway integrates the Open Apparel Registry ID

March 1, 2021

Partnership Announcement

Integration of the Open Apparel Registry (OAR) Facility identifier (ID) into the ZDHC Gateway leads to improved insights about facilities, expediting collaboration between brands and facilities.

ZDHC deepens its collaboration with the OAR by implementing its Facility ID in the ZDHC Gateway platform via an API connection. The latter allows for the verification of facility name and address data and registers it onto a unique OAR ID. With more organisations and initiatives using the single OAR ID, it increases the accuracy of all data referring to a production site. Improved insights expedite efficient collaboration at the facility level while reducing audit fatigue for both facilities and brands.

“Integrating OAR IDs into the (ZDHC) Gateway is an important step toward understanding our shared supply chain and aggregating information across platforms. This integration will enable more efficient and effective collaboration between brands and other important stakeholders, and we look forward to how this can accelerate progress toward our shared goals.“

- John Stokes, Head of Global Sustainability, NEW BALANCE ATHLETICS, Inc. 

The Open Apparel Registry (OAR) is a neutral, open-source tool that maps garment facilities worldwide and assigns unique facility IDs. The OAR IDs allocated to each facility are a unique identifier for the industry, enabling interoperability between systems, such as data sharing. Any user of the OAR can see the range of connections of each facility in the database to brands, civil society organisations, multi-stakeholder initiatives or factory groups. The OAR is a go-to source for identifying all global apparel facilities and their connections. Users of the OAR are able to make use of the OAR IDs to increase efficiencies and enable collaboration.

”Arvind has been closely engaging with OAR since the early days of development of this unique platform. Collaboration with ZDHC further enhances the value for manufacturers and supply chain partners and also validates the utility of the platform. The collaboration will drive the OAR & ZDHC's vision of radical transparency towards reality” 

- Abhishek Bansal, Head of Sustainability, Arvind Limited

ZDHC has already updated and added OAR IDs to 42% of supplier records currently in the Gateway with exact matching names and addresses in the OAR. 

Sharing data openly through platforms like the OAR is building a future in which increased transparency within the supply chain enables progression towards more sustainable chemistry. 

The vision for the OAR integration on the ZDHC Gateway is to continue to add shared supplier profile data to provide accurate context to metrics developed through the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme.

“As supply chain data is key to implementing sustainability strategies, the OAR provides the enabling technology by providing a single, unique ID for all businesses linked to the Fashion industry. 

By embedding OAR Facility IDs in our Gateway, ZDHC supports these developments and shared ambition to improve sustainability data, enable greater collaboration, transparency, and accountability across the global value chain.”

   - Frank Michel, Executive Director, ZDHC Foundation


View ZDHC data on the Open Apparel Registry (OAR), the open map of global apparel facilities.

For Suppliers who need support to add an OAR ID to their facility, the ZDHC Knowledge base provides a step-by-step guide.

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About Open Apparel Registry

The Open Apparel Registry (OAR) is a free, neutral and open-source tool, mapping garment facilities worldwide and assigning a unique ID to each.

It is a go-to source for identifying all global apparel facilities and their connections by collating disparate supplier lists from industry stakeholders into one central, open-source map and database.

The collated database of facility names, addresses and connections is powered by a sophisticated name and address matching algorithm which is available for any organisation to make free use of in order to:

  • Normalise facility names and addresses against the database and update supplier lists
  • Understand connections of current and prospect facilities to identify opportunities for collaboration 
  • Find potential new suppliers, listed with their credentials and connections
  • Leverage the OAR ID as a unique identifier across software systems and databases

The OAR compiles data from multiple sources including large datasets from multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), brand and retailer supplier lists, facilities and factory groups, service providers, civil society organisations and more.