Best Practices for Engaging Your Facility Partners and Scaling Your Sustainability Program

By: Dhanujie Jayapala, General Manager – Environmental Sustainability, MAS Holdings

In my role leading environmental sustainability efforts at MAS Holdings, an industry leader for sustainable and ethical apparel manufacturing, I have the opportunity to experience the brand-facility partnership from multiple perspectives. 

We have a central position in the supply chain: we partner with our customers, some of the world’s leading brands, to monitor and improve upon our own sustainability practices, and we partner with Tier 2 and Tier 3 manufacturers to help them meet their own, our, and our customers’ sustainability goals. 

Operating in the middle of the supply chain – both as an upstream partner to brands and a downstream partner to other manufacturers – gives us a unique vantage point to speak to the challenges each side faces, as well as best practices for achieving success in those relationships. 

Best practice 1: Adopt industry standard tools like the Higg FEM 

One of the most effective ways brands can support their manufacturing partners is by adopting industry-standard sustainability assessment tools like the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) developed by Cascale. The more brands that use the same sustainability tool, the easier it becomes for facilities to provide the necessary data and engage in the improvement journey without duplicating efforts.

As I mentioned during the panel discussion at the Worldly Customer Forum, “Top Techniques to Scale Sustainability Measurement and Management”, before tools like the Higg FEM were developed, manufacturers often had to undergo multiple audits and assessments, each with its own unique requirements. This creates a significant burden and makes it difficult to benchmark and compare performance over time.

By aligning around a common tool, brands can streamline the data collection process for their facility partners. Manufacturers can enter their data once and share it with multiple customers, rather than having to duplicate efforts for each brand they work with. There are still some areas that take a lot of time — like when brands require their own audits, but we are able to make a lot of progress by adopting an industry standard.

Best practice 2: Have open conversations to build trust and alignment  

Oftentimes, manufacturers are reluctant to get started with environmental sustainability assessments because they fear they won’t score well. They fear their scores will lead to the loss of business with their valued brand customer. The truth is, facilities should not fear this outcome if the brand’s goal is to improve environmental measures over time. This philosophy must be communicated through transparent conversations so that facilities understand the intention behind taking their first steps into assessments like the Higg FEM, or others. 

Brands, as well as facilities trying to engage their own facility partners, must provide assurance that this is a three or five-year program, and getting started is simply to establish a baseline on which to build in the future. Having discussions about the findings noted and what can be worked on through a long-term partnership is the ideal situation.

Building trust through open communication and a willingness to work together over an extended timeframe is key to getting facility partners on board and committed to the sustainability journey. If a brand isn’t willing to have these conversations and make a long-term commitment to their facility partners while everyone works on improving their sustainability measures year over year, then perhaps it’s not going to be a successful partnership. 

Best practice 3: Help your partners understand the inherent benefits of measuring and improving sustainability impacts

Finally, it’s crucial for brands, and manufacturers working with their own suppliers, to clearly communicate the benefits and importance of participating in sustainability assessments like the Higg FEM, not just for themselves but for everyone from brand to supplier to consumer. 

While meeting brand requirements is certainly a key motivator for facilities to engage in sustainability assessments, brands and facilities hoping to engage their downstream partners need to help them understand how these tools support their own business interests and sustainability goals, rather than simply mandating it. 

One of the most important things for facilities to consider when weighing the pros and cons of adopting a sustainability assessment is the long-term business impact doing so (or not) will have. While measuring and improving sustainability can lead to savings in the long run, this payoff can take a long time to come to fruition. 

Facilities will see the most immediate ROI in being able to keep pace with the industry as a whole, and to remain competitive and trusted partners to the brands (and upstream facilities) they want to work with today and for years to come. As regulations increase, brands will only become more acutely aware of the risks and impacts associated with purchasing from suppliers who haven’t started their own environmental sustainability journeys. 

Manufacturers that don’t prioritize and invest in sustainability starting now will be too far behind to catch up in a matter of only a few years when key regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive are required in Europe. Thus, it’s truly responsible business and in the best interest of a manufacturer’s employees, leadership, and shareholders to begin measuring and reducing their environmental impact today. 

Driving industry wide progress through effective partnership 

Engaging facility partners in sustainability programs requires a collaborative, partnership-driven approach. By adopting shared tools, having open conversations, and communicating the real-world business value of sustainability assessments, brands and manufacturers can work together to drive meaningful, industrywide progress.

As a Tier 1 manufacturer partnering with some of the top global apparel brands, we at MAS Holdings are committed to not only meeting the sustainability expectations of our customers, but also helping improve environmental and social sustainability among our own suppliers. We recognize our position provides us an opportunity to influence positive change across the value chain.

While the sustainability journey isn’t fast, easy, or free, I am encouraged by how our brand partners prioritize their environmental and ethical responsibilities by committing to partner with manufacturers that act accordingly. I know that for us, at MAS Holdings, doing the “right thing” for people and the environment is a priority and one we’re proud to have a strong track record on. However, we can only turn our values into real impact when we have buy-in and cooperation from both the brands we work with and the suppliers that work with us. 

About the author

Dhanujie Jayapala is the General Manager of Environmental Sustainability for MAS Holdings. He leads MAS Holdings’ adoption and use of the Higg FEM, which is now fully implemented across 43+ of their facilities. In turn, MAS Holdings has cascaded its own sustainability philosophy to 75% of the Tier 2 and it works with.