TrusTrace has unveiled an upgraded forced labour prevention solution that it said will enable “proactive compliance for fashion and textile supply chains”.

The software provider specialises in supply chain traceability and compliance and said the solution helps global brands manage and meet ESG goals through an AI-powered chain of custody creation, primary data collection, risk screening, and compliance, “leading to increased accuracy and lower time and cost of compliance”.

The solution is already being used by 15 brands globally, including accessories label Vera Bradley.

The company’s CEO Shameek Ghosh said its upgraded solution “is not just a tool, but a commitment to a world where transparency and ethical practices in supply chains are non-negotiable.

“With a proactive approach to supply chain data, brands can be in the drivers’ seat not only for tackling forced labor but for multiple supply chain challenges, as well as opportunities, something that leading brands are already doing today.”

So what does the tech do? It “combines the power of AI to manage large quantities of data from complex supply chains with scalable collection of primary data per purchase order, which is screened and validated for risk, ensuring brands have validated evidence at a product and shipment level”.

It collects primary data directly from suppliers “to ensure detailed and reliable information about facilities, products, and materials”. 

We’re told the primary data collected is “specific to the context of the traced products, contrary to solutions leveraging third-party data, which can introduce large quantities of irrelevant information from various sources, creating ‘noise’ that can obscure critical insights and quickly become unmanageable”. 

The company has traced more than two million purchase orders to date, and has more than 55,000 suppliers and facilities mapped globally.

The data is also proactively screened for risk against the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entity list, and the solution can integrate with any relevant risk-screening database.