Material Exchange and Eurofins Softlines & Leather Form a New Collaborative Partnership to Support Material Compliance in Footwear and Apparel
Material Exchange Ventures AB, a Stockholm based start-up and provider of the Material Exchange – the world’s leading digital material platform - is proud to announce a new partnership with Eurofins Softlines & Leather to streamline material compliance and create much needed transparency within fashion supply chains.
Leveraging Eurofins Softlines & Leather’s robust testing capabilities, the new partnership will provide a direct link for material suppliers to apply for testing with Eurofins Softlines & Leather, which in turn will streamline the supplier selection process for buyers. Eurofins Softlines & Leather has developed the material compliance testing protocol with Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA) to support suppliers within the Material Exchange Digital Library as part of a reduced cost program, enabling them to easily and efficiently complete tests.
The availability of material test reports within the Material Exchange system will provide greater transparency for brands and retailers on the regulated restricted substances for major markets providing more visibility to buyers when they are selecting materials in the Material Exchange. In addition, the added benefits of enhanced global regulatory compliance and decrease in testing cost to the trade will most certainly be realized.
Working with the support and guidance of the FDRA, who represents almost 90% of major footwear brands and retailers in the United States, Material Exchange and Eurofins Softlines & Leather have set forth a program of standardised chemical tests that are essential during the material selection process for brands and retailers.
Research from the FDRA suggests, material testing is predominantly completed in the final stages of product development by brands, however, only a limited amount of testing is done at material selection. This joint partnership can greatly enhance compliance, efficiency and transparency from the start of the manufacturing lifecycle by testing materials first, and housing the results in the system for brands to access.
About Eurofins Softlines & Leather
As part of the Eurofins Consumer Product Testing (CPT) Division, Eurofins Softlines & Leather (S&L) delivers comprehensive quality, safety and sustainability solutions for textiles and footwear buyers and suppliers. Through its network of 10 laboratories in Asia, Europe and U.S., with two Technical Competence Centres in Spain and U.K., Eurofins S&L assists customers of all sizes in continuous product and supply chain improvement.
Eurofins Softlines & Leather Media Enquiry
Fiona Fong
Global Marketing Manager
Eurofins Softlines & Leather
Phone: +852 6113 9903
E-mail: fionafong@eurofins.com
Website: https://www.eurofins.com/textile-leather/
About Material Exchange
Founded in Stockholm, Sweden, Material Exchange works directly with the world’s leading retail apparel and footwear brands to analyse, optimise and digitise their material sourcing and development processes. The Material Exchange database is a highly secure vault containing approximately 40,000 digital materials from some of the largest material suppliers in the world including, Clarino, Tiong Liong Corp, Kuraray and over 350 more. Material Exchange brand customers include Ariat, Wolverine Worldwide, Keen, VF, Caleres, Steve Madden, Deckers Brands and many more.
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