Moving one step more towards sustainability, Higg Co. connects with the Open Apparel Registry’s API and adopts OAR ID to improve apparel sector facility data.
The Open Apparel Registry (OAR) announces the integration via API of facility name and address data from the Higg sustainability software platform, establishing an unprecedented collaboration to streamline facility data records for the apparel industry.
The integration allows a facility to link its Higg Index account to its OAR profile using an OAR ID. Supply chain partners can then use a facility’s OAR ID to find its Higg Index assessments on the Higg platform.
As per OAR, the API integration and cross-referencing of data between the Higg and OAR platforms saves facilities, brands, retailers and civil society time; collates disparate facility lists into one central, uniform repository; and mitigates the risk of inaccurate data sharing.
This new API data integration effort represents a significant step towards greater collaboration, transparency and accountability across the global supply chain. It also presents the data in a structured, open format, enabling users to make practical use of the data for the benefit of all.
“As a neutral, open source tool used by the entire apparel industry, the OAR exists to tackle the long-standing problem of facility identification,” says Natalie Grillon, Executive Director, OAR.
More than 18,000 global facilities, including those that work with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s global members, already use the Higg platform. Higg facilities new to the OAR can choose to be included in the registry, contributing to the open-source, industrywide effort for shared identification of manufacturing facilities.
Global brands also welcome this initiative. Agata Smeets, Director, Global Sustainability at Gap, said “We are pleased to see the integration of the OAR facility IDs with Higg Index data. This integration will bring much needed transparency into the apparel supply chain and make it much easier to map our facilities going forward. We look forward to seeing OAR integrated into more platforms in the future.”
