Our Partners

As a supplier of yarns, threads, zips and related products to a range of manufacturing industries and retailers, we play a key role in the value chain, providing a link between raw material producers and end users.  

We regularly engage with our customers in managing wider social and environmental issues associated with product manufacture.  All our industrial products are supported by our exclusive range of Coats Sewing Solutions Services.  Through these services, we work with our direct customers and our suppliers to develop product lines that meet the strict performance criteria of our global branded customers and end users.   This not only reduces costs for our direct customers, it enhances the quality of the end product and minimises waste throughout the manufacturing process.  

Supply Chain Audits

Our manufacturing plants are regularly audited by our clients and global branded customers and we are meeting their ethical trade standards. In China we have strategically placed trained staff as CPI (Compliance Practitioners Initiative) Certified Corporate Responsibility Auditors.  They are now equipped with the skills to carry out their own social compliance audits.  Using the CPI training materials, the accredited Lead Auditors have also developed our own Internal Auditor Training Programme which is being rolled out at our factories.   More information is given in the case study – Coats China’s Training and Accreditation of Corporate Responsibility (CR) Auditors.

Working in Partnership

We are committed to working with others across the industry and during 2011, we joined GAFTI, the Global Apparel, Footwear and Textile Initiative.  This initiative aims to bring together retailers, brands, and manufacturers to improve efficiencies and implement global standards for ethical trade.   The group is focusing on three areas: product safety, sustainability and compliance.  GAFTI is also working in collaboration with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, to develop a common approach to measuring and evaluating apparel and footwear product sustainability performance.

Over the coming year we will be reviewing our own approach to ethical and sustainable supply chain management.   We will then strengthen our supplier standards and will work with our key partners to implement them.