- AD is partnering with TrusTrace, a leading traceability and compliance data platform, and GPRO, an RFID and Industry 4.0 solutions provider
- Built on RFID technology, the solutions integrates with client systems and complements AD’s broader connected product capabilities
Avery Dennison (AD) recently enhanced its Optica portfolio for the apparel industry to further enhance supply chain visibility.
AD is partnering with TrusTrace, a leading traceability and compliance data platform, and GPRO, an RFID and Industry 4.0 solutions provider, to optimizes its materials traceability and work in progress (WIP) tracking capabilities. According to AD officials, these updates mark a significant expansion of the company’s connected product capabilities, addressing key pain points for the apparel industry and creating end-to-end visibility across the entire supply chain.
“By combining these solutions, brands gain a seamless, end-to-end view of their supply chain, enhancing their compliance programs, improving decision-making, and reducing sourcing and production risks,” said Delia Glover, vice president of product, innovation, and solutions development at Avery Dennison, in a statement.
Aiding Clothing Retailers
With the apparel sector faces increasing pressure to improve visibility, efficiency, and sustainability across its value chain, AD is expanding its Optica solutions portfolio to meet these demands. The latest advancements address critical stages of the supply chain.
The partnership with TrusTrace expands the portfolio’s materials traceability offering, meeting the increasing demands from brands and retailers to gain deeper insight into the origins, movement, and impact of raw materials across the apparel value chain.
Mapping Supply Chain
“Factory leaders face no shortage of rising challenges, from pursuing greater visibility of goods to realizing lead time improvements,” said Glover. “Providing real-time visibility of order progress and status, along with up-to-date reporting, capacity allocation, and order adjustment capabilities helps to optimize the network, reduce risk, improve margins, and drive customer satisfaction.”
By leveraging TrusTrace’s platform capabilities as part of Optica, brands will be able to map their upstream supply chains and establish a verifiable chain of custody for each product. The solution supports a wide range of traceability use cases, from sustainability verification to enhanced risk management and responsible sourcing.
With this detailed data on origins, processing steps, and supplier relationships, brands can enhance their regulatory compliance programs by addressing product and supply chain related regulations rather than just due diligence, and meet consumer expectations for transparency and ethical sourcing.
WIP Tracking Focus
At the same time AD has launched a new WIP Tracking solution within Optica, in collaboration with GPRO. The solution enables apparel manufacturers to capture and track data in real-time, providing full visibility into the status of work orders as they move through the production line.
With greater visibility, brands can address production bottlenecks, improve efficiency, and reduce lead times. The Optica WIP tracking solution supports line balancing, performance benchmarking, and proactive issue resolution, helping factory operators and brand partners make data-driven decisions on the ground.
“Optica’s two enhanced solutions—materials traceability and WIP tracking—each address distinct challenges across the supply chain,” explained Glover. “Materials traceability focuses on mapping the upstream supply chain and ensuring transparency of raw materials, while WIP tracking provides factory-level visibility, allowing brands to monitor production status, reduce lead times, and track quality and lost time.”
RFID Backbone
Built on RFID technology, the solution integrates seamlessly with client systems and complements Avery Dennison’s broader connected product capabilities. By digitizing and automating production visibility, it reduces reliance on manual processes and delivers actionable insights from the shop floor, improving overall responsiveness across manufacturing networks.
This new capability follows pilot programs and feedback from early adopters in key manufacturing markets, forming a core pillar of the Optica production visibility solution.
Glover noted that with growing pressure for sustainability and ethical sourcing, supply chain transparency is more critical than ever.
“By combining these solutions, brands gain a seamless, end-to-end view of their supply chain, enhancing their compliance programs, improving decision-making, and reducing sourcing and production risks,” she said.