Our sup­p­ly chains

Sus­taina­bi­li­ty in the tex­ti­le indus­try means much more than just pro­ces­sing eco­lo­gi­cal­ly pro­du­ced cot­ton. It poses par­ti­cu­lar chal­lenges for com­pa­nies at every stage of the value chain.

Our approach:
Risk-based sup­p­ly chain management

The most important com­pon­ents of our pro­ducts are raw fabrics as well as dyes and auxi­lia­ries. The sup­p­ly chains of the­se two com­pon­ents pose a wide ran­ge of sus­taina­bi­li­ty chal­lenges for us. This includes, among other things, com­pli­ance with human rights due dili­gence obli­ga­ti­ons or the avo­id­ance of nega­ti­ve envi­ron­men­tal impacts along the sup­p­ly chain.

We take a risk-based approach to our sup­p­ly chain manage­ment. The basis for mea­su­res and requi­re­ments is the coun­try risk ana­ly­sis. For count­ries from which we pro­cu­re direct­ly or indi­rect­ly, the risks of poten­ti­al­ly nega­ti­ve sources of impact on peo­p­le and the envi­ron­ment are deter­mi­ned using a wide ran­ge of indi­ca­tors. The eva­lua­ti­on of all indi­ca­tors yields the level of coun­try risk. Depen­ding on the level of this risk, sup­pli­ers must meet cer­tain requi­re­ments in order to work with us. This includes, for exam­p­le, the com­mit­ment to our Code of Con­duct, the sub­mis­si­on of various cer­ti­fi­ca­tes, and a wil­ling­ness to adopt a cer­tain degree of transparency.

Down­loads

Code of Conduct

“100% of our sup­pli­ers from high-risk count­ries are cer­ti­fied accor­ding to reco­g­nis­ed envi­ron­men­tal or social standards.”
Raw fabric sup­p­ly chain
Our sup­p­ly chain profile
4 Agen­ci­es

sup­port us in the pro­cu­re­ment of raw fabric.

8

Raw fabric pro­du­cers sup­p­ly us.

From 3 countries

we pro­cu­re: Ger­ma­ny (1x), Tur­key (1x), Pakistan(6x)

8 years

is the avera­ge dura­ti­on of any cooperation

100 %

of sup­pli­ers are OEKO-TEX® Stan­dard 100-certified

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Raw fabric

We exclu­si­ve­ly pro­cess high-qua­li­ty raw fabric made of long-stap­le fib­re mate­ri­als, whe­ther cot­ton, poly­es­ter or lyo­cell. We buy about a third of our raw fabric from just next door: At a spin­ning and wea­ving mill that belon­ged to our com­pa­ny until 2011 and is only two rol­ling gates away. We source other fabrics, espe­ci­al­ly ring yarn, with the sup­port of our long-stan­ding part­ners from Paki­stan and Tur­key. We have been working tog­e­ther with most of the pro­du­cers for many years. The avera­ge dura­ti­on of any coope­ra­ti­on with raw fabric pro­du­cers is more than eight years. The basis of our coope­ra­ti­on is the Ket­tel­hack raw fabric stan­dard. Not only the qua­li­ty requi­re­ments, but also eco­lo­gi­cal and social requi­re­ments are laid down here. Depen­ding on the coun­try risk, rele­vant cer­ti­fi­ca­tes in accordance with reco­g­nis­ed stan­dards are man­da­to­ry for new addi­ti­ons to our sup­pli­er portfolio.

We actively invol­ve the agen­ci­es, in par­ti­cu­lar, in our sus­taina­bi­li­ty manage­ment approach. This is becau­se they are in direct cont­act with the pro­du­cers on site. Whe­ther through a pro­cess of bila­te­ral exch­an­ge, joint events or the dis­se­mi­na­ti­on of infor­ma­ti­on mate­ri­als – we want to bring all stake­hol­ders on board and sup­port them in the imple­men­ta­ti­on of sus­taina­bi­li­ty requirements.

Colour & auxi­lia­ry mate­ri­als sup­p­ly chain
Our stan­dards:

Dyes and auxiliaries

Wit­hout dyes, the­re can be no colou­red, high-per­for­mance fabrics – but the sel­ec­tion and use of the neces­sa­ry che­mi­cals are car­ri­ed out by us with spe­cial care and due con­side­ra­ti­on of eco­lo­gi­cal stan­dards. We source our dyes and addi­ti­ves from repu­ta­ble sup­pli­ers in Ger­ma­ny, the Net­her­lands and Switz­er­land. Espe­ci­al­ly with regard to com­pli­ance with the many requi­re­ments in the area of che­mi­cals, clo­se coope­ra­ti­on with our sup­pli­ers is a decisi­ve fac­tor. Here, too, we rely on long-stan­ding coope­ra­ti­on in a spi­rit of part­ner­ship. When sel­ec­ting pro­ducts, the focus is not only on sui­ta­bi­li­ty and qua­li­ty but also on other fac­tors, e.g. emis­si­on data, AOX con­tent and also pro­duct certifications. 

You can find more infor­ma­ti­on on our che­mi­cals manage­ment →here.

Colour and auxi­lia­ry mate­ri­als sup­p­ly chain
Sup­p­ly chain for finis­hed textiles

Gar­ment assembly

Hotels, as well as hos­pi­tals and nur­sing homes, rely on our bed linen. Becau­se at Ket­tel­hack we know what mat­ters: qua­li­ty, func­tion and com­fort. In addi­ti­on to using a first-class fabric, it is also a mat­ter of the gar­ment assembly.

In addi­ti­on to our sam­ple pro­duc­tion at our loca­ti­on in Rhei­ne, we work tog­e­ther with pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies from Pol­and and Bos­nia Her­ze­go­vina. Our (in part) long-stan­ding coope­ra­ti­on and part­ner­ship is an important basis for the high-qua­li­ty end result. Gar­ment assem­bly in Eas­tern Euro­pe saves long distances, and the risks asso­cia­ted with poten­ti­al­ly nega­ti­ve sources of impact on peo­p­le and the envi­ron­ment are lower than in Asia.

Sup­p­ly chain for finis­hed textiles
Fur­ther artic­les on the topic

Due Diligence

Due diligence is the process that companies should undertake, according to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, to identify, avoid and mitigate the actual (and potential) negative effects arising from their operations, supply chains and other business relationships, and to account for how they address these effects. (Source: 2018, OECD, OECD Due Diligence Guide for Responsible Business)

 

Code of Conduct

A Code of Conduct is a code of behaviour by which a company commits to certain fundamental values. It serves as a guideline for socially responsible corporate action. The German Textile and Fashion Industry Association has developed a Code of Conduct that is tailored to the specific requirements of the industry. Kettelhack is committed to the values of this Code of Conducts and also expects its business partners to orientate themselves to the principles and, for their part, commit to compliance with human rights, labour, social and ecological standards in their economic value-added processes.

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100

Der OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 ist eine Produktzertifizierung die sicherstellt, dass „alle Bestandteile dieses Artikels […] auf Schadstoffe geprüft wurden und der Artikel somit gesundheitlich unbedenklich ist. […] Im Prüfverfahren [werden] zahlreiche sowohl reglementierte wie nicht-reglementierte Substanzen, die der menschlichen Gesundheit schaden könnten [geprüft]. Vielfach gehen die gesetzten Grenzwerte für den STANDARD 100 über nationale und internationale Vorgaben hinaus.“ (Quelle: www.oeko-tex.com)

OEKO-TEX® Standard 100

The OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is a form of product certification that ensures that "every component of this article […] has been tested for harmful substances and the article therefore is harmless to human health." […] In the test they take into account numerous regulated and non-regulated substances, which may be harmful to human health. In many cases the limit values for the STANDARD 100 go beyond national and international requirements." (Source: www.oeko-tex.com)

Infographic
Development of water consumption in m3

The high level of water consumption in production brings with it a corresponding volume of waste water. Compliance with the limit values from the Waste Water Ordinance is ensured by the indirect discharge permit. The daily control of the mixing and equalisation basin by our employees, as well as through the regular inspections by the responsible monitoring authorities, give us the necessary security. 

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