GoBlu International, a sustainability accelerator, has come up with a new app for better chemical management!
BHive is that new app that will give the users a glance of chemical usage in their global supply chain.
The application provides retailers and brands with an immediate snapshot of the chemical products being used at wet processing facility. This ensures retailers whether the manufacturing facilities are meeting brand requirements or not.
With the use of optical character recognition (OCR), the app using the screenshot of the chemical products can identify which product fulfills the sustainability requirement of their supply chain partners.
Once the screenshots are uploaded, they are cross-referenced with the BHive’s database which is currently backed with over 45,000 chemical products and the system automatically generates a full and accurate chemical inventory.
Manufacturing facilities can then instantly and visually assess compliance levels and see which chemicals can be still used and which should phase out.
“Over the years, we have witnessed how wet processing facilities struggled to provide clear and correct information in terms of which chemical products they use on site and whether those products meet brand requirements,” explains Lars Doemer, Managing Director, GoBlu International.
The app assists manufacturers with the automatic creation of inventory eliminating the need of manually entering and checking data or comparing the compliance of chemicals against conformity document. They can also use the data as a validation that they meet and strive to improve the chemical compliance.
More on the benefits, Ann-Karin Dahlberg, Corporate Sustainability Manager, Lindex said, “Increased speed and reduced workload are the major benefits we are already seeing from using BHive to implement our new MRSL. We see these benefits within our own business as well as on the supply chain side, and feedback from our supplier is really positive. Our aim is to roll BHive out to our global supply chain.”
Speaking about the app, Felicity Tapsell, Environmental Sustainability Manager, Bestseller said, “We are working towards some ambitious sustainability goals over the next few years. To achieve these goals, we need accurate data on our fingertips. We’ve found BHive to be just what we need. We’ve never before had this kind of transparency regarding our suppliers’ chemical use, and the best part is that it is so easy to understand.”
International brands and retailers like Bestseller, Lindex, Orsay, Li & Fung, Lidl and Tchibo are already piloting the app. Moreover, more than 100 factories have been enrolled into BHive in seven countries including Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Romania, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vietnam.
Furthermore, the tool is supported by the major industry standard holders and chemical manufacturers like Oeko-Tex, GOTS, Anoky, Argus, Atul, Beyond Surface, CHT, Chroma, Colourtex, Dr Petry, DyStar, Eksoy, Everlight Chemicals, HEIQ, Jihua Group, Jinji Dyestuffs, Lonsen, Pidilite, Nearchemica, Rossari, Rudolf Group, Runtu, Setas, D chemicals, Taiwan Surfactant, Transfar, Wholewin and Yorkshire Group.
