Digital Supplier Management for Apparel Sourcing
The Key to Getting the ‘Strategic Foresight’ Needed to Manage Today’s Complex Sourcing Matrices
As geopolitical volatility and tariff shifts reshape the apparel landscape, DeSL CEO Colin Marks explains why digital supplier management is the key to mitigating risk and building in operational resilience.
Written b Arthur Zaczkiewicz
Key Insights
- Static, manual sourcing is breaking down as tariff volatility, ESG pressure and faster/smaller production runs make “business as usual” a fast track to margin erosion.
- Brands are shifting to proactive, data-driven supplier relationship management tools to diversify suppliers, balance risk and gain real-time visibility into cost, capacity and compliance.
- A “one source of truth” platform strengthens execution and partnerships by centralizing vendor data, enabling remote collaboration, tracking audits/certifications and supporting faster buys without sacrificing quality or sustainability.
The traditional apparel sourcing model, which is built on static relationships and manual oversight, is hitting a breaking point. Between fluctuating trade policies, rising ESG requirements and the demand for faster, smaller production runs, apparel brands are finding that “business as usual” is a recipe for margin erosion.
Here, Colin Marks, CEO of DeSL, breaks down the critical shift from reactive sourcing to proactive, data-driven supplier relationship management (SRM). From balancing near-shoring risks to achieving a “one source of truth” mindset, Marks explores how digital transformation is empowering brands to regain control over complex global supply chains and foster the transparent, long-term partnerships necessary to thrive in 2026 and beyond.
HGI: How are recent geopolitical shifts and tariff changes reshaping how apparel brands think about supplier diversification and risk management?
Colin Marks: Companies who source manufacture and distribute apparel usually implement best practice with primary and secondary suppliers. Placing large orders with primary suppliers can generate economies of scale and reduce unit costs but short- and long-term tariff changes will increase the cost of goods sold (COGS) which will impact margins and profits for both manufacturers and distributors.
So, what is the answer?
Apparel brands are now balancing the risk and reward of nearshoring versus off shoring. In today’s climate, apparel brands can no longer rely on a handful of static sourcing locations. Geopolitical shifts and tariff volatility are forcing brands to spread risk more widely, diversifying suppliers, balancing manufacturing across regions and ensuring that one disruption doesn’t derail a season.
At DeSL, our platform supports such complexity by giving brands real-time visibility into supplier network performance, cost impacts and compliance across geographies. Brands are increasingly asking themselves: “If one region experiences a tariff hike or export restriction, how quickly can I shift volume, change sourcing, re-quote factories?” Diversification is no longer optional, it’s fundamental to risk management.
HGI: With a more complex network of suppliers, how can they manage a growing number of supplier relationships?
CM: Moving suppliers is not that simple. Lead times to source and manufacture goods has to be considered and alternative Tier 1, Tier 2 suppliers in other regions may not have the manufacturing capacity and/or already have full order books. The secret to a successful business is to keep things simple, adding complexity with additional suppliers and monitoring their performance is inefficient and costly. With a sprawling supplier ecosystem, manual methods become unsustainable. Brands may need to juggle dozens of vendor relationships, if not more, each with unique terms, service levels, currencies and compliance status.
DeSL’s Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) module provides a unified vendor portal: capturing vendor profiles, document certification, cost and quote tracking, status updates and audit scheduling in one system. By centralizing supplier data and automating workflows, quotations, audits and documentation uploads, brands regain control. They can score, filter, compare suppliers and manage performance across the board rather than relying on spreadsheets or disconnected systems.
HGI: Apparel executives say the “remote control” approach to overseas production no longer works. How can digital supplier management empower teams to stay hands-on without being on site?
CM: True, being remote doesn’t mean being disconnected. Modern supplier management engagement with a Supplier Relationship Management solution lets brand teams exert oversight and engagement digitally. In the coming years, the winners in apparel sourcing will be those who turn supplier data into strategic foresight, not just reporting.
With DeSL’s solution, vendors access their own dashboards where they see tech-pack versions, upload amendments, track production milestones and submit compliance documentation. Rather than asking for status updates by email or phone, brands monitor live progress, intervene if a milestone is missed, and foster collaboration as if sitting side-by-side. That means less risk of miscommunication, fewer surprises and greater supplier engagement from a distance.
HGI: In an industry where speed equals margin, how can digital supplier relationship management (SRM) tools help brands execute smaller, more frequent buys while maintaining quality and compliance?
CM: Smaller, frequent buys demand agility, transparency and rigorous compliance, all of which become difficult to manage through legacy sourcing models. With DeSL’s SRM, brands can track supplier capacity, lead-time status, quality audit history, and cost impacts for each vendor. The system’s real-time data enables teams to assess whether a smaller run is feasible, select the right supplier and monitor execution closely.
Compliance modules ensure certifications and audits remain current, reducing risk in these more dynamic, faster-turn cycles. Additionally, DeSL’s SRM helps brands meet ESG and sustainability goals by tracking certifications such as Higg Index, WRAP and OEKO-TEX. Real-time audit data, traceability metrics, and carbon-impact insights allow sourcing teams to align decisions with sustainability KPIs while maintaining speed to market.
By shortening decision cycles and maintaining rigor across quality, compliance and sustainability, digital SRM enables brands to execute rapid buys without compromising standards.
HGI: Many leaders are emphasizing long-term vendor partnerships over opportunistic sourcing. How does DeSL’s SRM foster the trust and transparency needed for those enduring relationships?
CM: Trust is built on clarity, shared data and shared accountability. DeSL’s SRM enables this by giving both brands and vendors access to the same information, specs, revisions, approvals, capacity updates and audit results, eliminating ambiguity and reducing the friction that erodes relationships. Supplier self-service portals ensure vendors aren’t operating in the dark; they clearly see their responsibilities, deadlines, documentation requirements and performance indicators.
Certification tracking, document management and automated alerts help both sides stay aligned and compliant. And because everything is centralized and visible, teams can spend less time chasing data and more time collaborating strategically. Brands using DeSL SRM already report up to a 40 percent reduction in vendor onboarding time and a 25 percent improvement in audit completion rates, measurable outcomes that directly reinforce stronger, longer-term partnerships grounded in reliability and transparency.
HGI: It’s getting harder and harder to make predictions but what kinds of configurable KPIs or analytics do you think will be most valuable for brands trying to balance speed, sustainability and margin pressure in 2026?
CM: Brands will rely on KPIs that blend speed, cost discipline, sustainability and operational resilience. With DeSL’s SRM, teams can configure metrics such as average vendor lead-time vs. target, cost variance per supplier, audit pass rates, the percentage of orders coming from sustainability-certified factories, the number of changes per tech pack and late-milestone frequency. These foundational KPIs help teams balance competing pressures: move faster, protect margin, hit compliance standards and support ESG goals.
Beyond the basics, analytics increasingly need to reflect real-world volatility. DeSL’s SRM can surface insights around price increases passed to customers versus inflation and their impact on unit sales; fixed and variable operational costs and how they influence margin; exchange rates and payment terms; logistics impacts on speed-to-market; and overall supplier performance across time.
By combining everyday operational KPIs with scenario-based analytics, brands gain a holistic, real-time view of risk and opportunity. Dashboards allow sourcing teams to flag bottlenecks early, model trade-offs quickly, and make data-driven decisions that keep speed, sustainability commitments and financial performance in balance.
HGI: For companies still relying on spreadsheets or legacy sourcing models, what’s the biggest mindset shift they need to make to finally digitize operations?
CM: The biggest shift isn’t technology. Process mindset and business transformation should always be discussed and included in the business roadmap. Brands must move from “reactive” to “proactive,” and from siloed departments to integrated teams. Rather than chasing emails and spreadsheets, the mindset becomes: “one source of truth, shared by all stakeholders in real-time.”
DeSL believes that when sourcing, development, compliance, vendor teams all work in one platform, the business gains agility, visibility and alignment. That change, accepting the need for connected data, systems and collaborative workflows, is the foundation of digital transformation in sourcing and supplier management.
This article was originally published on the HGI website. HGI is a platform for sourcing and supply chain professionals, offering data, driven insights, expert content, and tools to navigate the global sourcing landscape with confidence.
Take Control of Supplier Complexity with Digital SRM
DeSL’s SRM solution helps apparel brands manage sourcing risk, improve compliance, and make faster, data-driven sourcing decisions, all from one platform. Book a demo with DeSL to get more information.
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