At Techtextil 24 in Frankfurt, Italy’s RadiciGroup unveiled its first physical and digital nylon traceability project, involving a gilet made from yarn manufactured at one of the group’s European industrial sites, which thanks to a QR code can reveal its origin and display information about its production process.

The project, made possible by a partnership with FibreTrace, allows manufactured nylon yarns to be traced both physically and digitally. RadiciGroup inserts an inorganic additive as a tracer that is uniquely associated with the yarn and remains identifiable throughout all stages of processing – on both the fabric and the finished garment. The tracer does not alter the functional and technical performance of the yarns in any way.

During production stages a scanner detects the presence of the tracer and can transmit the data relating to provenance onto a dedicated digital platform. Via a QR code, the consumer can then access the digital platform that provides all information concerning the provenance of the product and its journey through the supply chain.

“This project is the result of almost two years’ work by our research and development team and we’re very proud to bring to the market the first physical and digital nylon traceability solution,” said Filippo Bona, R&D manager at RadiciGroup Advanced Textile Solutions. “We now plan to extend this initiative to other fibres produced by the group. Traceability boosts consumer awareness of where clothes are really produced and also helps combat counterfeit goods and encourage products that are made in Europe, in line with the principles of the Digital Product Passport regulations being planned by the European Union.”

www.radicigroup.com