We participated in the "Tricolor Days", organized by the Tricolor Collective, on May 11 and 12 in Roubaix and Tourcoing.
The program for the days includes: visits to local sheep-related businesses, the CETI and the La Piscine Museum on the theme of Regionalism, and thematic workshops on responsibility, fairness, quality and traceability.
As part of our R&D projects , this last workshop was led by Pantxika Ospital and Patrick Bourg from Belharra SAS / e-SCM.
This provided an opportunity to hold a general assembly to define the direction of the sector seeking outlets for 25,000 French farmers.
We began by reviewing the challenges and objectives of the traceability tool for the French wool industry: to facilitate trade, improve quality, guarantee fair compensation, empower the industry, raise consumer awareness, enhance the value of the final product, and demonstrate the positive impact of the sector. It thus contributes to the development of a high -quality , sustainable , and responsible French wool industry .
The tool can now be used to carry out pilot projects. The aim is to offer a materials passport to promote the origin and values associated with the territories and the sector.
By emphasizing both a responsible supply chain and a reduced environmental impact, we addressed the issue of a environmental assessment of Tricolor wool.
We met with ADEME to find out what method to consider; a rigorous process will need to include data collection at all stages of production for a specific evaluation which can then be shared in databases.
A first operational pilot with the Basque company, Traille
We have completed the development of the application's foundation, which allows us to test the digital solution by collecting data at each stage of transformation, in order to validate the data model.
We presented a first pilot project with the company Traille, based in the Basque Country, a project supported by the Pyrenees Agency. Traille is developing a wool wadding made from Lacaune wool, which represents a local and natural alternative to polyester wadding, usable for textiles and furnishings.
Data and documents were collected through the TRICOLOR digital application to generate a Digital Material Passport. This passport corresponds to a batch of wool wadding produced at various stages of the supply chain: sheep cooperative, washing, combing, needle-punching, and thermal bonding company. This Digital Material Passport can be presented at subsequent stages in two formats: a QR code readable on a mobile phone and a data file usable by brands that have their own traceability tools.
We plan to strengthen the monitoring tool to support the Tricolor supply chain's business model. Finally, we intend to deploy this solution on a larger scale.
To learn more about our R&D approach, you can consult our article: " How does e-SCM put Traceability at the heart of its R&D? "
Podcast: The Tricolor Collective for the revival of the French wool industry: "Traceability at the heart of transparency"
Patrick Bourg, Purpan alumnus, gave his testimony as an engineer, alongside Pascal Gautrand, General Delegate of the Tricolor Collective and Audrey Desormeaux, Project Manager at the National Sheep Federation.
The commitments of the Tricolor Collective, launched in 2019
– To bring together the actors in the sector (breeders, processors, manufacturers, territories and distributors) who wish to commit and invest in the (re)development of the French high value added wool sector.
– To implement a collaborative plan involving all stakeholders in the sector to guarantee traceability, improve quality, and increase the use of French wool while promoting the skills and expertise of each link in the chain. Since 2020, we have been committed to the Tricolor collective to support this revival of the French wool industry.
