Mission-led manufacturer DTRT Apparel uses FastReactPlan to set new sustainability standards

As a cornerstone of an ambitious, multi-year growth strategy, DTRT (Do The Right Thing) is leveraging FastReactPlan across all production lines to improve on-time delivery at the same time as driving positive social change.

Coats Digital is proud to unveil a partnership with mission-led manufacturing company Do The Right Thing (DTRT).  In 2021, DTRT implemented FastReactPlan – the industry’s leading production planning tool, from Coats Digital – to establish the strongest possible foundations for future growth without compromising the stringent ethical and environment standards that are critical to the company’s reputation.

Founded on the principle that the apparel manufacturing industry has the power to drive significant, positive change to communities in emerging economies, DTRT operates a uniquely sustainable production facility in Ghana.  Employing more than 2,500 people across 35 production lines, DTRT’s Ghana site produces sports and sports-lifestyle apparel – including polo shirts, fleece jackets, and t-shirts – for overseas brand customers, with a current production capacity of 4 million garments per year.

To balance this ambition for precipitous growth with the company’s founding mission, in early 2021 DTRT needed a new way to maximise efficiency across both existing and planned production lines.  Prior to implementing FastReactPlan, this efficiency was being held back by a reliance on manual processes and disconnected data – a combination that was also contributing to the erosion of DTRT’s margins, high incidence of employee downtime, and missed delivery deadlines. At the same time, a lack of visibility into the causes of production delays and the impact of material delays had led to an over-reliance on air freight so that orders reached overseas customers on time.

After implementing FastReactPlan, DTRT was quickly able to build a clear, systematic critical path for its materials, allowing the company to identify delays in material availability and make quick and easy adjustments to its plans with minimal disruption.  Using FastReactPlan, DTRT has also been able to connect and consolidate its production data, allowing the company to track exactly how many units it needs to cut, sew, and to adjust its production and capacity plans based on accurate information.

Wasantha added, “We plan to double our capacity annually for the next three years, and had we left our existing challenges and excess costs unaddressed; we would not have the right foundations in place to grow efficiently and cost effectively.  Now, with Coats Digital’s support, we’re confident that we have the right structure to allow us to increase our margins, improve efficiency by up to 10%, reduce our air freight costs and carbon footprint by up to 50%, and safeguard both our world-leading sustainability standards and our strong reputation with our customers.”

Stuart continued, “We are thrilled that, by implementing FastReactPlan, DTRT will be able to better balance its capacities, material availability, and critical path, giving it the ability to grow with confidence and without sacrificing either efficiency or ethics.  We look forward to being a continued partner on DTRT’s journey to become the go-to apparel manufacturing destination for Africa.”