The Manufacturer Forum targets apparel and textile manufacturers, brands/retailers who have started capturing their Environmental performance using the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM). This 2-day event consists of the following content, which will fit under the overall theme of Looking Towards 2021 and Beyond. 

• The Evolution of the Higg FEM: Where We Have Come and What To Expect

• What We've Learned From Conducting Verifications During a Pandemic

• Deep Dive on Circularity, Chemical Traceability, and Setting Baselines to Improve Carbon Footprint

• Guidance on Completing Quantitative Metrics in the Higg FEM

WHO should attend?
The Forum is most suitable for experienced Higg FEM users, manufacturers, supply chain specialists, and service providers. New Higg users should watch the November 12 Higg FEM2020 Cadence Launch Webinar before attending. 
English will be the media of the event. Mandarin, Bengali, Japanese and Vietnamese interpretation are available in the presentation sessions except networking session. All texts will be displayed in English.

Date & Time: 
November 25 at :
Morning session: 11am - 12.30pm (HKT)  / 9am - 10.30am (BST) / 12nn - 1.30pm (JST)
Afternoon session: 4pm - 5.30pm (HKT) / 2pm - 3.30pm (BST) / 5pm - 6.30pm (JST)

November 26 at :
Morning session (one hour longer than Nov 25): 11am - 1.30pm (HKT) / 9am - 11.30am (BST) / 12nn - 2.30pm (JST) 
Afternoon session: 4pm - 5.30pm (HKT) / 2pm - 3.30pm (BST) / 5pm - 6.30pm (JST)

Agenda

• The Evolution of the Higg FEM: Where We Have Come and What To Expect| Nov 25 morning session
  
  SAC makes incremental changes on Higg FEM every year in order to integrate feedback we receive from users and also to ensure we are keeping up to date with the industry. With the latest release of 2020 Higg FEM in early November, a list of changes were made to Higg FEM to help better refine the tool, which continues to align with the changing environment towards sustainability. This session will focus on what these changes are and where you can find them, why changes are needed, and how facilities can equip themselves for continuous improvements in a changing environment.

• Learnings from Conducting Higg FEM Verifications During a Pandemic | Nov 25 afternoon session
  
  In this session we will reflect back on 2020 so far and the challenges it posed on conducting Higg FEM Verifications. SAC will share their insights from a program perspective, changes that were made in the verification protocols to ensure continuity and credibility of verifications. We will also hear from our Verifier, Manufacturer and Brand Members and their learnings from the year thus far. This session will also help us understand how can we prepare ourselves for the future. 
  
  This session includes a networking session at the end so attendees can connect with other industry professionals.
  
  

• Various Deep-Dive Topics | Nov 26 morning session
  • Integrating Circularity into Your Operations to Improve Facility Waste Management
  • Understanding Chemical Traceability
  • How to Use Data to Set Baselines and Improve Your Carbon Footprint

• Guidance on Completing Quantitative Metrics within Higg FEM | Nov 26 afternoon session
  
  The How To Higg Guide v3.3 will include specific guidance on quantitative metrics based questions that currently exist in the Higg FEM. The quantitative metrics guidance helps users to accurately answer questions which require inputting absolute resource consumption, setting baselines, targets, reporting improvements. This session will focus specifically on the guidance for quantitative metrics questions from Higg FEM 3.0. 
  

Registration:

• Ticket price
  • Non-SAC members: USD $75 pax
  • SAC member: USD $50 pax; one complimentary ticket is available upon the use of unique code. Please contact Janet So (janet.so@apparelcoalition.org) for details.
    

General guidelines

• Once registration is complete, each attendee will receive three calendar invitations. Please contact sacmeetings@apparelcoalition.org in case of any difficulty.
• Meeting link should not be shared with others. Attendees who are not pre-registered will be denied access.
• Attendees must install the zoom app on their desktop/mobile and should they not join via a website browser, they will not be able to use the interpretation function nor attend networking session.
• English will be the media of the event, along with Mandarin, Bengali, Japanese and Vietnamese interpretation available. Interpretations are available in the presentation sessions but not networking session. All texts will be displayed in English.
• The final agenda will be shared in advance of the event for confirmation. 
• Virtual Manufacturer Forums for the AMER region will be organised on Dec 1 & 2.

The event is sponsored by

THE SUSTAINABLE APPAREL COALITION (SAC) is an industry-wide group of more than 250 leading apparel, footwear, and textile, brands, retailers, suppliers, service providers, trade associations, nonprofits/NGOs, and academic institutions working to reduce the environmental and social impacts of products around the world. The SAC was incorporated as a 501c(6) nonprofit organisation and launched the groundbreaking Higg Index suite of tools in 2011. www.apparelcoalition.org