Oakley x TradeBeyond: The Stuff Legends Are Made Of

The High-Stakes Cost of Manual Quality Control 

For most in the Apparel sector, an Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) of 2.5 is standard. But at Oakley, the expectation was to maintain an AQL of 1.0 with all factory partners. Managing quality manually to this high standard across Asia, Europe, Central and South America was arduous. Defect rates were high, leading to shortages for retail clients, causing the brand to lose credibility. 

Built with athlete input and rigorous field testing, Oakley’s technical products cannot fail – especially in extreme sports. Xavier Laforge, Oakley’s Global Quality Manager, built the team and established quality procedures. They needed real-time supplier info exchange and a configurable turnkey platform that would not disrupt business. 

From Weekly Spreadsheets to Real-Time Global Control 

Oakley’s journey with TradeBeyond began in February 2020, just before the Covid pandemic. Implementation had to be global, multi-lingual and easy. At the time, Oakley’s quality assurance team relied on excel files to manage quality and were sent and received on a weekly basis. Implementation was regional and led by quality leaders in production countries.  

After one year of use, defective products arriving at distribution centers were reduced by 50%, and overall defect rates dropped 62%. Suppliers began to perform self-audits and every factory must now be audited before qualifying as an Oakley production partner. 

With the integration of raw material testing, finished goods testing, and athlete wearer trials captured inside the TradeBeyond platform -Oakley strengthened their commitment to long term quality excellence. 

About Oakley 

BMX took off in the 1970s Southern California, but no one was making gear for these extreme cyclists. In 1975, with $300, Jim Jannard began selling “Oakely Grip” cycle grips from his garage and car, later expanding into gloves, guards, goggles, and sunglasses for BMX and motocross. Oakley’s profile surged when Tour de France champion Greg LeMond chose their eyewear. 

In 2007, Luxottica acquired Oakley for $2.1 billion. Today, Oakley is a global leader in performance equipment, eyewear, apparel, and accessories. Designed in Milan and produced across 40 countries with over 200 material and design patents, Oakley is also built with athlete input and rigorous field testing.