# CSRD Garment Factory Reporting: What Data to Collect in 2026 > CSRD requires EU brands to report Scope 3 ESG data — which means they need labor hours, wages, and production data from your factory. Learn exactly what a garment factory must capture to satisfy buyer CSRD questionnaires in 2026. **Source:** [https://scanerp.pro/blog/csrd-garment-factory-reporting.html](https://scanerp.pro/blog/csrd-garment-factory-reporting.html) --- CSRD Garment Factory Reporting: What Data to Collect in 2026 | Scan ERP [Home](/) › [Blog](/blog) › CSRD for Garment Factories ESG & Compliance | April 5, 2026 | Scan ERP Team | 8 min read # CSRD Garment Factory Reporting: What Data Your Production Software Must Collect in 2026 Almost every article about CSRD is written for the brand — the H&M, the Primark, the Decathlon. None of them explain what a CSRD garment factory in Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, or Nepal is supposed to do. This is the factory side: what your EU buyers are legally required to report, why they need that data from you, and which parts your factory can start generating today. ## What Is CSRD and Why Does a Factory Outside the EU Care? The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is an EU law that requires large EU-based companies — including major fashion brands, retailers, and importers — to publish detailed, audited sustainability reports covering their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. It is being phased in by company size, with large companies already subject to it and mid-sized companies coming into scope through 2026-2027. Here is what matters for factories outside the EU: CSRD requires brands to report not just their own direct emissions and labour practices, but their **Scope 3** data — the indirect impacts embedded in their supply chain. For a garment brand, the largest Scope 3 category is manufacturing. Your factory is their Scope 3. What Scope 3 Means in Practice An EU clothing brand must report the worker hours, wage data, overtime rates, and productivity metrics of the factories that manufacture their garments — not just their own headquarters staff. Your factory's records become part of their legally audited compliance report. They cannot file complete CSRD reports without data from you. If your buyer is a large European brand, they are almost certainly already CSRD-subject. They need your factory's data to complete their annual sustainability report. They will ask for it through supplier questionnaires, third-party audits, or direct data integrations. Factories that cannot provide the data are a compliance liability for their buyer. Factories that provide it cleanly and quickly become preferred suppliers. ## What Data Your Factory Needs to Provide CSRD sustainability reports cover many categories. For a garment factory, buyer data requests typically focus on four areas: labour data, production data, environmental data, and social compliance data. Here is each category with an honest assessment of what factory production software can and cannot cover. ### Labour Data This is the category where most garment factories fall short, because it requires connecting biometric attendance records, shift data, and payroll to the same system. Brands typically request: - Total worker headcount — permanent and contract workers listed separately - Total production hours worked per month or reporting year - Overtime hours as a percentage of total hours worked - Average wages per worker and whether they meet local living wage benchmarks - Worker turnover rate over the reporting period - Breakdown by gender and employment type where available If your factory uses [biometric attendance](../blog/biometric-attendance-garment-factory.html) — ZKTeco fingerprint, face recognition, or card-swipe — this data is captured every single day at the gate. The question is whether it reaches a queryable digital system or stays locked in the device's internal memory. A factory with attendance synced to a digital system can run a "total hours worked per worker per month" report in two minutes. A factory with an attendance register book cannot. ### Production Data Brands need to understand the output efficiency of their production base — partly for their own planning, and increasingly because CSRD sustainability frameworks ask for output-per-worker and labour-productivity metrics at the facility level. They request: - Pieces produced per worker per day (efficiency rate) - Total production volume per lot or per season - Defect and rejection rates over the reporting period - Line and facility capacity utilisation If you track production through a [piece-rate system](../blog/piece-rate-payment-calculation-garment-factory.html) that records completed operations per operator per day — via QR scanning or any digital method — this data is a direct output of your normal operations. If production tracking is done on paper tally sheets, you have aggregate line counts but no worker-level detail to give the brand. ### Environmental Data This is the category that garment factory production software does not cover — and it is important to say so clearly. CSRD environmental reporting includes energy consumption in kWh per month, Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions, water consumption, and fabric waste volumes and disposal methods. A CMT sewing factory does not typically run heat press, washing, printing, or dyeing operations, so the chemical and water categories are less relevant for sewing-only facilities. But energy and carbon data requires sub-metering hardware and energy management systems that are entirely separate from production tracking software. Honest Scope Boundary Scan ERP covers the labour and production side of CSRD data — attendance, worker hours, piece-rate records, and productivity metrics. It does not cover energy monitoring, [carbon accounting](../blog/garment-factory-carbon-footprint-tracking.html), or environmental waste tracking. Those require separate hardware and systems. Know which half you are solving before telling a buyer you are "CSRD compliant." ### Social Compliance Data Beyond raw numbers, CSRD requires brands to report on the governance and social practices of their supply chain. Factories are typically asked for evidence of signed employment contracts, records of any safety incidents, confirmation of minimum wage compliance, freedom of association policies, and anti-discrimination documentation. Most of this is an HR and legal documentation task — not a production software task. ## The 8 CSRD Data Points for Garment Factories When a buyer's CSRD questionnaire arrives at your factory, here are the eight data points most commonly requested — and whether a modern factory production system generates them automatically: - ✓ **Daily attendance per worker with exact in/out times** — Automatically generated by biometric attendance integration. Retrievable by date range, by individual worker, or by department with no manual work required. - ✓ **Total hours worked per worker per month including overtime** — Calculated from attendance punch records. Overtime hours identified automatically against the standard 8-hour daily threshold. - ✓ **Pieces completed per worker per day (productivity)** — Automatically generated from piece-rate scanning records. Every QR bundle scan records operator ID, operation type, timestamp, and piece count. - ✓ **Monthly earnings per worker** — Generated from piece-rate payment calculations. Includes base rate, bonuses, and deductions. Queryable by worker and by month over any historical period the system has been running. - ✓ **Total production volume per lot or season** — Generated from cutting batch records and work completion data. Queryable by article code, lot number, or date range. - ● **Worker headcount and employment type breakdown** — Partially available from the operator and user registry. Full breakdown by gender and contract type requires those HR profile fields to be actively populated in the system. - ✗ **Energy consumption per unit of production** — Not available from production software. Requires energy sub-metering hardware installed at the factory, feeding data to a separate energy management system. - ✗ **Safety incidents and near-miss records** — Not available from production software. Requires a dedicated health and safety incident logging system, which can be as simple as a structured digital form or as formal as an ISO 45001 safety management system. The first five data points — labour and productivity data — are the ones buyers request most frequently and have the least patience for waiting on. If your factory can respond to all five within 24 hours of receiving a questionnaire, you are already ahead of most competitors in the supplier market. ## What CSRD Buyer Questionnaires Actually Look Like Most factory managers imagine CSRD as something abstract, arriving in the form of a formal on-site audit. In practice, what reaches your inbox is a questionnaire — sometimes through a platform like Sedex, EcoVadis, or the brand's own supplier portal, sometimes as a PDF or Excel file. The questions are specific and numerical. A typical section on labour practices reads something like this: For your factory facility during the reporting period (January 1 to December 31, 2025): 1. Total number of workers directly employed: ___ 2. Total production hours worked by all workers including overtime: ___ 3. Percentage of workers paid above the national minimum wage: ___% 4. Average overtime hours per worker per month: ___ 5. Annual worker turnover rate: ___% 6. Number of workplace safety incidents recorded during the period: ___ Questions 1 through 5 are answerable from digital attendance and payroll records in minutes — if those records exist in a structured, queryable form. Question 6 requires a safety incident log. A factory that cannot produce precise answers with actual numbers, not estimates, creates a compliance gap in the brand's CSRD report. Brands with upcoming regulatory filings cannot absorb that gap. ## Digital vs. Paper Factory: Side-by-Side Comparison CSRD Data Category QR + Biometric Factory Paper-Based Factory Daily attendance records Biometric, timestamped, queryable Register book, manual, not exportable Hours worked and overtime Calculated automatically per worker Estimated, line-level aggregate only Worker productivity (pieces/day) Per-worker, per-day from bundle scans Line aggregate only, no individual data Monthly earnings per worker Piece-rate records stored historically Manual payroll may exist, not structured Production volume per lot From cutting and work completion records From shipping records only, lot detail missing Worker headcount breakdown Available if HR fields populated in system Manual HR files, rarely queryable Energy consumption Requires energy metering hardware Electricity bills only, not unit-linked Safety incidents Separate incident log system needed Paper incident reports, rarely systematic ## How QR Tracking and Biometric Attendance Cover the Labour Half The most commercially critical part of CSRD buyer questionnaires — the labour and productivity data — is a direct output of two systems working together: biometric attendance and QR-based piece-rate production tracking. Biometric attendance records exact in and out times for every worker, every day. When those records are synced to a management system rather than sitting in device memory, the system computes regular hours, overtime hours, and overtime percentage for any date range automatically. The brand asks for a number. You produce it the same day. QR-based piece-rate tracking records every sewing operation completed by every operator with a precise timestamp. The system knows how many pieces worker A completed on machine B during lot C on date D. This is exactly the worker-productivity and output data CSRD frameworks require brands to report for their supply chain facilities. When these two systems are in place and integrated, a factory manager can generate the following on demand: - Total hours worked by all workers with full overtime breakdown - Individual productivity rates — pieces per day per worker - Average and individual earnings per worker per month - Line-level and factory-level production volume by lot or date range - Worker count active on any given production day These five reports cover the highest-priority data points in CSRD supplier questionnaires. The factory that responds to all five within 24 hours, with structured data rather than estimates, is the factory that stays on the preferred vendor list when brands rationalise their supply base. ## Practical Steps to Become CSRD-Ready on the Labour and Production Side 1 ### Connect biometric attendance to a digital system ZKTeco and similar devices store punch records internally, but data sitting in device memory is not useful for reporting. Set up automated sync via ADMS protocol or periodic export so attendance records reach a queryable database before the device overwrites old records after a few weeks. 2 ### Track piece-rate production digitally at the operator level Move from paper tally sheets to QR scan-based production recording. Each operator scans the bundle QR code before starting work. This creates a permanent, timestamped record of who produced what, when — the direct source for productivity data in CSRD questionnaires, and it also eliminates the payment disputes that tally-sheet errors create at payroll time. 3 ### Store payroll calculations digitally, not just printed payslips If piece-rate payments are calculated in an Excel file that gets printed and discarded, you permanently lose historical payroll data. Store payment calculations in a system that retains records by worker and by month. Buyers ask for average wage data covering the full 12-month reporting period. If you only have the last month, the question cannot be answered. 4 ### Start a safety incident log — even a simple one This does not require expensive software. A shared digital form or a dedicated notebook with a consistent format is sufficient to start. Incidents must be recorded with date, worker name, incident type, and outcome. Buyers ask for the total number of recorded incidents. "Zero incidents and no records" is not acceptable — you need a log that demonstrates the zero. 5 ### Register your factory on a supply chain transparency platform Platforms like Sedex, EcoVadis, and the Open Supply Hub are increasingly required by European brands for CSRD supply chain documentation. Registering and completing a basic factory profile gives you a verified, third-party record of your facility's practices. Many brands accept an up-to-date Sedex SMETA audit as partial evidence for the social data components of their CSRD report. Start With What Creates the Most Value First Biometric attendance and digital piece-rate records together cover the five highest-priority CSRD data points for garment factories. Start there. Energy monitoring and safety systems can follow once the labour and productivity data is in structured, retrievable form. Do not let the full scope of CSRD prevent you from capturing the half you can start on today. ## The Operational Case Beyond Compliance Every system that makes your factory CSRD-ready also makes your factory run more efficiently. Biometric attendance reduces wage disputes that consume supervisor time. Digital piece-rate records eliminate payment errors and prevent operators from claiming bundles they did not sew. Productivity data by worker and machine type enables better work assignment, faster target-setting, and clearer visibility into where delays originate. Factories that digitise their operations for compliance reasons almost universally find that the operational benefits exceed the compliance benefits within the first year. Fewer supervisor hours spent on manual counting. Fewer disputes at payroll time. Faster responses to buyer inquiries. Better data on which lines, operators, and machine types produce the most efficiently — information that was always present on the factory floor but was never being captured in a usable form. CSRD is creating commercial urgency for something that was already a sound operational investment. The regulation is the push. The efficiency gains are the reason it makes sense regardless. Garment ERP by Country [🇮🇳 India](/blog/garment-factory-erp-india-tiruppur.html) [🇧🇩 Bangladesh](/blog/garment-erp-bangladesh-rmg-factories.html) [🇻🇳 Vietnam](/blog/garment-factory-erp-vietnam.html) 🇳🇵 Nepal 🇦🇪 UAE 🇲🇦 Morocco ## Generate CSRD Labour and Productivity Data Automatically Scan ERP's QR bundle tracking and biometric attendance integration automatically produce the worker productivity, hours, and earnings data that buyer CSRD questionnaires ask for. See exactly what your factory would generate. [ Ask on WhatsApp ](https://wa.me/9779863618347?text=Hi%2C%20I%20want%20to%20know%20how%20Scan%20ERP%20helps%20with%20CSRD%20compliance%20data) CSRD · BUYER PRESSURE ### Buyer CSRD demands are coming down the supply chain Brand-side CSRD reporting requirements are pushing detailed factory-level data requirements down the supply chain. The factories that capture this data automatically — not via end-of-year scrambles — win the long-term contracts. [Get a CSRD readiness check →](/#contact) [Free QC + AQL tools →](/tools/) [Automation roadmap →](/automation/) ## Related guides from the field More from a working CMT factory floor. [ ### CBAM Garment Factory Guide: What Bangladesh, India & Vietnam Must Do CBAM is coming for textiles. EU buyers are already asking factories for carbon data. Here's what garment facto… ](/blog/cbam-garment-factory-guide.html) [ ### Digital Product Passport Garment Factory: 2027 Data Guide EU mandates Digital Product Passports for textiles by 2027-2028. Learn exactly what production data your garme… ](/blog/digital-product-passport-garment-factory.html) [ ### Garment Factory Carbon Footprint: How to Track & Report to Buyers EU buyers are now asking garment factories for carbon data per garment. Learn what CSRD Scope 3, France's text… ](/blog/garment-factory-carbon-footprint-tracking.html) [ ### Real-Time Garment Production Tracking System: Complete 2026 Guide for CMT Factor The complete 2026 guide to real-time garment production tracking systems. Compare PROTRACKER, WiMetrix, Stitch… ](/blog/garment-production-tracking-system-2026-guide.html) --- Built by [Scan ERP](https://scanerp.pro/) — QR-based ERP for CMT garment factories.