Recently in the UK a number of well known high street brands have been caught up in a storm of adverse publicity relating to how their products have been manufactured. Pictures of children working on sewing machines in the sweat shops of Bangladesh or in the backstreets of Chinese villages have caused enormous damage to their reputations. Now let me explain how not to get into these situations?
1. Have your own independent representation in every country you manufacture in
Most major companies either have their own staff or agents on the ground in their chosen manufacturing regions. These staff would be visiting the relevant factories and checking to ensure that these facilities at the very least comply with local and national laws in relation to child labour. Anything less than this very basic level of inspection is dangerous and it leaves you open to gross misconduct on the part of an unscrupulous manufacturer.
2. Carry out regular, independent inspections of your factories.
Companies such as Beaureau Veritas or SGS will inspect any factories for you and produce a comprehensive report on their findings. You choose what areas you have inspected, you may want to concentrate upon dormitories, earnings, education or indeed all three of them. These reports can then be used by a supplier to demonstrate to a third party that the goods they are providing have been manufactured in ethically and environmentally sound conditions.
3. Consider joining SEDEX
Sedex is the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange, it is a membership organisation set up for businesses that have committed themselves to the continuous improvement in the performance of ethical practices by the members of their supply chains. This is an excellent organisation that has a wealth of experience in assisting companies to set up a system that enables them to trade ethically.
4. Consider Joining the ETI
The Ethical trading Initiative is a relatively new organisation set up in the 1990's. Voluntary organisations, Trade Unions and Companies have been brought together to ensure that the lives and working conditions of the people that produce their goods are continually being improved - from coffee beans to necklaces and from soccer balls to biscuit tins. This organisation is only too keen to help new companies protect and improve the lot of their manufacturing units.
5. Do not trust anything that cannot be proven
Do not leave your reputation or the reputation of your clients in the hands of your suppliers. Do not accept photographs as proof that a factory is complying with your requirements, they could well be sending you images of an entirely different premises. Make sure you pay professional people to visit your manufacturers and carry out a full and proper inspection.
For further information you can look at the websites of the inspection companies I have detailed above and those of Sedex and the ETI. If you are doing none of the above at the moment then you are taking a great risk, none of these actions require vast amounts of your time or money but they could make a vast difference to the lives of the workers in your supply chain so I do urge you to act today.
Visit http://www.btcgroup.co.uk to view our range of Folders, take a video tour of our amazing facilities. Francis Murphy is the Managing Director of BTC Group. His 30+ years of experience in the Promotional Merchandise arena has helped him develop an organisation that has grown to become the largest privately owned Promotional Merchandise company in the UK. BTC Group are members SEDEX & the ETI
Tags: business-general