Factory visits

As mentioned in my previous blog post, I’m moving between different departments in Kappahl’s production office in Shanghai to see and learn as much as possible during these weeks. Yesterday and today I’ve joined the social compliance team for inspections in two of Kappahl’s factories. It’s the first time for me visiting factories and it has been super interesting. I didn’t really know what to expect on beforehand, but I must say I’m positively surprised by how well organized things have been. Also, the first factory we visited was newly renovated and very modern. The social compliance team does inspections in all factories on a regular basis to report about the working conditions including for example health and safety issues. A common problem when working with new suppliers is that they provide fake documents for working hours, typically these can be called out when it looks too good. To overcome these difficulties Kappahl tries to have an open dialogue with the suppliers and explain that transparency is more important than perfect working conditions. If the real documents aren’t perfect (but not too bad of course) they can work out a plan for improvements together.

The owner of the first factory we went to was very open and I felt that I could ask a lot of questions, for example I asked what their biggest challenge is at the moment. As for most Chinese factories, he said, they have problems with finding skilled labor. At present, The Chinese apparel production industry is facing labor shortage since young people prefer “fancier” jobs. However, this means that keeping good workers become increasingly important for factory owners, and to be an attractive employer they must improve and maintain good working conditions. In his factory the workers are provided free accommodation and food, as well as insurance and holiday compensation. 

Have a great weekend!

Sofia