Over the weekend, I came upon a webinar that gives a relatively nice overview of the issues surrounding social compliance audits, particularly in Asia. It was shot by a new company called Mosaic. If I had to summarize it, I'd use these … [Read more...]
Brands and Retailers: Please Stop Doing Social Compliance Audits in Asia
Finbarr Bermingham and Cissy Zhou wrote an interesting article in the South China Morning Post, entitled Bribes, fake factories and forged documents: the buccaneering consultants pervading China’s factory audits. An interesting Linkedin … [Read more...]
3 Common Ways Factories Try to Cheat Inspectors/Auditors
Every day in China, in Vietnam, in Bangladesh, and in India, thousands of inspectors and auditors take a bus or a car to a factory. And, in some of those factories, managers are plotting how to cheat those unwelcome visitors. Let's look … [Read more...]
Global Supply Chains: Transparency Drives Compliance Risks Down
The French Chamber of Commerce organizes the Made In Asia conference every year. I missed last year's edition, but I attended this year. The theme was transparency in sourcing. Here are my notes. What drives transparency in the supply … [Read more...]
How To Comply with Standards that are Impossible To Reach?
Importers are often stuck between a rock and a hard place. They are asked by customers or by regulators to comply with very tough (and sometimes unrealistic) standards, and at the same time they need to ensure business continuity -- keep … [Read more...]
Minimizing and Identifying Frauds and Corruption in a Factory
I took part in an interesting event organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in China, with the participation of 3 members of EY's Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services department. Are you worried about shady practices taking … [Read more...]
Environmental Concerns in China Are Reaching a High Point
A friend working in Beijing wrote this a few days ago: With less than 1 meter visibility, my dog was disappearing from the haze when I took it for a walk. It seems like I was only holding the leash in the air. Now I stay indoor all day … [Read more...]
The Risk Assessment Approach in China Manufacturing
In a previous article (The Horrendous Safety Record of China’s Manufacturing Sector), I noted that safety-related audits were not really effective. A more effective approach is to work with the manufacturers on a risk assessment … [Read more...]
The Horrendous Safety Record of China’s Manufacturing Sector
According to the National Bureau of Statistic of China, the death toll from work accidents amounted to 66,182 people in 2015. That's over 10 times the number in the US and the UK combined. In fact I would bet the number is much higher. I … [Read more...]
6 Steps and 1 Key To Reduce Subcontracting Risks in China
I wrote before that the vast majority of Chinese manufacturers find it natural to subcontract certain orders. There are two main problems with this: It seems like a disproportionate number of quality issues occur on batches on which a … [Read more...]