SMP Audit

   On Thursday I got to join my coworker, Stella, from the Corporate Responsibility Department for a SMP Audit. These audits, Standards of Manufacturing Practices, are done at all the final-goods factories that we do business with and help us guarantee that we are working with good partners. Each one of our liaison offices has an extension of the CR Department that is responsible for a particular manufacturing region. Normally when I go to factories it is for the purpose of development of garments, seeing showrooms, workrooms, factory tours (seeing sewing lines and other machinery) and testing facilities. This audit was going to give me a totally different view of what goes on in factories.

   Since the factory was in Shanghai, Pujiang Town in Pudong, I was able to take the subway. I met Stella at the Terminal station of one of the most southern lines and we walked about 3 minutes to the factory. Upon arriving we had to check in because we showed up unannounced. This is how the SMP audits work so we are guaranteed to see the factory in its everyday working condition.

Heading to the office to meet with the factory rep that
would be touring with us and providing all paperwork needed.

Stella on the right, she is letting the factory know what our purpose would
be for the day and what paperwork we would need to view.

   We were going to be seeing 2 factories within one complex, one factory that makes bags and the other that makes sleeping bags. We started our tour at the bag factory and were escorted around by the factory CR rep, the factory manager and the general manager of the company. Stella was looking at all safety aspects around the complex. Above left, all building entrances need to have evacuation plans clearly marked for workers in case of emergencies. Above right, walking into the packing area.

   Left, Stella checking the first aid kit to make sure that it contains all necessary items and that first aid instructions are posted above. The above right shows posted pictures of all factory workers that are allowed in the packing area, this is necessary because the factory ships goods into the US for companies that have high security customs clearance. All workers in this area are supposed to wear government issued uniforms.

We even checked electrical panels to make sure all switches
were clearly marked for each area. There is even a picture of
the electrician that maintains this electrical board.

I had never been in a bag factory before so I was very curious
about the machinery they were using to stamp out layers of foam.

   Stella even has to check that the machinery is well maintained and all safety signs are visible to the technician using it. You can see her here asking the worker some questions about the machine. Another duty that she has to do is randomly pick workers in all different areas of the factory to interview. She asked questions about age, how long they have worked at the factory, where they are from, have they been compensated for overtime, have they received paystubs and did they receive adequate notice about holiday leave (when the factory would be closed). She conducted about 30 of these interviews between the 2 factories. During the interview she needs to make the worker trust her and she needs to explain why she is asking these questions (just trying to make their working conditions better).

Checked out the fire extinguishers and their maintenance
(which needs to be clearly marked).

The sewing lines.

Here, Stella had to look at the machines to make sure that the needle
guards were on the machines and being properly used. The guards
are used because the machines are run at such high speeds.

Then it was off to the testing facility.

   Ok, not the most interesting video but they were trying to show me how they test their tents. Off to the left there are HUGE fans creating wind and above there are water valves creating rain...sadly, since the factory closed this facility for 10 days during the Chinese New Year they couldn't get the rain to work. Seems that a little maintenance was needed.

This is the program that records all the testing results. It's more high-tech
then the rotating platform in the above pictures makes it look.

This is outside the canteen. The factory has posted the daily local paper for
workers to be able to read on their break or in the evening after work.

   Next we entered into the Canteen and checked out the kitchen. Again, we looked for safety violations and sanitation techniques. I never thought that I would be in a factory kitchen so I found it interesting and took lots of pictures. Check them out:

There was SO much steam coming out of this room where they
were cleaning the lunch trays.

Checked out another first aid kit.

   What I found out was that there was an upstairs to the Canteen where workers could pay 8RMB ($1.27USD) for a higher quality meal. The first floor provided all free meals. Also, what I didn't know was that this would be my first factory visit where I wouldn't be taken out for a nice meal. I guess they aren't exactly happy to have auditors around! Turns out we were on the second floor to grab our lunch. I have now eaten a factory meal!

Not as terrible as I expected. It was all a little cold. Clockwise from bottom right; tofu skins
wrapped around ground pork, sauteed bean sprouts, Egg/tomato soup, yogurt, Fried
chicken, preserved pork. I did get complimented on my chop stick use during this lunch.

We needed to check the notification that the factory handed out
for the CNY to make sure it was clear for the factory workers.

The sleeping bag factory:

Walking to the next factory. All these building are part of the
same facility, all one factory. They are usually large campuses.

   We walked through the cutting room, the sample room, the sewing lines, the quilting area and another packing area. This factory was much smaller then the first one we walked through so it didn't take nearly as long. From here we went to check out the warehouse which wasn't very interesting so I don't have any pictures to share. Then it was time to go back to the office to look over employee work files, timesheets, pay records and government issued approved overtime certificates. This took 2 1/2 more hours as Stella needed to document these items in our company system. Since these 2 factories were small and the staff cooperative and organized we were able to complete the audits in 9 hours. Stella told me that some factories are so disorganized that it would take an entire day just to do one audit.

   I have a greater appreciation for the steps that my company takes to ensure that the factories that we work with obey local law and treat workers well. This is an important job and Stella is fantastic at it. I will never look at a factory in the same way again...