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Promotional Merchandise And Ethical Trading- 5 Top Tips to Protect Your Brand

By Francis Murphy

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 07Nov2009
Word count: 611
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Companies such as NIKE, McDonald's & Pepsi spend as much on Promotional Merchandise as some entire nations spend on running their Health and Education programmes. Yet within a matter of days a brand can be totally destroyed through bad publicity relating to the manufacturing of products that could include Corporate Clothing or Business Gifts branded with their logos. This article offers some great tips on how to avoid ruining your brand or your clients brand through poor procurement practices.

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. So how do you go about avoiding such 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.

There are a number of Professional Inspection companies such as SGS or Beaureau Veritas who will inspect facilities on your behalf and report back to you with their findings. You can determine the type and level of inspection that may relate to working conditions, wages, sleeping arrangements, medical coverage etc. 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. It has bought together a partnership between Trade Unions, Companies and voluntary organisations who work together to improve the lives of workers internationally who produce or manufacture all types of products - 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.

Francis Murphy is the Managing Director of BTC Group which was established in 1977. 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. For further details go to http://www.btcgroup.co.uk to view our special offers, take a video tour of our amazing facilities or to order samples.

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