INFACT Global Partners provides technical, detailed, and pragmatic compliance, operational and productivity solutions to help implement effective change in factories in China. We work with brands and retailers, agents, vendors and trading companies, as well as directly with factories to improve the compliance and operational performance of factories producing products for export to the United States and Europe.

For more than 15 years, U.S. and European brands and retailers have spent considerable time and money holding their contract manufacturing partners accountable to their respective codes of conduct governing issues such as working hours, child labor, wages, health and safety. While some issues have improved as a result of such efforts, key areas such as wages, working hours and overall compliance management have not improved.

As many companies and consumers have learned, factories have created multiple sets of books to deceive auditors tasked to verify compliance with codes of conduct. Unfortunately, transparency and continuous improvement are not rewarded by buyers and retailers who naively expect factories to operate in full compliance with their standards.

As a result, companies that are honest about existing practices in their facilities often face penalties or are forced to improve their existing practices overnight to a level that is often unsustainable given market realities and pressures. Factories better able to hide their true workplace practices often get rewarded with new orders while those who are transparent lose business.

In light of the perverse incentives that the current approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Compliance has created, INFACT believes customers/brands and factories need to re-evaluate their working relationships and consider what efforts can be taken to promote greater transparency and continuous improvement. When this is done, we believe supply chain partners can work together to implement realistic changes that will result in higher compliance levels as well as better operational and productivity performance.