Transparency in the Supply Chain
What is the problem with the USB cable so far? Our current cable (sourced via Lindy, a German trader) is produced by a company called Chang Rong Chang Electronics, producing in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen is a region near Hong Kong, where a bulk production of IT equipment takes place. The region is known for extremely poor working conditions. At least our cable is PVC-free, which means it causes less health and environmental (especially climate) problems, especially during disposal. However, as mentioned before, the focus of NagerIT lies on the situation of the workers involved in the production process, and hence PVC-free is not sufficient for us. Therefore we started cooperation with our trader (Lindy, Germany) to find a more suitable factory with good conditions for the workers. In autumn we are planning to jointly visit some partner factories of Lindy in the Ningbo region. Ningbo is a region near Shanghai, where on average, working conditions are better than in Shenzhen.
Once a suitable factory has been found, we have to start long and patient talks in order to convince the owner of our project: the factory should report transparently on its working conditions and, very important and very challenging, their supply chain. If necessary, conditions of workers have to be improved. A big challenge will be to encourage them to disclose their supply chain to us. In the IT sector, and especially in China, a company’s major asset or competitive advantage seems to lie in their knowledge of sourcing opportunities.
Keeping in mind the extreme competition in this sector, one can understand concerns about transparency. However, we have to insist on that, otherwise how can we check and, if necessary, improve the situation of the workers in the factories and mines that are supplying to them? Providing transparency is not sufficient to call something „fair,“ but it is definitely an essential step. So please keep fingers crossed that we are successful in this challenging problem.
After having gained transparency, we will have to find a reliable partner to audit the factory during the production process. But it’s not only that company that has to be monitored. Please have a look at our picture of a dismantled, open cable.
[IMG]https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kabel_offen-1024x471.jpg[/IMG]
All single parts are produced in certain factories which we need to check. These factories are again supplied with raw materials, eg. copper and tin, the origin of which we need to find out before we can check conditions there.
That is for the cable. We will repeat this process for all components we use, one by one, further down the supply chain. However, we know the way to perfection is always long, so we can enjoy every single step on this journey!
