Passion that began on the factory floor
By Stella Bray on February 27, 2012 2 comments
I was still a teenager when I started working in sewing factories. I quickly learned what it is like to be that worker whose life is affected by decisions made by entities running factories, and I lost more than a few jobs when I complained about conditions.
Today, my job is to make sure that the factories and suppliers that Walmart sources from operate responsibly and adhere to the highest standards. For me, this is a personal as well as a professional commitment. Not many retailers and suppliers know what is happening in the factories they source from, but they should. Accountability requires awareness and education – and that’s how our Supplier Development Program began.
Walmart has long audited factories to monitor working conditions, but two years ago we began to send in our own teams to analyze businesses and work with our key suppliers and factories to help them develop plans to improve efficiency and conditions. Our teams lead factories through a process that takes up to a year – and we don’t do it alone. We require that both the suppliers and the factories they use work side by side, so that the learning is sustained and everyone is accountable and committed.
Environmental management is an important part of the program, so we determine how a factory can save water, conserve energy, better manage chemicals and much more. We recently completed a plan for Ramesh Flowers in India – a company we’ve worked with for more than 10 years – and they took our recommendations and ran with them.
Ramesh Flowers manufactures potpourri, bouquets and dried flowers and now creates no waste at its factories in Tuticorin and Tamil Nadu, where they have more than 1,000 employees. They now recycle waste into other products and have another market for their business. They have also decreased water usage by 36 percent, use solar water heating, train all employees on living sustainably and have assigned 15 percent of their land to green-belt development.
This Supplier Development Program, developed with the help of the nonprofit Verité and outside experts, is unique in our industry. As someone who started off in my career on the factory floor, it is gratifying to see so many people working together – and doing the right thing.
Loading ...
Subscribe to The Green Room
1.
Alicia | March 25, 2012 at 5:25 pm
I read the story, I believe in helping other countries, but why don’t Walmart try to bring our factories back to the United States. I can remember when only products that were made in the US was sold at Walmart. Walmart could help the economy if this was true at this time. Maybe not 100% but at least 75%. Walmart is one of the biggest companies in the world they could enforce the buyers to look to the Companies in the US and help by giving the big contracts for products. I also worked in a factory at the age of 17 right after I graduated high school. It was a very good training for me it taught me good working ethics and integrity. I have worked for Walmart since December 2006,
2.
Ramesh Panavalli | June 4, 2012 at 6:59 am
I am proud to be associated with the programme. This new approach involves building strong relationships with suppliers around a shared vision for social responsibility and sustainability. Partnerships now look more like a joint venture than a buyer-supplier transaction: both companies work together in achieving a common vision. This partnership approach requires a significant investment of time. And it requires that, instead of demanding compliance, the company works directly with the supplier to educate and train their workforce – ultimately, generating shared values and efficiences in the supply chain