We do not own any factories, but we put a great deal of work into ensuring that the factories we collaborate with follow our requirements concerning environmental issues and working conditions.

We are members of amfori BSCI, Business Social Compliance Initiative. Effectively, it’s a Code of Conduct that all the factories we collaborate with must sign. Amfori BSCI audits are conducted at the factories on behalf of the amfori BSCI members.

Read more about the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct here

Audits at the factories 
In our audit programme, we focus on our top 100 suppliers as they take up 80% of everything we buy measured according to turnover. At the moment, we require from our top 25 that they have amfori BSCI audits conducted. The rest of our suppliers are audited based on a DK Company audit which is built around a set of stairs, where each step is an audit with a specific subject. Between each step, we conduct training to enable progress towards the next step.

First, we make health and safety audits to ensure the safety of the workers, then we conduct training in management systems, making sure that the factories maintain the health and safety standard. Subsequently (step 2), we audit the management systems to ensure that they have been effectively implemented.

Step 3 is environmental audits, making sure the factories comply with our strict environmental rules and provide them with training in specific elements such as wastewater treatment procedures. Next step is working hours and salary, before which they receive training in production planning and productivity. At this stage, the factories are also required to fill in a questionnaire regarding their cooperation with DK Company, and how we can improve for them to improve on the issues related to compensation and working hours. The final step concerns "soft issues" that are also important, but difficult to detect at audits, such as harassment.

We need to underline that we do not take any of these steps lightly. However, one step must be in place, before the factory moves on to the next step on the ladder. The health of the workers in the factories is of utmost importance to us, and the factories must first of all be a safe place to work.

Traceability 
We want to make a real difference in our industry, so we must know the route our products are travelling from fibre to shop. Right now we have mapped our supply chain to factory level – i.e. where they sow the garment, in some cases, we have mapped where the main fabric comes from. We aim to get a more transparent supply chain and eventually be able to map our products to the origins of the raw materials. It is a long road to travel, but we are proud to have taken the first steps.

Traceability is linked to transparency and we want to be more transparent about our suppliers, our work with the supplier factories and how we tackle the challenges and opportunities we come upon in our supply chain.

Education and training
We believe in dialogue, training and monitoring rather than excluding factories at the first find that does not meet our standards. This is why education and training of our suppliers is an essential focal point in our sustainability work.

As an example, we have seminars for our suppliers with training in our chemical restrictions. The seminars include a thorough examination of all chemicals on the list, why each chemical is banned or restricted, how they may enter the production process and why they are harmful. Furthermore, we train our colleagues in Denmark and at the sourcing offices around the world in our CSR policy, what their role is and how they can think twice.

Read more here.