Corporate Social Responsibility Report - KappAhl

SECTION 4 PRODUCTION
“Guide paves our way to good production”
We are particular that the clothes we sell
are as environmentally and human friendly
as possible. To ensure this and also
guarantee high quality of the garments and
the production process in other respects
we have prepared two production
manuals, which our suppliers undertake to
follow.
All products in our stores meet strict quality
requirements. We have detailed instructions
and directions that the suppliers must follow.
This is an area in which we have worked for
many years. We impose clear requirements
for example regarding chemicals, both in the
garments themselves and at the manufacturing
stage. The requirements and subsequent
controls also guarantee compliance with child
safety and other physical requirements.
To help us we have two manuals which
our suppliers undertake to follow: The Test
and Manufacturing Guide (TMG) and the
Production Assurance Instruction (PAI). The
TMG includes a list of forbidden or regulated
chemicals in our garments, physical requirements
for the garments and safety of children’s
clothes. In addition, in 2010 we
launched the PAI, which complements the
TMG. The ambition is that both the TMG
and the PAI should be simple to use. so they
are instructional in design and all employees
who work with quality monitoring at the
production offices are trained in using the
documents.
CONTROLS AT SEVERAL STAGES
We carry out careful production controls to
discover faults as early as possible. The controls
are made both by ourselves and by external
independent laboratories at several stages.
First and foremost, at least two inspections
per order are made by our quality organisation
on site in the production countries. On
these occasions we examine whether the garments
are correctly manufactured in accordance
with our instructions, before production
can start. The garments are then tested
by an external, independent laboratory,
which ensures that the garments stand up to
washing and wearing. If everything is in
order thus far a random sample is taken,
which is sent for external control for chemicals
in accordance with our “No Risk” project.
THE NUMBER OF CONTROLS PER
FACTORY VARIES
The number of quality controls per factory
depends on how many orders we place with
them. Since we carry out two inspections per
order we have quality assurance managers in
place most of the time at our large suppliers,
while some smaller suppliers are only visited
a few times a year.
The quality controls give good results.
The complaint rate from customers is now
less than 1 per cent. Garments that are not
approved in the factory may not be delivered
and must be dealt with by the supplier.
Pattern handling for
reduced transport and
lead times
In 2010 we started a project to increase
the proportion of our own pattern construction.
By moving the process home
we ensure correct fitting and save a lot
of time and transportation of samples
between us and the supplier.
This is where our fashion
is produced
We design all our garments ourselves, but we
buy the production itself from about 250
suppliers. About 30 producers supply about
60 per cent of the total volume. Most purchases
are made in Asia. Over 80 per cent of
the garments come from there. The rest is
produced in Europe. Purchases and deliveries
are co-ordinated at our head office, which
cooperates closely with the company’s
offices in the countries of production. We
have a total of 8 production offices in Asia
and Europe: one in Bangladesh, two in India,
three in China and one each in Lithuania and
Turkey.
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