CorpComms Magazine

Don't apples come from trees?

The ones that you eat, sure. But I am talking about the technology giant Apple which has published its first ever supply chain report. 

Doesn't sound terribly appetising. What on earth goes into a supply chain report?

It is a record of all of the people and organisations involved in making Apple's products from iPhones to alarm clocks. 

But why is the supply chain such a big deal?

Apple has come under fire due to criticisms over how some workers are treated in factories run by its suppliers. Many of the components that make up Apple's products are made in China and South East Asia and sometimes in countries with questionable working conditions. These criticisms reached fever pitch last year when a number of Chinese workers  were reported to have committed suicide in factories owned by its supplier, Foxconn. 

What did Apple do about it?

Apple said it conducted more than 200 audits of factories last year to ensure proper working conditions for employees working for their suppliers. They only conducted 39 in 2007 so this is a massive increase. 

What did they find out?

Amongst other things, Apple's auditors found 24 facilities were conducting pregnancy tests on workers. It also found that at 90 facilities workers had worked more than six consecutive days a month and five facilities had cases of underage labour. Apple says it has taken action against these and other facilities that had infringed their Code of Conduct.

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