Global procurement

Once again global procurement has hit the headlines as yet another fire in a clothing factory in Bangladesh claims the lives of workers.  The media make much of so called ‘Western’ companies buying cheap and thus apparently endangering the lives of workers.   In my view it’s not the global buying model that is broken but the lack of care and on-going attention given by the buyers to the status and functioning of the company from which they are going to buy.   

No brand does well out of media stories that it buys cheap clothes at the expense of peoples’ lives.   Written assurances are one thing but nothing beats unscheduled site visits for getting at the truth of the situation.

Is it really true that ‘Western’ buyers or the companies that they work for are so into penny pinching that they will not fund proper global procurement and prefer to take the risk that the next disaster will not implicate their brand?



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