Invisible Links of Global Supply Chains: Dealing with Unauthorized Subcontracting

Invisible Links of Global Supply Chains: Dealing with Unauthorized SubcontractingThe risks posed by unauthorized subcontracting in the consumer goods industryWhy suppliers resort to unauthorized subcontractingBest practices to achieve greater transparency and continuous improvement in your supply chainUnauthorized Subcontracting: the Plague of Global SourcingDespite the progress in sustainable sourcing made by major brands and retailers in the past decade, the consumer goods industry is still rife with cases of unauthorized subcontracting, where the contracted manufacturer outsources parts of, or even whole orders, from a factory that isn’t formally a part of the buyer’s supply chain. Such facilities are often informal, unregistered, and with working conditions ranging from substandard to unsafe, abusive, and illegal.In addition to causing obvious harm to the workers, unauthorized subcontracting can be a very painful issue for the buyers. On one hand, it creates the image of a brand that fails to scrutinize its supply chain; on the other, a business a company that cannot ensure that its products are actually produced in the approved factories is essentially throwing away its CSR budget.The reasons behind unauthorized subcontractingWhile unauthorized subcontracting is a global problem, and each country affected by it has a unique set of circumstances, from China’s labor shortages to Turkey’s host of refugees, a number of factors notably contribute to the problem:Tight shipping deadlines and high penalties for delaysIntentional overbooking as a standard business practiceCost savingChanging buyer demandsMacro factors, including government policies and positive/negative incentives for certain industriesDownload this whitepaper to discover actionable strategies to significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized subcontracting in your supply chain, increase transparency, and protect your brand reputation.Share this WhitepaperGet WhitepaperBy contacting QIMA you agree to our privacy policy and terms and conditions.