See how "Silk Cube" easily enters the international market

How Silk Cube Textile Co., Ltd. grew from a small workshop to a supplier of global retail giants, and then to an "operator" of its own brands.

Treating employees well is often favored by international buyers

The predecessor of "Silk Cube" was a clothing factory with only 50 people, relying on processing for others to get business. According to the chairman Lu Yunhua, "As long as there is clothing and textile processing work, I will rush to do it. To be honest, I have made curtain fabrics used by other companies."

This is not a long-term solution. Lu Yunhua, who once worked in a foreign trade unit in Wujiang, understood that if an enterprise wants to develop on a large scale, it cannot do so by doing small things. After initial accumulation, it must look for big customers and "strike gold" in the international market.

"To enter the international market, you must follow the international rules of the game." Lu Yunhua is well versed in foreign trade: foreign distributors attach great importance to the quality and reputation of their products. In order to avoid damage to their own interests, they will conduct regular or irregular audits on processing factories, that is, factory inspections. Only if the audit is qualified and the factory inspection is passed will the order be issued; if the factory inspection fails, the order will be cancelled. The most common factory inspection is the WRAP factory inspection - the global social responsibility verification of clothing production.

The essence of factory inspection is to test whether the enterprise can treat employees well. The factory inspection procedure is very strict, and the review content includes safe and healthy working environment, no forced or compulsory labor, no discrimination, reasonable working hours and supermarket working hours, fair wages, no child labor, products of the country of origin, etc. During the factory inspection, the other party will not notify in advance, but conduct surprise inspections, and to understand the situation, they will also conduct secret interviews with employees, one-on-one or in groups, and ask about relevant situations.

In late March this year, the head of Carter's, the largest children's clothing brand in the United States, came to "Silk Cube" for inspection and put forward more stringent requirements. For example, when the products are packed in containers, photos must be taken throughout the process for archiving, and detailed records must be kept of the front, left, right, top and bottom of the container. Every piece of children's clothing exported must be inspected by a needle detector to prevent broken needles from being left in the clothing. If a broken needle occurs, it must be restored and saved and recorded in the file. Because once a clothing injury accident occurs in the United States, American suppliers will face huge claims.

"Silk Cube" has passed the Target, WRAP, and Carter's factory inspections. The benefits of such strict certifications are obvious to the company, as it can obtain orders from the international market. Lu Yunhua said that in recent years, the risks of foreign trade in clothing are very high, and many small and medium-sized clothing factories in the surrounding area have closed down due to reduced orders. However, because "Silk Cube" has passed the qualification certification and obtained the golden signboard of the international procurement market, it has been favored by international buyers and has never worried about orders. "This year's orders have been scheduled until the second half of the year."

The reason why "Silk Cube" was able to successfully pass the qualification certification of international buyers is that it has been persistent in treating its employees well and regards it as the foundation of the company. Over the years, "Silk Cube" has paid wages every month without a single day of arrears; the company's employee dormitories are fully equipped with bathrooms and air conditioners; and the employees' holidays are fully guaranteed.

"We will not accept orders desperately to make money and ask workers to work overtime, because the company will be the victim in the end." Lu Yunhua said. Since the beginning of this year, there has been a "labor shortage" in various places, but the labor contradiction of "Silk Cube" is not prominent. The reason is that the company has always insisted on treating employees well, which has become the best way to retain employees.

Attaching importance to social responsibility and treating employees well have enabled "Silk Cube" to successfully pass the international factory inspection and certification, and also opened a green channel for the company to win international orders. "Silk Cube" has thus entered a period of healthy development, and the scale of the factory has continued to expand. It now has nearly a thousand employees and can produce more than 30,000 pieces of various garments a day.