Collaboration
Sumerra firmly believes that collaboration is the key to industry change and improvement, and our team works to help grow the collaborative environment.
Organizations can improve individually — but industries change through working collaboratively.
Sumerra understands that incremental changes are occurring within the industry. Factories are improving, however, to see industry-wide transformational growth, Brands, Factories and Licensees must collaborate at a deeper level, sharing best practices in order to help the industry improve. Collaboration will create substantial and transformational change within entire industries. This transformational change will drastically improve the worker’s lives and the communities in which they live, all while increasing factory profitability.
Sumerra provides several avenues and programs to assist with creating this collaborative environment. The most visible of those programs is the facilitation of annual Factory Summits. These events bring Brands, Factories and Licensees together with NGOs, Auditors and Governments, providing both networking and educational opportunities.
Another collaborative program organized by Sumerra is the Audit Management Program, in which audits can be shared between different companies, reducing the audit strain on the factories and providing high quality audits.
Sumerra organizes and participates in joint audits, using shared resources from different companies to complete in-depth assessments and occupational exposure assessments at different factories. This allows for multiple companies to work together to save costs while providing guidance to the factory.
In addition, Sumerra hosts and facilitates collaborative working groups focusing on different industry concerns. We organize working meetings and provide support and guidance to these groups as they make progress on different issues. Whether it is water, energy reduction, or other compliance factors, we can facilitate any collaborative effort.