Identifying Problematic Factories
Stanford University, Spring 2016
Problem Statement
The U.S. Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons( J/TIP) needs a way to assist the private sector in better understanding their labor supply chains in order to identify factories and structures prone to trafficking.
Problem Scoping and Discovery
Students conducted 85 interviews with NGOs, supply chain managers, and factory floor supervisors at various brands.. They learned that most brands don’t have the resources or the expertise to know how to track the problem of improper manufacturing practices. They also learned that many supply chain managers are often unwilling to work with NGOs who do have that expertise out of concerns about costs, trust, and receiving bad media coverage for their company.
Solution Proposed
The students developed a platform called the Marvel App that allows multiple brands to pool resources together to identify and remediate problematic factories in their supply chain. By reducing the cost barrier to entry, the solution incentivize businesses to reduce the use of forced labor and reduce their business with factories with improper working conditions.
