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The Factory Improvement Programme (FIP), an initiative of the Management and Corporate Citizenship Programme of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), was launched recently.

The project, a multi-supplier training programme supported by the ILO Colombo Area office, aims to develop the capacity of local managers engaged in the apparel sector and assist factories to meet national and international standards. Sri Lanka was selected to implement the pilot project. Once it is completed, the programme will be implemented in 10 countries.

About 25 factories which were interested in the programme were notified by buyers and brands while others responded to the advertisement. "After the initial assessments were handed in, we visited each factory and selected eight factories," said National Programme Manager FIP Jayantha R. de Silva.

Each of the six modules of the FIP is made up of a two-day seminar and workshop followed by a factory visit by experts together with the locally engaged consultancy firm and the national programme manager. The experts review the self assessment completed by the factory and develop an action plan with the management of the factory to improve the factory and its working environment.

He said the programme is made up of training modules while factory improvement efforts span across a wide range of areas and comply with the labour standards laid down by the ILO.

Director ILO Colombo Area Office Claudia Coenjaerts told the inauguration of the FIP that it is one of the many tools ILO has, to bring or introduce decent work for men and women of Sri Lanka based on the merits of a good working environment. The employer as well as the employee will benefit from the project as it will help companies to become competitive in the global market.

"Decent work as viewed by the ILO has four elements - ensuring sufficient employment opportunities for men and women, workers' rights including respect at work, introducing a safety net in the event the worker does not have employment and adopting the right policies and practices," she added. The first programme in a six-module series was conducted by Richard Atwell of TC 2 USA. The theme of the first module was Management Systems and Achieving Quality Improvement.

Selection criteria

* Size - 200-2000 employees
* Willingness to participate
* Senior management commitment to development and result orientation
* Location - easy access to allow regular visits by experts
* Possibility of expanding practice to sister factories Benefits of the programme
* Combining learning with action
* Factory level learning and real world examples
* Use of experts
* Multiple outputs
* Develop management skills
* Improve standards
* Opportunity to share best practices
* Development of local managers
* Suppliers benefit from meeting buyer requirements
* Factories benefit from increased productivity and quality
* Buyers benefit from better suppliers, meet codes and reduced risks
* Workers benefit from decent work opportunities

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