The Apple Supplier Responsibility program was developed to ensure that the company’s global supply chain is managed in an ethical and socially responsible manner. The guiding document of the Apple Supplier Responsibility program is the Supplier Code of Conduct, which outlines Apple’s ethical standards for the manufacture of their products.
InTouch compliance auditors will evaluate your suppliers based on the exact same criteria used by Apple’s own inspectors. Wherever non-compliance is observed, InTouch will assist your suppliers to establish and maintain Apple’s ethical guidelines in areas such as:
Apple Labor RelationsThe Apple Supplier Code of Conduct strictly prohibits the use of any form of slave, forced, bonded, indentured, or prison labor, as well as underage labor. Furthermore, no supplier or subcontractor may require employees to surrender identification or work permits at any time. InTouch compliance auditors are adept at determining the presence and severity of such ethical infractions during thorough factory audits and individual employee interviews. In order to ensure adherence to Apple’s Code, InTouch auditors will work with your suppliers and subcontractors to restructure their workforce as well as return withheld documentation to employees.
Employee safety is of top concern, and a number of provisions in the Supplier Code of Conduct require that workplace safety standards are upheld. Apple requires that physical hazards are mitigated through the use of physical guards, interlocks, and barriers where possible; that exposure to hazardous chemical, biological, and physical agents is eliminated or minimized through the use of closed systems and proper ventilation, and that all employees receive free access to personal protective gear at all times.
During factory audits, InTouch compliance auditors will identify the presence and maintenance of all required safety equipment and systems.
Where this equipment is lacking or poorly maintained, or employees are not adequately trained to use them, InTouch will coordinate with you suppliers to encourage their installation and education of employees.
In order to minimize the impact of the manufacture of Apple products, the Apple Supplier Code of Conduct specifically addresses environmental concerns. According to the Code, all suppliers and subcontractors must abide by applicable laws 
concerning the safe handling, movement, storage, recycling, reuse, and disposal of hazardous materials. Likewise, suppliers are required to monitor, control, and treat air emissions of volatile organic chemicals, aerosols, corrosives, particulates, and ozone-depleting chemicals before discharging them in accordance with applicable laws.
Finally, Apple suppliers must obtain and keep current all required environmental permits for their operations. InTouch compliance auditors will identify unsustainable practices that can damage the environment, as well as verify the legitimacy and currency of all waste disposal records and permits during each audit. If environmental infractions are discovered, InTouch auditors will work closely with your suppliers to discontinue the unsustainable methods of waste disposal, and implement environmental best practices for the handling of these materials.
The Apple Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers and subcontractors to maintain the same level of business integrity as Apple itself. This strictly prohibits all forms of corruption, embezzlement, extortion, and bribery, as well as the forging, destruction, or withholding of business records. Thorough record auditing allows InTouch compliance auditors to identify financial discrepancies that may signal unethical business practices prohibited by the Supplier Code of Conduct. If such behavior is identified, our compliance auditors will work to educate your suppliers about, and implement, record keeping best practices to eliminate such behavior.
You guys are quite efficient in making sure that you are in constant communication with our vendors to set up a time and day to have inspections handled... InTouch definitely pushed to make sure that inspections would be done in a timely manner. Any corrective actions that had to take place were executed well before the exit factory date.
Ron Eclarinal
Director of Production, Betabrand
Since InTouch does a more detailed inspection than what we had depended on with the factories, the quality of the products has improved. Where before when we might find 25 AQL defects, now it's down to three or four,because the factory knows that we want that cut back and InTouch is going to find it.
Deb Choate
Administrative Assistant, Linstol
InTouch’s auditing reduced the level of risk, whether known or unknown, to our company. From the audit findings provided by InTouch, we were much more equipped to make the correct business decision with regard to an acceptable level of risk. The InTouch audit secured our decision making process.
Jerry Davis
Vice President of Purchasing, MJS Packaging
One of our customers had been through multiple suppliers year after year and had been let down with returns and rejections. With InTouch as our eyes and ears on the ground, we retained that business for 5 years without one single rejection or complaint.
Nick Rivera
Director of Operations, MMI Textiles
The speed that we get the reports is always good. We had an experience with some other inspectors where we had to wait an extra day to get the reports. Getting the report as soon as we can is very important, so we can make a decision and give feedback back to the factory.
Denis O'Mahony
Operations and Engineering Manager, Juku Gear
From beginning to end, InTouch is so easy to work with. The inspection report is literally there the next morning when I come into work. It really makes my job easier.
Nicole Thoma
Inside Sales Specialist, MJS Packaging
