When I booked my trip to China a few months ago, there were several things on my "to do" list, but none of them was more important than to somehow find my way in to a sports apparel production factory. Like many of you, I have heard countless stories about the factories used by Nike, adidas and other sports apparel companies to manufacture product. I've been sent press releases by these same companies telling me how much better the conditions have become. But it was very important for me to see a factory with my own eyes and to dig for information that would answer some of the questions I've always had.

Last week when I was in China, I was able to gain incredible access to a factory in China. The tour I was taken on was eye opening and insightful. Because I was granted such incredible access, I will not identify the factory representative who took me on my tour and I will also not identity the particular factory I toured. I can assure you though that I toured a factory that manufactures product for several of the world's leading sports apparel brands.

Let me start at the beginning. There are many labor factories in China and the main reason U.S. companies use Chinese labor is because it is much less expensive than the labor they would find in most any country around the world.

In Shanghai, the minimum wage for a factory worker is approximately $110.00 (U.S.) per month based on a 6-day a week, 60-hour per week work. If you're doing the math, that equates to a little less than $5 per day or based on a 9.5 hour work day it equates to about .50 cents an hour (U.S.). The factory I toured pays its workers an average monthly wage of $275.00 (U.S) per month based on a 6-day a week, 60-hour per week work schedule. So the workers at the factory I visited earn about $9.16 per day or a little over $1.00 per hour. Its important to point out that the factory workers are on a piece schedule and not an hourly schedule. In other words, if they produce the designated pieces for a certain week in under 60 hours, than they go home early. On the flip side, if it takes them 80 hours to reach their goal, then they work more hours that week. The factory is closed on Sunday.

The average turnover rate for the factory I visited is 60%. When a worker is hired, she/he is not allowed to work in the main factory until she/he has worked in a "training" section of the factory for three months. During this training period the typical factory worker will either quit because she/he can't meet the strict standards of the factory or the worker will be asked to leave.

The standards for the articles being produced at the factory I visited were beyond anything I could have ever imagined. These workers take enormous pride in their work - right down to every last stitch. Cynics would say they take such pride because they are scared to death of losing their job, but after what I observed, I think the Chinese workers are very hard working and eager to please. And here was one of the most surprising things of all.......there are many Chinese laborers that are eager to work at sports apparel factories. For the workers skilled enough to perform these tasks, factory jobs are seen as stable and competitive in pay.

Now that you know what a typical factory worker in China earns, let's move on to the labor conditions in the factory - a controversial topic the sports apparel companies have faced for most of the past decade.

Honestly, my initial reaction when I first walked in the door at the factory I visited was that I was pleasantly surprised. When I entered the main building of the factory there were 16 tables in front of me with about 20 workers on each side of each table. There is air conditioning being pumped in to the factory (the generator bill for the factory I visited averages $10,000.00 (U.S.) per month so this is one of the factory's biggest expenses). Its worth noting that many of the overseas factories have been dubbed "sweatshops". The factory representative I spoke with said its of the utmost importance that the workers don't sweat though because even one drop of sweat on a piece of apparel could taint the entire line and cause the line to have to be discarded. So the factory will go to great lengths to make sure the workers DON'T sweat.

In addition to having a very delicate job with stitching, sewing, waterproofing or putting zippers on articles of clothing, each worker faces the pressure of being part of a production line. If one member of the production line makes a mistake, it effects the entire line. And because the factory I visited is trying to produce over half a million pieces per year, time is money. Whether its a mistake or someone needing to stop to use the bathroom, the slightest delay with the production line can cause big problems for the factory.

One of the things I was most interested in discovering on my factory visit was the reportedly improved work conditions that companies like Nike are touting. In April of 2005, Nike released a 108-page report which reviewed everything from initiatives on the environment to employee diversity and factory conditions for the more than 650,000 workers that make Nike-brand products. The report addressed issues ranging from how the company chooses factories to how much organic cotton is used in a Nike brand garment. The corporate responsibility report listed more than 700 contract factories around the world that manufacture its footwear, apparel and equipment. The report was seen as a major step toward workplace transparency by a company that had long been criticized for its factory standards.

The fascinating thing I discovered though was that the sports apparel companies aren't the one's paying for the improved work conditions - the factory owners are. And if the factory owner declines to absorb the additional expenses of improving the conditions at the factory? The leading sports apparel brands take their business to a factory that will comply. And more times than not the factory owners can't afford to let a leading sports apparel brand take their orders elsewhere, so they have no choice but to comply....no matter what the cost. The other interesting thing to note is that most factories manufacture product for several different companies. So for example, if Nike demands improved work conditions for factory workers, adidas and the other companies who have product manufactured at that particular factory are along for the ride. The factory representative I spoke with told me that its very difficult to manage the different standards of multiple brands. There is talk of the various brands coming together to create a uniform policy so there aren't four or five different policies at one factory, but that has yet to happen.

What do these tougher policies for the factories mean? Because the factory owner has more expenses for improved conditions for the workers, he's pushing his work force to produce more apparel to cover his added costs. Which puts even more pressure on the workforce. So in a roundabout way, while the workers have ample conditions to work in, they are being pushed to produce more orders than ever before.

The challenge is that humans are operating the sewing equipment and can only get the equipment to move so fast. One broken needle and an entire production line goes down. (When someone has a broken needle, they are to immediately notify a supervisor who not only replaces the needle, but also inspects the apparel line that may have been affected by poor stitching. If even one stitch is out of place, the article of clothing must be repaired perfectly and if it can't be repaired it is discarded so it never sees the light of day).

I saw a line of high end jackets that looked perfectly fine to me, but because there was a slight problem with the fabric when it appeared in the sunlight, an entire line had to be discarded and couldn't be shipped. The factory ended up billing the fabric supplier for the mistake, but time was lost and an order was late. Again, I can't stress to you enough how high the product standards are for these factories. Even the slightest stitch out of place could cause an entire line to be discarded.

When a product design is brought in to a factory, there is an elite team of the factory's most skilled workers that first review the design. This elite team then figures out the most efficient way to produce the line per the design. Once the elite team has mastered the most efficient production plan, the plan is then passed along to the main production floor where the main production team then produces the product. Its interesting to note that there is approximately a 6-month span from the time a product is designed to the time the product is produced and ready to ship from the factory to retail. So if a sports apparel brand is wanting to get a particular product to retail for a certain season, they need to keep this timeline in mind.

Once the products are produced, they are tagged and put in to airtight bags for shipping. Most of the factories are located near major airports so that the product can be shipped quickly.

A few other things I saw worth pointing out:

- At the factory I visited there is a locked suggestion box. The only person with the key is the factory owner. Workers are encouraged to submit their thoughts on everything from how to improve a certain process to letting the owner know if a co-worker isn't pulling his/her weight in the production line.

- Each worker has a designated number of work tools. Most workers tie their delicate tools to their sewing machine. There are random inspections done and if a worker passes the inspection he/she can earn a bonus of up to 60 RMB (about $9.00 U.S.). If a worker fails an inspection twice in a month, they are fired.

- The factory I visited relies solely on human beings to produce its apparel. There were no computerized/automatic machines that I saw. The fabrics are all handcut. Its also worth noting that the sports apparel company selects all of the suppliers for the items they are having produced - from the fabric to the trim to the zippers. Thus, the factory must work with the materials the sports apparel brands designate.

So what were my overall thoughts of my first visit to a sports apparel factory? I'm torn. You see, its all relative. By Chinese standards, workers who earn $1.00 an hour are actually fairly compensated. But when you try to explain earning a dollar an hour and working 60 hours a week with maybe one or two breaks per day to use the bathroom or have something to eat to those of us living in Western civilization, most people are appalled. While I was pleasantly surprised to see that the conditions in the factory I visited were humane, it also saddens me to think that anyone spends 9.5 hours per week, 6 days a week cranking out sports apparel product with tremendous amounts of pressure to succeed. One stitch out of place and you've got your supervisor and your production line of co-workers staring at you. That's not exactly how I'd want to live my life, but again, to many Chinese workers, a stable job with air conditioning being piped in is better than working in the fields sweating all day or towing heavy goods on the back of your bike for miles and miles.

The sports apparel brands need to continue to monitor the conditions at these factories very closely in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, its great that these companies are holding the factories manufacturing their product to improved work conditions, but because the factory owners have to make up the increased costs somehow, they are demanding that their workers produce more than ever. So at the end of the day, how much is the average factory worker really benefitting? Maybe there is a way that the sports apparel companies can kick in for some of the costs for improved work conditions. Then the demand on the workers wouldn't be as high as the factory owners won't be pushing them as hard to make up for increased costs associated with improved work conditions. I also think the sports apparel companies need to create uniform standards for the ethical treatment of workers. Then you won't have one factory trying to implement four different policies from four different companies.

As far as what these factories and products are doing to the environment? I honestly couldn't tell you but I would bet its certainly not adding to the quality of the air. The pollution in China is miserable. Think of San Francisco on a foggy day with visibility being limited to about 50 yards. That's what the air looks like in China. Except its not fog. Its pollution. One can only assume that the people breathing this air are taking years off of their lives. Its so bad over there that I honestly don't know if anything that is done today can undo what's already been done. I imagine it would take years if not decades to clean up the air in China. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the sports apparel companies shouldn't strive to produce product that isn't harming the environment, but as far as the air quality around these factories goes, I think that might be a battle that we won't see won during our lifetime. And with the construction boom we're currently witnessing in China, there will only be more chemicals and pollution in the years to come.

I am happy I was able to visit a factory and see the conditions with my own two eyes. Now when I talk about this subject on Sports Business Radio, I will do so from a much more informed viewpoint. I will also be much more thoughtful as a consumer now when I buy a pair of shoes, wear a piece of sports apparel or tote a gym bag. I'll remember the people I saw at the factory in China and all of the hard work that went in to producing the piece I am using.