by DeloresVan | Jul 8, 2015 | Made in China?
Our final farewell dinner was a Chinese restaurant called the Lost Heaven. We had a great time laughing and reminiscing about our factory tour.
Brian Dill from Texas and Suzanne Holt from Minneapolis and Me.
Sonya Eckel from South Dakota, Julie Vermette from Winnipeg Canada, Kris Carlson from North Carolina and Pam Altendorf from Minnesota.
The evening highlight for me was an evening stroll on The Bund. What a clear gorgeous night!!
David was an exceptional host. An amazing man who runs the China factory with the highest standard to integrity!
The gorgeous Shanghai skyline!
Our hotel was amazing!
Before we headed for the airport we stopped at a primitive market.
Joyce and Summer, two of our amazing long-term Norwex employees, spent the entire visit with us. They are truly beautiful women. I invited both of them to come to my home in Canada for a visit anytime. These amazing women ensured every detail of our experience was perfect. I am blessed to have met them!
My sweet friend, Summer.
With seven posts on my trip to China, the number is symbolic to me. Seven is the perfect number of completion. As this blog wraps up my amazing trip to China, it is perfectly treasured in my heart. I will carry with me the memories and the impact it has made on me for a life time! I proudly represent Norwex and everything it stands for. Thank you Norwex for this enormous gift!
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I can’t finish the post without sharing my exciting flight home. It was a 9-hour flight and I was at the very back of a huge plane. Directly behind me was a 19-month-old crying baby who was kicking my chair and the mom did not speak english. I had made friends with the flight attendance early in the flight. Everytime she’d walk by she’d say to the lady, “keep your baby in your seat and off her chair.” I didn’t complain, I’d just smile. Then she’d lean over to me and say, “sorry, I’m working on this”. She was juggling a full flight and there were no extra seats. There was a 13-year-old boy the flight attendants warned if he came out of his seat one more time, they’d cuff him. He was trying to open the exit doors. The restroom at the back of the plane was also quarantined because a mom changed a diaper and had a mess smeared all over the floor. My fellow flying passengers had difficulty sitting still for long flights. I could have been at the mall, everyone was up, walking around, pulling out their overhead compartment luggage, stretching with their feet up on the back of chairs. Julie and I actually had to hide our faces and giggled in absolute disbelief of what we were witnessing. The flight attendants were yelling at the passengers (who didn’t speak english) to sit down, while they constantly walked around to close overhead bins. At any given time on this flight, there would be upwards of 7 – 10 bins open, just in the back 1/4 of the plane. So now the flight attendants had graciously moved a traveling pilot to the extra jumper seat in the cockpit to free up a seat in first class for me. How thoughtful! But then the lady in the seat one over from me started vomiting. Not only did she throw up in the back gally where the flight attendants were preparing the meals, but in the restroom, all over the walls and in her seat. This shut down the second washroom at the back of the plane. The exasperated flight attendants ordered the sick woman’s traveling companions to clean up her mess. The Norwex consultant I was traveling with, who was sitting beside the sick lady thankfully got moved to first class. That said, I was now alone at the back with all the craziness. Overhead bins started opening and breathing masks came out; that was the first time in my life I ever wanted one. It was a flight like I have never seen before in my life!
I love to travel and see the world. I am ever grateful to experience new cultures and see new traditions, but after this flight I can say… I am proud to be from North America and I was delighted to be back home!
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
by DeloresVan | Jul 8, 2015 | Made in China?
There is a famous cloth that hangs in the Norwex home office. This is the first cloth that Gerd Doroshuk brought to Canada and showed to her friend Debbie Bolton back in 1999. Gerd had just returned from her trip to Norway visiting her sister. Once Debbie got her hands on that cloth, a dream was born. To quote Debbie,
“My journey with Norwex began in 1999, when my dear friend Gerd introduced me to the power of a red microfiber cloth. Being a passionate, positive person, I couldn’t wait to share it with others. It was ‘just a cloth”, but when we saw what it could do, we immediately understood its potential – especially knowing that it worked using just water. Imagine fewer chemicals in our homes!
Working together, Gerd and I discovered that this little red cloth could make a big difference in not just our homes, but in many homes across North America. It took a bit of courage for us to put our trust in that little red cloth, but we began to purposefully share it with others. We believed in it, we dreamed big and eventually our dream became our destiny – to leave a legacy for each other, for our families and for our world.”
Debbie connected with Bjorn Nicolaisen in Norway and Norwex was born. When I attended my first North American Conference in 2007, the famous framed cloth was there. Here is a picture of Gerd Doroshuk, Tammy Burgardt, Cheryl Moffat and myself.
Once our tour of the factory was complete, with emotion in his voice Eivind Schackt our Norwex Global CEO made an announcement. He wanted to give each of his leaders the opportunity to make their our own Red (aka Pink) EnviroCloth. From start to finish. We were excited to have seen the nine steps and now we were going to do the nine steps and experience the working on the factory floor.
With a partner we unrolled the microfiber, laid it flat and cut it.
Here I am laying the microfiber out… and cutting the strip.
Here we are laying out the fabric for our cloth template.
Then we laid a template out on the fabric and cut our two cloths.
After that, we went to the inspection tables to inspect our fabric for flaws or dye inconsistency. Everything was great. So we moved onto the sewing machines.
Now this was entertaining! I actually screamed when my sewing machine it took off on me. I was the first to attempt sewing. I actually screamed and so did everyone else. It was very comical.
Did I mention, I don’t own a sewing machine and I have never worked on one. So, needless to say they gave me some test fabric to work out the kinks before sewing my actual cloth. Check out my YouTube cleannatural to watch my factory clip.
Albert, who is beside me, is a very long-term employee and manager with Norwex.
After the cloth was sewn and the Norwex tag was attached, I was off to the hot tip table. They wrapped tape around my left finger to press down each corner after we removed the excess seam and sealed it.
Then we did our final inspection and ran it through the metal detector. Well, let’s be honest. One corner of my cloth wasn’t totally square, so my cloth failed the inspection. I was still delighted to take my cloth home!!
David pulled all the factory staff off their machines and introduced us. We cheered for them and they cheered for us. What an amazing group of hard-working Norwex employees.
As we were about to exit the factory floor, I wanted to sit and watch one last worker make a cloth. Savour the moment. This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I thanked the employees for their diligent efforts and for their amazing craftsmanship – delivering an outstanding product.
We were then brought back up to the board room for our final surprise! The idea for us to make the cloths was evidently Eivind Schackt’s idea. He shared with us the significance of the first Red Enviro Cloth framed hanging in the Canadian Norwex home office. Then with excitement and full enthusiasm he declared that each of us had just made history and wanted us to take our own framed Red Enviro Cloth home. Wow, that what an emotional gift!! Thank you Norwex, for your class and generousity!
A treasured gift!
We also received a parting gift: A beautiful rotating ceramic pot, on an engraved base “Factory Tour Norwex China June 2015”.
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
by DeloresVan | Jul 8, 2015 | Made in China?
While we toured the factory, we were first introduced to each office staff employee by name. They worked in offices upstairs and downstairs. They have departments for graphics, IT, finances, logistics and human resources, just to name a few. What I liked the most about this experience was to listen to David Peeters introduce each staff member – by name, one after another. He knew how long they had worked for Norwex and gave informative details about what each department did. It was obvious he had a heart for his employees.
Prior to entering the factory floor, we were all provided hats. Yup, they looked really good, as you can see.
Our tour started in the inventory warehouse.
Then we were taken on a tour of the factory floor. This was so exciting to see first hand. My was so impressed how bright and clean the factory was! I’m dutch, what can I say. These are two attributes I look for in all areas of my life. As we walked in, we saw the newest Norwex machine used for laying out the microfiber. The machine meters out the fabric, while two employees ensure it is smooth with two smoothing rods. Here they are making Blue Enviro Cloths.
The enormous blots of fabric ready to be rolled out. David is explaining the new machine and its capability. As the microfiber is rolled out, two men ensure it is totally flat. They smooth any fine ripples with two rods.
Once the multiple layers of microfiber are laying flat, they are cut with a laser for precision as well as to maximize the material and reduce waste.
This is the laser cutting machine. Once the fabric is all piled, the laser accurately shapes the clothes. The stacks are then removed and transferred for inspection. Above is a plethora of dusting mitts, cut and ready to be sewn.
After the cloths are cut, each and every cloth is handled and inspected on both sides for fiber or colour dye defects. Any slight imperfection and the cloth is immediately rejected. The quality control is so high, one of the employees had to show me why she decided to reject a cloth. Her reason was a very slight variation in the colouring in one corner, something I would not have noticed. Wow, I was impressed. This is a picture of the table the employees stand by to inspect stack after stack of microfiber.
The inspection table.
Once the clothes are rigorously inspected, they are moved onto the sewing machines. Now these ladies can sew! They zip along, up one side and down the other. They sit on nice comfortable pillows, covered in Window Cloth material and they have lots of work space.
Zipping along on their sewing machine!
After each cloth is perfectly sewn, they are passed onto the hot tip station. Each and every cloth is fused with a hot-tipped iron to seal and secure each corner.
Each corner is touched with a hot-tipped iron…. A perfect finished product. One cloth at a time.
Any product that has excess fluff on it, like the Dusting Mit, Bathroom Scrub Mit, Enviro Wand or Car Washing Mitt, is then passed through a vacuum to remove any excessive debris.
Dusting off the dusting mitts.
It is time for a trim! Each and every cloth is handled again for the sole purpose to find any loose strings. With a keen eye and sharp little scissors, each cloth is examined in fine detail for anything that needs to be trimmed.
Trimming up any stray strings.
Each cloth is now given one more inspection by hand. Each piece of microfiber is investigated on each side for approval.
Final hand inspection. This is vigorous. They carefully search for any missed stitch or flaw in the sewing process. To my eye it would look perfect, but their eye is trained to spot the slightest defect.
The final test is that every piece of microfiber is then sent through an x-ray machine. As sewing machines are used for the assembly of each item, the needles can occasionally break, or a tip may chip off without the seamstress knowing. This last step ensures a perfect product for you and I!
WOW!! What a tremendous effort to deliver an amazing product. I don’t know if you were counting, but that is NINE individuals who have touched each microfiber product prior to it leaving the Cut & Sew Factory. Remarkable!!
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
by DeloresVan | Jul 8, 2015 | Made in China?
Visiting the factory, taking a tour and meeting the staff was certainly the highlight of my entire trip. As I toured through the factory I gave the staff Canadian ceramic mugs as thank you gifts. My amazing husband thought I was crazy to pack half of my suitcase filled with heavy cups, but when their eyes lit up with joy to receive a mug, not made in China, covered in red maple leafs… it made it all worth it. Plus, I was strategic, I had room to bring some specials items back home from China!
Norwex certainly has changed a lot in the past 15 years. A questions I am regularly asked, “why are your cloths made in China?”
The answer is:
- Norwex owns their own manufacturing equipment and technology in China where the microfiber is made.
- Norwex has a close relationship with all of their supplying factories and it is a small group to ensure quality.
- Norwex has employees on site with our most important suppliers.
- Norwex owns their own cut and sew factory, which we visited.
- In 1999, the Norwex cloths were made in Sweden. At that time, our cloths contained 1.5 million meters of fiber. This was the highest quality that Sweden could produce. China with their elite training, education and degrees in textiles was able to help Norwex develop a cutting edge cloth with 2.9 million meters of fiber per Enviro Cloth. That is a lot more “micro”fiber per cloth!
- This area of China is famous for their textiles, knitting and dying.
- It is a good location for transportation.
- The city is clean.
- It is a global economic development zone.
How does Norwex treat their employees?
- Norwex is voluntarily apart of the UN Global Compact, that has a commitment to quality working conditions. There are less than 300 companies operating in China who adhere to all of these standards.
- Norwex only deals with other factories who comply to all of the UN Global Compact regulation.
- The factory was air conditioned – thank goodness – because it was warm and humid!
- The factory was brightly lit with big windows.
- The factory was extremely clean, with one employee assigned to dusting the floors constantly.
- Wages are at least 50% higher than the average factory worker in the area.
- Employees were offered the option to either earn overtime or for Norwex to hire a second shift. All of the existing employees choose to work the overtime.
- They are paid 1.5 times over 8 hours on week days, double time on Saturdays and triple time if they work on Sunday. Currently the factory is running Monday through Saturday.
- Employees currently average 2-3 hours overtime per day plus an 8 hour shift on Saturday.
- Vacation pay starts immediately with 6-10 days per year.
- Family Day: Norwex takes all of the employees out for a day of fun and team building.
- A complementary dormitory is available for employees and many go home on the weekend.
- A catering company provides lunch and dinner with five food groups per meal.
- Safety Bonuses: For every 25 work days, a safety bonus is given. Once an employee reaches 250 days, the bonus is then given in 250-day increments.
- Employees receive a 15-minute break every 2 hours with no limits on drink or bathroom breaks. They also receive 30-minute lunch and dinner breaks.
- The factory runs 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Three managers for the Norwex China Factory: David, Albert and May.
Norwex has their own team for Research & Development to maintain their high quality control standards.
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
by DeloresVan | Jul 7, 2015 | Made in China?
Many people are nervous about Chinese food. I saw some food, I would not have eaten, but Norwex treated us like royalty. We ate at the most amazing restaurants.
You can’t visit China without visiting the markets.
The first market we went to was very beautiful!
Even though we live clear across North America, we are Norwex sisters and pioneers.
What an amazing group of ladies!
We visited both Yu Yuan and Xintiandi.
On site were two more Starbucks coffee shops, but this time we walked right by.
We were about to experience a traditional Chinese Tea tasting.
Chinese Tea Experience included: Romeo & Juliet Tea, Green Tea, and the Ceramic Peeing Boys 🙂
Our form of transportation was a nice shuttle. In Shanghai, only the very wealthy own vehicles. A Shanghai license plate costs $50,000 US. The plate alone, typically costs the same or usually more than the actual vehicle. The roads were crowded with bicycles, motorbikes, scooters and mopeds. On one scooter, I saw a mother with her son holding onto her back, and her daughter between her feet on the foot rest. Most citizens travel by bike and for long distances by train.
It is prestigious to live in Shanghai. Joyce, a Norwex employee, lives in the dorm at the factory during the week, but lives in her apartment in Shanghai on the weekends. This is very unusual. Most factory workers only go home for the Chinese New Year when the factory is closed. This is because most factory workers travel a very long distance to work at the factories. Because the Norwex factory closes for Chinese New Year, all of their workers go home to celebrate! This is an example of how excellent Norwex treats their staff. It is typical for factories to loss 40% of their staff, because they don’t return back to work after the celebration. At the Norwex factory 100% of their staff usually returns. Last year, Norwex only had 2 employees not return and one was due to illness.
Norwex treated us to a lovely dinner at an Italian Bella Napoli Restaurant and a night at the Chinese Acrobatics.
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
by DeloresVan | Jul 7, 2015 | Made in China?
China was amazing! It far exceeded my expectations and was definitely a trip of a lifetime. Over the years I’ve heard so much about the Norwex factory in China. Now, I am delighted now to have a first-hand experience, meeting the people who run the factory, seeing the factory with my own eyes, and touching the materials with my own hands. After this experience, I can confidently report that Norwex is making a difference globally. Our products are proudly made in China! Norwex products are the best quality, produced with the highest standards, in the most pristine condition!
My plane landed in Shanghai. My exit off the plane was a good indication for my week to come. Busy! With two rows exiting the plane, I patiently waited for my turn. But without a break in the line up the flight attendant said to me, “Sweetheart you better just push your way into the crowd or you’ll never get anywhere around Shanghai.”
Extreme Hi-density Living
Shanghai is a very beautiful city. The population of Shanghai is over 24 million as compared to 35 million people who live in all of Canada. There were people everywhere! I had always heard that the citizens were only allowed one child. This is partially true. If you are an only child and marry an only child, you may have two. This gives every other generation two children. That said, you always have the option to pay to have more children. To overcome the one-child policy they can pay $130,000 yuan per additional child.
One of the highlights of my trip was meeting Summer and Joyce, two long-term Norwex employees. They met us at the airport and stayed with us for the entire duration of our trip. Their english was very good and it was amazing to connect and learn about their lives and families. Norwex has radically impacted my family and it is amazing to hear how it impacted their families.
We stayed at the Westin Bund Center in Shanghai. This hotel is an iconic for it’s remarkable view of downtown. It is also near the famous Bund waterfront that we walked a number of times!
When we pulled up to the hotel we were greeted by David Peeters- Norwex China Factory Manger and Global Product Development, Debbie Bolton-Norwex North American CSO, Judy Letain-Norwex Canadian CEO and Eivind Schackt-Norwex Global CEO. Eivind shared that when we drove up to the hotels, he was feeling anxious and excited to see the reactions upon our arrival in China. It was amazing!! What a great company that they care so much!! This was a dream come true for our corporate staff too. They were excited to show their top leaders the Norwex factory.
On this trip, I had the privilege of traveling with a number of the top executive leaders from Norwex globally.
Our first experience was walking along The Bund admiring the view of the Huangpu River which they call the Mother River.
Across the river was the beautiful Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the sign of Shanghai as well as the tallest building in China, the Shanghai Jinmao Tower with 118 floors. The skyline on our arrival was overcast and we were unable to see the tops, but to our delight later in our visit, the sky was clear and sunny!
The Bund has 52 different classical reveal buildings including: Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Chinese and Western style. This area is know as the “International Architecture Exhibition Group”.
We had the opportunity to walk The Bund numerous times. One morning we went for a walk in the rain, it was nice to see many people exercising along the river. One memory that will stick with me was watching senior citizens walking backwards while clapping their hands. This is what I learned about the purpose of this exercise: “Walking backwards, or retrowalking, is a form of light exercise that the Chinese have been doing since ancient times. Walking backwards is more tiring than walking forwards, and this will give you a better cardio workout in general. But that’s not the only effect it has: according to
an article published in the North American Journal of Medical Sciences, retrowalking has a positive effect on patients with knee osteoarthritis. And you know who has osteoarthritis? Seniors. That isn’t where the benefits of walking backwards ends. According to a
Dutch study, walking backwards may also sharpen your thinking. And as for the hand-clapping? While the methodical hand-clapping may look silly and resembles a poor man’s chest fly, it does give your arms some exercise to do.”
There were lots of signs which also made us chuckle. No honking, which they do alot. But this had to be the funniest, “Don’t believe the ‘tour guide’ on the road”. If you are visiting China, the locals will always give you directions even if they don’t always know what you are talking about.
I also enjoyed the beautiful flower wall. Shanghai was exceptional clean!!
We also walked up Nan Jing Road. It was very modern area with a couple North American stores. It used to be the only road with North American shopping. At the end of the street was the people’s square, a beautiful green space with gorgeous flowers.
We visited the Shanghai Urban Development Planning Museum. They have a model of the city that is 1/60th the actual size. It was exceptional. The intricacy of every detail in this massive city was displayed and explained. It was amazing to learn about their advancements. There are 10 bridges that cross the Huangpu River and 13 tunnels that run under it. My city doesn’t have that kind of access across the river that runs through it. The growth that Shanghai has experienced in the last 15 year is nothing short of explosive!!
In our exploring of Shanghai we saw many North American stores and products. We were all delighted to stop at Starbucks for our favourite familiar drink!
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.
My sweet friend, Summer.
