factory visits

A really interesting aspect of my job are the factory visits in China.
I have always liked to broaden my horizons, and to say the least the factory visits indeed do. On different levels.

First of all it's always interesting to see different kinds of production. To get an insight in how things like: dolls, cars, markers and crayons, green slime, cosmetics, paper boxes, clothes, plastic things, metal things and so on actually are made. How much effort and detail are put into everything. How labor intense the manufacturing are and how much people these factories "swallow".

The most obvious aspect however is of course the people and the conditions they work in.
Now the factories my company source from are regarded as good factories. Still, it's more common than uncommon that you walk into, not rooms but, halls filled to the maximum of people sitting in line after line executing extremely monotonous work. There is no talking, no smiling and as I walk by they don't even dare to look up. Coffee breaks are most likely something they never have heard of, and they are being pushed to produce like if they were machines. And all this is done to a salary that you and I wouldn't even call pocket money...

It's a real eye opener, that's for sure. And as always it makes me feel like the white slave driver. Not a nice feeling at all...