The ILO’ Factory Improvement Programme (FIP) is a multi-supplier training programme for the development of local factories' capacity in industrial relations, health and safety and working conditions, linking to areas of productivity and quality. The programme involves groups of six to twelve factories for a six to nine month training and factory-level consulting / improvement programme. Short training sessions for each module are followed by factory visits and consulting in the specific needs of individual factories.

Facts and figures

• In 2002, the ILO developed the Factory Improvement Programme (FIP) in order to help medium and large companies increase competitiveness, strengthen workplace cooperation and improve working conditions.
• The FIP has been successfully implemented, with support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Cooperation and the US Department of Labour, in Sri Lankan export oriented garment factories since 2002 and in medium-large factories from various industry sectors in Vietnam in 2004–07. As a result of lessons learned, the FIP project was modified to suit micro and small enterprises, in particular the auto-component industry in the northern industrial belt in Faridabad, India.
• The ILO implemented the programme in Faridabad between November 2006 and December 2007 in cooperation with the Faridabad Small Industries Association (FSIA) who was responsible for the overall implementation of FIP.
• Two SME sub-sectors were selected within the auto-component sector: light engineering and electroplating.
• In the light engineering cluster, small to medium units, primarily owner managed and employed between 15 – 35 people had very flat management structures.
• In the electroplating sector units were all small to micro-enterprises with between five and 35 employees. All the electroplating units were owner managed but mostly lacking any management functions. 16 light engineering factories and 15 electroplating factories participated in the programme.
• Seven module experts and three service providers delivered technical contents of the programme.
• Two awareness raising programmes were conducted. One on HIV/AIDS and disability in workplace and the other on elimination of child labour.
• A National Conference was organized in August 2007 in which the Union Minister for Labour and the Chief Minister of Haryana participated.
• Capacity building and involvement of FSIA staff was an integral part of the programme, so as to ensure sustainability of the key objectives. As a part of it, president of FSIA participated in the foundation course on workplace practices at the ILO’s International Training Centre – Turin.