Laundry soap. What can be so fascinating or interesting about soap? Indeed you may be wondering whether or not you want to read a paper about such a banal and everyday product. However, the soap I would like to discuss here is not a brand most of us are likely to be familiar with. In fact, I had never heard of this product until recently. The soap product I am referring to is called SA8® Laundry Concentrate. There are 10 variations #1 of SA8® concentrate produced by the privately held MLM #2 corporation known as Amway #3 . I chose this particular product as it is not only one of Amway's long standing products, but it also continues to be widely marketed wherever Amway operates. As I began to research the process into how SA8® is manufactured, marketed and distributed, I became keenly aware that the amount of information I would be able to glean about this product would be limited. As one begins to trace SA8®, the story that unfolds will not become altogether clear for a variety of reasons (not the least of which likely involves questions of competition and product secrecy). Thus for the moment many of the vital aspects of this story continue to lie hidden in a realm of fog and "mystery."

The story I will attempt to trace out below represents only a small part of the relations involved in this product's "life" in the marketplace. I found some information on SA8® Laundry Concentrate from the Amway Homepage (www.amway.com; proceed to the product section), other additional resources on the Internet and finally some general information on the product from the Amway Corporation itself which they sent me after I e-mailed them in regard to this product.

In beginning my research on SA8® LC, I was struck by the fact that the product seemed to hold a rather prominent place in the Amway Corporation's media texts (videos, catalogs and other printed material). It is presented not only as "The world's finest laundry detergent!" #4 but also as a symbol of Amway's commitment to quality. While employing a surprising and blatant notion of "accepted" gender roles in the household, that aside, the following passage illustrates the importance which "the commitment to quality" narrative is used in presenting the product to potential consumers.

Mom knows that the heart of any laundry system is its detergent. So moms were thrilled when we introduced SA8® Laundry Compound in the early 1960's. Moms have cheered us on with each improvement, and today we can boast of five exceptional versions of laundry detergent. All SA8 LaundryConcentrates are highly concentrated and contain no fillers. They keep whites and colors bright with an anti-graying agent. All contain biodegradable surfactants that rapidly break down to their natural elements--carbon dioxide and water. You'll love them, too. (www.amway.com/amwayusa/products/life/sudsduds/detergnt.htm)

The importance of SA8® LC is further expressed, indeed rather explicitly, in a promotional video where one of the co-founders of Amway, Rich DeVos, states the following as he holds a box of SA8® LC while standing in front of an idle conveyer belt with rows of a boxed SA8® LC product (either SA8® Plus Premium Laundry Concentrate or SA8® Phosphate--Free Laundry Concentrate). He states:

It all began with a simple box of soap. But behind the box of soap is the quality that goes with it so that we could stand on this product and people could come to know and believe in the Amway name. As you look at our many products and services today, just as in the beginning, we stand behind the product. (Rich DeVos. ©Amway, video #L-VA-431C )

This "simple" product, as Rich DeVos stated, is thus imbued with a symbolic power seemingly removed from what the product actually does. The use of the image "standing on your soapbox," while not explicitly stated, is far from what could be called "simple." The imagery and language draw our attention to not only the product, but far more importantly, to what the Amway Corp. itself stands for--its image, its standards, its commitment to quality and the customer, etc. Throughout the various pieces of promotional material the product is consistently presented in like manner, albeit perhaps not as explicitly. This begs the question of what is in fact being marketed ?#5 At root, this product seems to be about a much more fundamental question--ideology. The product has become, in a sense, irrelevant. What appears more critical is what this product is able to convey about Amway and what it is they stand for and represent.

Nevertheless, as I began to look for information on how the soap was actually produced, who was involved in its production, where did the raw materials come from, etc. I ran into an area where clear answers were few and far between. When I contacted the Amway Corporation itself I was kindly and speedily given the following narrative about SA8® LC production. I shall call this the "Official Amway Story Line."

Hi Samuel,

Some general information which I can tell you about the production of our SA8 laundry detergent is:

Our raw materials arrive by train and truck. However, we do not release who our suppliers are. Once they arrive they are inspected by our Quality Assurance staff. All of our detergents are produced at our facilities in Ada, MI. Once production is finished, the product is again inspected by our QA staff.Once the product has been produced, it is sent to our central warehouse. From there it is shipped via truck from Ada to one of our 10 Service Centers. From the Service Centers it is then shipped to our distributors and their customers . #6

While this narrative does provide some basic information about the process, there is no information about where the raw materials come from and very little information about who is involved in the process of SA8® LC production. However, in looking through Amway's own homepage I discovered there, interlaced among the various narratives and descriptions, hints of the production process. It is from these sources that I have attempted to trace a story of SA8® LC production. Nevertheless, as was noted earlier, this is far from a complete outline of the production process, limited by the lack of information on many aspects of production.

As I was unable to acquire any information regarding where the raw materials originated from or indeed who Amway's suppliers were, I will begin the production process with the trains and trucks which deliver the raw materials #8 necessary to the production of SA8® LC. While the trucks enter the factory through the public highways and roads, the trains enter the factory on a special line which cuts off from the main Grand Trunk Western Railroad line #9 . The trains deliver the raw materials which will be used to make not only SA8® LC but also many of the other products produced at the Amway Corporation's World Headquarters in Ada, MI. According to Amway's Homepage "It takes more than 1,560 railroad cars to deliver the bulk raw liquid, powder, and plastic materials [all of which remain presently "cloaked"] used every year in Amway World Headquarters manufacturing operations"#10. These materials are inspected on arrival by the staff of the Quality Assurance Department #11. One of the machines that Quality Assurance uses is the Gradex*2000 #12 .

[The Gradex*2000] automatically performs the analysis ["...analyzing and calculating the dimensions and weight of particles in Amway's various powder products." (same page)] and transfers results to Amway's central computer for use by Amway technicians. Uniformity in particle size is important because the particles mix best when they're similar in size. Quality Assurance analyzes particles every day to ensure uniformity in all of our products . #13

The materials related to SA8® LC are then sent to the Powder Manufacturing Department. It is arguably here where SA8® LC is "comes to life," so to speak, from the various raw materials that will make up SA8® Laundry Concentrate. From all that I could gather this stage of the manufacturing process, as well as others, is highly automated. For example, there is a relatively small number of people working in this department (123 employees). During this part of SA8® LC production a X-Rite* Colorimeter#14 is used by the Powder Department. This machine "...ensures [that] the color appearance of all powder products and bar soaps are consistent, using definitive computer analysis" #15. Amway has the following to say about the Powder department in general:

Amway employees, on average, produce 500,000 lbs. of product each day. They make 10 variations of SA8 ® Laundry Concentrate, along with 17 other powdered products for shipment around the world. In 1994, 123 employees produced 115 million pounds of powdered products at a rate of 6lb. units [SA8® LC is packaged in this unit size] per minute . #16

Throughout this process, and indeed across the entire operation, it is important to note that there are likely many other relationships and connections with various other departments of the Amway organization. While there is some information available from Amway on their homepage, a myriad of questions regarding the relationships around production remain unanswered. What kind of capital investments has the company made?#17 How many employees are there in the various department or areas of the factory?#18 Are employees allowed to form unions? #19 What kind of benefits do they receive? Where do the raw materials come from that are used to make Amway products? Answers to such questions would indeed be interesting, however, such information is apparently not seen as important or necessary to be divulged. Or, perhaps, would public knowledge of such questions de-mystify the process of production to such an extent that the products no longer have their "allure?" In any case, what is known is that information regarding the whole operation is constantly sent to the Data Center ("It stays in touch with business operations 24 hours a day"#20) for analysis and quality checks.

From Powder Manufacturing the product is boxed and readied for shipment to one of the 10 Regional Distribution Centers as well as one of the two Catalog Distribution Centers. However, there must be more to the production process than this. What else must happen before the box arrives in somebody's home and begins fulfilling its "destiny"? Beginning just with the box that holds the SA8 ® LC we can begin to reasonably guess about other departments and machines which would necessarily be involved in this process. The boxes, for example, which will hold the SA8® LC are produced in the Folding Carton Department. "In 1994,...[this department] produced nearly 80 million cartons for use in almost every Amway® product area. Typically cartons are first designed and then printed on either six-color, two-color, or the new 10-color narrow-web press. Once printed, cartons are die-cut, folded, and glued. They are then ready to hold SA8® Laundry Detergent ...." #21 This itself raises questions as to who printed the labels and cartons?The Amway Corporation's Printing Department also located at the World Headquarters in Ada, MI is one of the largest printing shops in Michigan. The department "...turns more than 1 million pounds of paper every month into informative materials for distributors, consumers, and employees. The huge 140 ft. Harris Press can print literature, catalogs, magazines and newsletters at 1,200 ft. of paper per minute" #22. Behind the direct production itself of printed materials are a host of other people who are involved, directly and indirectly, in getting these materials composed, arranged, sized, organized, translated, approved, and on and on. While there was not a full discussion of all these relationships available to the public as I noted earlier, Amway does indicate, here and there, some of the people and machines who are involved in the production process. The following discussion is only meant to give the reader, and indeed myself, an general idea of some of the possible and varied relationships involved in SA8® LC production.Let us begin with the Quality Assurance Department. Employees here are not only responsible for assuring appropriate standards of raw materials and finished products, but they are also involved in acquiring and/or creating images for use in marketing the product (they use a Nikon™ digital camera #23) ; the Audio-Visual Department is likely to be involved in composing and arranging both printed and video texts (they use an Avid™Media Composer 8000 that "...cuts and pastes video "#24); the Minolta™ 2800 microfilmer is used to store "...confidential files, secret formulas, and financial data... " #25; the Translation department uses Globalink™ software "...to translate Amway's Canadian PERSONAL SHOPPERS® Catalogue from English to French... ."#26; and related more directly to the printing process, the Imagesetter™ photo typesetter is used to produce texts, illustrations, and photos #27. There is also Amway's Research and Development Department (with over 26 of 42 labs located in Ada, MI) which creates and improves existing products #28. In addition, there is Amway's Recycling Center which is used to route some of the 45 tons of solid waste, generated each day by Amway operations in Ada, MI, to recycling and into more beneficial products #29 . Again, however, these various relationships represent only a small part of the various departments and employees involved in the process. Nonetheless, it is quickly apparent that even while producing "just" a box of soap, there are arranged around this product multiple and complex sets of relationships.

Once production is completed and Quality Assurance has inspected the finished product, the boxes of SA8® LC are then ready to be shipped out to the consumer. While this may seem to be getting close to the "end" of the process, we are not quite there yet. The boxes of SA8 ® LC, along with all of the other Amway products produced in Ada, MI, are shipped by truck (and train possibly) to one or more of the 10 RDCs (Regional Distribution Centers located throughout Canada and the United States. They are also sent to one of Amway's two CDCs (Catalog Distribution Centers). Once the product arrives at one of the RDCs it is then sent to one of Amway's distributors.

With Catalog merchandise (SA8® LC is also offered through Amway's catalog), however, the product is shipped to one of the CDCs. "Amway maintains two shipping facilities--one in Nevada to handle catalog orders bound for western states, and [a second one] in Michigan for orders heading to destinations east of the Rocky Mountains."#30 Catalog orders can be made through individual distributors or by phone using the following procedure:

To call your own order, have the following information handy:

--Your distributor's A.D.A. number and last name.

--Your VISA®, MasterCard®, or Discover® credit card information.

--Complete shipping address.

--Stock numbers and color codes of the products.

--Total cost of your order, including any sales tax.

Orders, by mail and telephone, are received by 300 employees at the Order Processing department at Amway headquarters in Ada, MI and processed in 24 hours #31 (the Data Center in Ada, MI, is also involved in this process as it continually tracks orders #32 ). Products which have been ordered, such as SA8® LC, are moved by robots at the new CDC (Automatic Guided Vehicles--AGVs) to the Order Assembly Area #33. Once packaged and labeled with the appropriate information, the product(s) are then loaded onto trucks through one of the 16 outgoing truck bays. The product will travel to individual distributors and ultimately consumers who will place it somewhere near their laundry rooms/machines where SA8® Laundry Concentrate will then fulfill its proscribed role in keeping the Amway consumer's clothes clean #34.

While I have decided to end the SA8® Laundry Concentrate story here, it is by no means over or complete. What happens to the box once it is empty? Where will the dirty laundry water travel to? Who is involved in all of these processes? This story is continually being written and re-written as improvements are made on the product, as production becomes more and more automated. Someday, perhaps, SA8® LC will be replaced by yet another version of the product or by something quite different which will then be hailed as " The world's finest laundry detergent!"

(2) "Multilevel marketing is a form of direct selling in which manufacturers authorize independent contractors to sell their products directly to consumers, bypassing middlemen and retail stores. Using the garage or a spare bedroom as a warehouse and a home office as a business hub, a distributor makes a profit by buying wholesale from his or her company and selling to customers at retail prices.

MLM is also a recruiting business. A distributor is permitted to sign up other individuals to become part of his company's distribution force--and is paid a commission on the wholesale product purchases made by recruits." (Home Office Computing, Smith, Aug. 1992:56-)

(3)Amway was founded by Jan VanAndel and Rich DeVos over 40 years ago. The company markets homecare, care-care, personal-care products, foods and vitamins under their own labels and trademarks (as well as products and services of other corporations and manufacturers) through their 2 million person distributor network.

(4)Amway®Products and Services: 2. ©1995 AMWAY CORPORATION, USA. 435274 L-SA-012-Q.

(5)Stephen Butterfield (Amway critic and former Amway distributor), in his book Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise, gives a very interesting account of his attraction to Amway. I find his narrative keenly illustrates much of what it is that attracts people to the Amway Corporation. Butterfield recounts:

 

When I sat there with my Amway product kit, gazing at the red, white and blue box of SA-8, and listing who would buy my soap and shampoo, and dreaming about the faraway places I would travel to on my profits, and letting the vibrations of my own culture, the great American Way, ring my nerve centers like a tuning fork, I was probably living the archetypal first experience of every new distributor. It was return to childhood. I had given up fighting my country. I was tired of wishing we would all be enlightened and work each according and take according to need. It was too exhausting to build movements for social change and watch the members and leaders run off to Wall Street. I was bored with political discussions of any kind, having repeated them endlessly without noticeable effect for years. It was as if Vietnam and the Bay of Pigs, the assassinations of King and Malcolm X and the Kennedys, Kent State and the black uprisings, Yankee Imperialism and the hippies and yippies had never happened, and I could go back to the malt shop with Richie Cunningham and the Fonz, as my kids were doing, and start all over again from the beginning. It was like coming home on holiday, after a long separation, to meet the family. [emphasis added] (Butterfield. South End Press, Boston. 1985: 21-22)

(6)Received on Nov. 11/25/97, 12:03:36 AM from the Amway Corporation. (I have chosen to keep the name of the person who responded to my inquiry confidential).

(7)

(www. amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/tour.htm)

(8)I was able to find some indirect information regarding this subject. That is, I searched through the various patents which Amway holds (there are 99 since 1976). However, as they do not use specific product names on the patents I cannot be sure to which product a patent refers. But, even though this information is not provided it is reasonably clear to which product a particular patent refers (This is also apparent by clicking onto the highlighted numbers regarding what type of patent it is)-- Please refer to the following websites (http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/ibm.html AND http://patents.uspto.gov/cgi_bin/search4?INDEX+0) with the following patent numbers:(#5635467, 5514295, 5458799, 5456854, 5429765, RE33646, 4686254, 4659496).

(9)Grand Trunk Western Railroad is a owned by Canadian National. For further information on this railroad, Canadian National Railroad, as well as a Grand Trunk Western Railroad's Freight Train Schedule as of February 1, 1997, REFER to the following respective Internet sites: (http://www.rrhistorical.com/gtwhs/mission.html) (http://129.93.226.138/rr/CNR/Cnlines.htm) & (http://www.rrhistorical.com/gtwhs/Data/gt_frt.html)

(10) (http://www.amway.com/usa/progress/fastfact/ffrail.htm)

(11) Personal correspondence with Amway Corp.

(12) The trademark of Gradex* belongs to Rotex, Inc. Cincinnati, OH. (see www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm)

(13) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm)

(14) The trademark of X-Rite* belongs to Foresight Enterprises, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan. (see www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm)

(15) (refer to the previous internet address)

(16) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikpow.htm)

(17) I was able to find information from www.amway.com on 3 investments the company has made in the last few years. A $10 million 64,000sq.ft Research and Development building was added in 1980, this year they will/have added a $9 million "high-tech annex." (R&D hires over 400 people). In addition, Amway recently constructed a new $41 million, 640,000 sq.ft., Catalog Distribution Center.

(18) I was able to find some information on this, but there were only a few indications here and there about how many people work in each department. Amway states there are 5000 employees working at the Amway World Headquarters Complex (80 buildings with approx.4.2 million sq.ft. of "physical plant and office space"--SEE www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quilkhead.htm) located in Ada, MI. Of these 5000 employees Amway's own homepage indicates that there are over 400 in R&D, 300 in Cosmetics Mfr., 123 in Powder Mfr. (as of 1994), and 300 in Order Processing. I was not able to find additional information on the jobs of the other 3,877 employees.

(19) Stephen Butterfield, however, commented on this issue in his book entitled Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise(South End Press. Boston:1985). While the following discussion is quite lengthy, Butterfield's remarks are quite informative (indeed quite disturbing) in regard to labor relations at the Amway Corporation:

 

The wage employees of the Corporation are centered in the home plant headquarters in Ada, Michigan. According to Mike Johnston, in "The American Way--Really" (Grand Valley Labor News, Dec. 1981), Amway employees have been asking unions for help since the firm began. Several attempts have been made to unionize the Company. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union AFL-CIO (RWDSU) tried in the middle '60s. DeVos nipped that effort in the bud by holding weekly in-plant meetings which everyone was required to attend; he ran them like Rallies, preaching to the multitude on the Company's virtues and the evils of unionism. Anti-union workers stood up and gave testimonies on what Amway had done for them. The International Chemical Workers AFL-CIO (ICW) tried again in 1967, and was receiving bunches of signed authorization cards from Company employees, when a pro-union worker was transferred to nights, and Amway "filed charges with the NLRB accusing the ICW of forcing three people to join the union against their will." The Board later found that there were no such people. Rumors and half-truths circulated: workers would no longer receive their uniforms free if they joined a union, activists would lose their jobs. Several departments "suddenly received unexpected pay raises." Both foremen and shop-floor workers were pressured to wear the "vote no" buttons that were freely distributed throughout the plant. DeVos and VanAndel called all employees together during working hours and read them a six-page letter, according to union files, giving the impression that, if the union won, the Company would not work with the employees. The RWDSU tried again in 1971, but several pro-company lead people formed a "Committee Against the Union" and were allowed free run of the plant during working hours. "The Committee was allowed to hand out flyers attacking the union while asking people to sign petitions showing their support for the company." One union supporter was intimidated when she refused to sign.

The class and sex divisions maintained by the Company make further organizing efforts highly difficult. Much work is done by temporary job services, like Manpower and Kelly Girls. These employees are used often for 40-hour weeks, without benefits, over periods of months. Johnston writes. About 300 workers are employed in "pools" when every new person must start.....To get out of the "pool," you have to bid on a posted job, but "the decision on when a person leaves to fill that position is up to the company." Amway has an "incredible" employee turnover rate: a five-year employee is an old-timer, honored with a pin and a dinner. Wages vary greatly from job to job. Amway leaders boast that employees don't need a union, because the Company gives benefits and wages that top union shops. But this is true only for a few long-term employees.

Apparently, if Johnston's information is accurate, the approximately 7000 workers in the corporation are organized like the distributors: a great deal of turnover on the bottom, class and sex divisions, and carefully groomed loyalty at the top. There is not much free enterprise to be found here.

The "entrepreneurs" who market the products are, as we have seen, totally dependent on the Corporation for supply, research, development, commissions, policies, rules and regulations, wholesale price. Even the fantasy Amway-World lifestyle is supplied by the Company. There is not much free enterprise to be found here [emphasis added]. (Butterfield. South End Press. Boston, 1985: 151-152)

(20) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikdata.htm)

(21) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikfold.htm)

(22) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikprnt.htm)

(23) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm)

(24) (ibid.)

(25) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/geewhiz/machine.htm)

(26) (ibid.)

(27) ( ibid.)

(28) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quickrnd.htm)

(29) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikrecy.htm)

(30) Citation from the following Amway web-site (It also contains details of Amway's newest CDC which "...put[s] futuristic technology to work to make sure you get what you ordered, on time."): >www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/procdc.htm

(31) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikordr.htm)

(32) (www.amway.com/usa/progress/tech/quikdata.htm)

(33) (www.amway.com)

(34) Interestingly consumer reports of the product have failed to substantially prove the unquestioned superiority of SA8® LC when compared with other laundry detergents. However, as far as price is concerned, it provedto be on the high end. I have included the following section regarding SA8® LC. However, for additional consumer information regarding other selected Amway products refer to the following web-page: http://www.teleport.com/~schwartz/cr.htm.

SA8 Concentrate, powder and liquid (2/95)

35 products were tested, 17 liquids and 18 powders/ The SA8 powder was rated #5 overall and #4 among the powders. The cost/load of the top five products tested were as follows:

 

Tide with Bleach Alternative (liquid)...........$ .52

Cheer with Color Guard Bleach Ultra (powder.....$. 41

Tide with Bleach Ultra (powder).................$. 41

Gain w/Odor Removing Ultra Bleach (powder)......$. 32 (recommended Best Buy)

Amway SA8 Concentrate (powder)..................$. 41

 

The difference in effectiveness between the Amway and the Tide Ultra seems fairly minimal, with the SA8 in the low end of "Excellent" and the Tide in the high end of "Very Good." At distributor pricing, including shipping, the cost /load of the SA8 would be about $ .38.

The SA8 liquid was rated #32 out [of] 35 products tested and #13 out of 17 liquids tested. At $ .35 per load (dist.cost), it was not the most expensive of the liquids on a cost-per-use basis, but of the 12 liquids that were rated as more effective, 6 were less expensive to use. The SA8 liquid was a full 40% more expensive on a cost-per-use basis than Arm& Hammer Double Power Fresh Free Concentrated, only $ .25 per use.

NOTE: All images that do not specifically display source (© symbol) originate from www.amway.com (USA, France, and Japan homesites).