After a wave of high-profile product recalls recently, manufacturing and retail businesses around the world have been forced to recognize product safety as one of the major concerns. From toxic metal contamination on children’s toys, to defective design elements in major-brand automobiles, product recalls have become routine news items in the twenty-four hour media realm.
The public, the government, and industry watchdog groups have all begun to demand a higher standard of social responsibility on the part of manufacturers, retailers and corporations in all sectors.
For sewn goods manufacturers, and especially those who source materials overseas, there are a few regulatory acts like The Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, of which the basic requirements of CPSIA compliance is that all products subject to a ban or safety standard must be accompanied by a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). The GCC must contain the following information:
1) Date and place of manufacture;
2) Date and place of testing;
3) A suitable identification of the manufacturer issuing the certificate (including the name and contact information for the individual responsible for maintaining records of test results);
4) Certification of conformance with any and all applicable Consumer Product Safety rules, along with a specification of those applicable standards
Instituted late in 2008, the CPSIA allows for civil penalties of up to USD100,000 per violation, with a cap of up to USD15 million overall. Not only product recalls cut into profit margin, they also damage a company’s reputation and public image tremendously, and the hefty fines are too ignore.
Part of the solution, is the implementation of a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, or a Product Data Management (PDM) system. These customized software tools offer the ability to track data points universally and in real time, to prevent mismanagement of important data, to oversee information from the time its components are manufactured; to the time it hits the shelf and find out precisely where in the supply chain the problem occurred.
When your main purpose is to create fabulous designs, to please consumers and to make a profit at the same time, then all of these regulatory requirements may seem like burdensome roadblocks. But, when dealt with effectively and confidently, your company’s compliance with high-profile regulations can be a public relations advantage.
