Consumer product recalls and compliance issues continue to plague manufacturers and retailers of consumer products in 2021. Last month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled nearly 20,000 lithium-ion battery cells, the type found in iPhones, toys, personal fans, vaping devices, and other products.
The federal agency, tasked with protecting the public against injuries and death from everyday products, said the recalled battery cells spark, burn, and even explode. This notice is one of the most significant product recalls of 2021 so far, with the CPSC warning companies to take swift action.
But how many of these companies did? And did the notice affect yours?
Manufacturers and retailers have to respond to a product recall like the one above all the time, and it’s critical that companies have a proper recall management strategy in place. Implementing this kind of strategy is tougher than it sounds.
Here are three of the biggest issues surrounding consumer product recall management right now.
#1. Government Agencies Frequently Issue Safety Notices, and It’s Hard to Track All of Them
It’s difficult to track consumer product recalls and safety notices from federal agencies because there are so many of them. The CPSC issued 241 notices in 2019 alone — that’s around five a week, or one for every workday. Busy organizations like yours have thousands of other tasks to execute daily without constantly worrying about product recalls and compliance issues.
Still, compliance is critical for product and quality control managers in your organization. If you fail to track safety notices from the CPSC, FDA, or other federal and state agencies, you could face fines and enforcement action. These agencies can issue penalties when your company doesn’t respond to a notice about a product you manufacture or sell.
Responding to notices is just one problem. Agencies like the CPSC can also take action if you’re late responding to a product recall notice. Another issue: Agencies can issue notices at any time, including weekends, which might make it difficult for you to take action.
As a product or quality control manager, you might not think that consumer product recall management is a big deal. Companies manufacture and sell millions of products a year, and the government only issues notices about a small percentage of them. While this thinking is true, product recall management still matters. In the 2019 fiscal year, the CPSC issued a total of $4.85 million in civil penalties against companies like yours.
So yes, receiving a safety notice might be rare, but it can happen.
The government can issue a warning about a product or component you manufacture or sell at any time, even later today, and it’s your responsibility to respond — and respond on time.
Recommended reading: How to Optimize Different Product Recall Plans
#2. Managers Can’t/Don’t Respond to Notices Because of Ineffective Communication
Communication is, perhaps, the most critical component of consumer product recall management. Recalls often involve several teams within an organization, and these teams need to work together. A lack of communication between teams could cause the organization to respond to a safety notice late or not at all.
Consider the example of a large toy production company that needs to respond to a safety notice from the CSPC:
- A particular toy contains a dangerous component that puts children’s lives at risk, so the CSPC posts a safety notice on its website.
- Someone at the company’s quality control department reads the notice but forgets to pass on the information to the manufacturing team.
- This breakdown in communication means the manufacturing team doesn’t remove the dangerous component from the company’s supply chain
- The communication breakdown also means the company cannot respond to the safety notice.
- The CSPC fines the company thousands of dollars.
Many manufacturers and retailers struggle to manage recalls because of ineffective communication between teams. After the government issues a safety notice that affects a company, that company’s legal team might not communicate with the PR team, for example. Or the quality control team might not communicate with the product management team. These communication failures increase the chances of civil and criminal penalties from agencies like the CSPC.
Recommended reading: Product Recall and Response Communication Steps: What You Should Know
#3. Some Manufacturers and Retailers Still Use Manual Methods for Recall Responses
When the government issues a safety notice that affects an organization, time is of the essence. The organization has to communicate with the right people, possibly remove dangerous products or components from supply chains, and respond to the agency that issued the notice. However, many manufacturers and retailers of consumer products rely on manual methods to execute these processes.
Manual methods for recall management might include updating recall information on Excel spreadsheets or sharing time-critical information with team members via paper forms. These methods often result in human error, which increases the chances of penalties for product recall management non-compliance.
Recommended reading: What Can We Expect from CSPC During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
What’s the Solution to Consumer Product Recalls and Compliance Issues?
Consumer product manufacturers and retailers require a digitized solution for safety notices and recall management. Trievr is the all-in-one recall management software that helps companies track safety notices, improve communication between teams, and digitize recall responses.
Features include real-time dashboards, recall response templates, and virtual collaborative tools. Trievr keeps your data safe by participating in the E.U.-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield frameworks.
Before You Go
Trying to keep track of frequent safety notices, a lack of communication between team members, and manual recall response methods cause headaches for consumer product manufacturers and retailers. Using a solution like Trievr helps companies like yours manage recall responsibilities and prevent government fines and enforcement action.