SPECIAL REPORT: How buyers are reacting to product recalls

by Paul Teague -- Purchasing, 8/24/2007 11:58:00 AM

Buyers in industries of all kinds are intensifying their supplier-management efforts in the wake of recent product recalls by Mattel of toys made in China. From setting more rigorous supplier-selection criteria, to more frequent on-site inspections to demands for assurance that tier-two and tier-three suppliers are following stringent quality procedures, purchasing professionals are instituting new procedures and reviewing best practices to ensure that their global sourcing activities, whether in China or other low-cost countries, uncover potential problems before they occur.

It’s classic risk management. Quality problems are among the risks that cause supply chain disruptions, according to a major study by professors Kevin Hendricks, formerly of the University of Western Ontario, and Vinod R. Singhal, of the Georgia Institute of Technology. And, adds Dennie Norman, principal strategist for worldwide marketing at Cary, North Carolina-based SAS, Inc., those supply chain disruptions can damage a company’s brand image. “Companies need risk-management roadmaps,” Norman says.

Purchasing editors have interviewed several buyers and industry experts on the product-recall issue. Check out these stories and prepare your own roadmap for avoiding the supply chain problems that cause defective products—and damage to companies’ reputation.

Read these stories:

• Supply chain education the key to reducing product recalls
• Toy Industry Association stresses safety-testing efforts

• Quality control moves to the forefront in wake of product recalls

• Buyers won’t slow global sourcing despite product recalls

• Tips for effective global sourcing 

• Dresser-Rand manages supply chain risk

• CAREER TURNS: Product Recalls Emphasize Buyers’ Roles

• Best practices in risk management

• Quality, testing are key priorities in sourcing ingestible materials.

• Cains Foods asking for safety, quality certifications from food-ingredients suppliers

• Legal Sea Foods brings fresh perspective to supply chain

• Nokia to recall cell-phone batteries
• Metals Parts: Assured quality critical in global sourcing

• China names quality and safety czar

Got a risk management success story, or a recall horror story, send it to pteague@reedbusiness.com