With product recalls peaking in Australia, SAI Global is advocating the use of the ISO 9001 quality management system for brands, manufacturers and relevant businesses in the supply chain to improve their quality processes and minimise recalls and complaints.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) research indicates that there has been more than 300 product recalls in Australia this year, and that most recalls are usually a result of non-conformance with product statutory and regulatory requirements – such as correct labelling – which can present a safety risk.
The research further suggests that only about half of buyers return the products to retailers and Australia sees around two fatalities every day as a result of unsafe consumer products.
Saeid Nikdel, SAI Global spokesperson and quality management expert, believes that Australian businesses along the supply chain, particularly manufacturers of medical, food and essential products, in particular, can minimise recalls through a quality management system, which guides their actions to investigate and analyse the defects, improve quality, prevent defects and reduce supply chain variation.
“Safer products mean minimal incident risks or product recalls which, in turn, increases customer satisfaction. The ISO 9001 quality management system ensures products meet statutory and regulatory requirements,” he said.
ACCC confirms that businesses found liable for supplying products that do not adhere to Australian standards or for making false claims about their products can be fined up to $500,000 for individuals and $10,000,000 for a body corporate.
If a business is found to be manufacturing and selling non-compliant or unsafe products, it will be required to recall those products and reimburse customers, too – and the reputational damage after such a product recall can be hard to recover from.
“On a business level, the management system could help to improve a brand’s reputation. On an operational level, it guides the business to proactively investigate and identity the root causes of any quality problems and immediately implement corrective actions to prevent recurrences and reduce recall risks in future,” said Nikdel.
SAI Global advises companies to implement an integrated management system that acts holistically to ensure all parts of the business are functioning to a high standard – from health and safety to information security and environmental responsibility as well as quality.
“An integrated management system isn’t just about risk management. It affects all aspects of a business function and helps businesses gain insights, streamline processes, determine the need for new products, develop them and bring them to market, reduce waste, introduce new technologies to increase efficiencies, and identify prospective customers,” added Nikdel.
In November 2020, Amazon signed a voluntary new e-product safety pledge launched by the ACCC. Under the pledge, online businesses, especially those that act as intermediaries between multiple sellers, regularly check the Product Safety Australia website for product recalls to ensure it is not selling unsafe products. It also undertakes steps to remove any products deemed unsafe within two business days.
