| September
12, 2007 |
| |
| "Toy
Recalls – is China the Problem?” asks
Ivey study |
A study on toy recalls in the U.S. by
Ivey Professor
Paul Beamish has
generated international attention with
the conclusion that design flaws lead to
more recalls than manufacturing flaws.
Paul Beamish and co-author
Hari Bapuji
at the University of Manitoba have been
quoted in the New York Times, the
Washington Post, CNN Money, National
Post, South China Morning Post,
Singapore Straits Times as well as
newspapers across Canada and websites
around the world.
"Toy Recalls – is China the Problem?”*
has just been released by the
Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada.
After examining 20 years of toy recalls
from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC), Beamish and Bapuji
found that the number of defects
attributable to design issues is much
higher than those attributable to
manufacturing problems.
“The distinction between design and
manufacturing is important particularly
in the context of the toy industry
because the design of toys is performed
by companies such as Mattel, whereas
manufacturing is done by overseas
manufacturers,” the report says.
The researchers suggest that toy
companies must be accountable to improve
their product designs and that global
standards should be developed to enhance
product safety.
The authors say that those two different
kinds of problems which affect toy
safety require different solutions.
Problems in design can be avoided by
improving organizational learning.
Manufacturing problems can be avoided by
setting global standards and improving
management practices - including robust
systems for quality control.
The report looks at Mattel's recalls,
finding that the largest portion of
recalls by Mattel involved design flaws
- the problem of small magnets - but
that a large share of blame was placed
on the Chinese manufacturers. "By
placing blame where it did not primarily
belong, there is a danger of losing the
opportunity to learn from the errors
that have occurred. The first step to
learn from errors is to know why and
where the error occurred."
The report also notes that management
practices need to be improved to handle
the complexity of global supply chains.
"The companies offshoring their
manufacturing to China (and similar
countries) cannot rely on intermediaries
and agents in Hong Kong or Singapore to
coordinate production and ensure
quality."
This new study follows on a large series
of TV, radio and print interviews which
Ivey Professors Paul Beamish and
Shih-Fen Chen did several weeks ago on
the subject of product recalls and
outsourcing.
For more information please contact Paul
Beamish at 519-661-3237,
pbeamish@ivey.ca or Hari
Bapuji at 204-474-8432,
bapuji@cc.umanitoba.ca
*Download
"Toy Recalls - Is China the Problem?" (pdf)
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