Making your products safer is a priority for all businesses in the modern world. This has been brought into sharp focus by a number of high-profile scandals, such as the 2016 exploding battery in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 and the Toys R Us lead paint scandal in 2007. Child resistant packaging was invented in 1967 and became US law in 1970 because so many kids were getting into things they shouldn’t be. This makes it more important than ever to ensure you are taking every step possible to make sure your products are safe before they hit shelves. So what steps can you take? Let’s take a look at our top eight ways to make your products safer.
Talk to Your Stakeholders
One of the first places to start when making your products safer is talking to your stakeholders, such as your suppliers and customers. This will help you understand what they expect of your products in terms of safety and how this will impact your supply chain. For example, if you discover that your customers are concerned about certain chemicals in their beauty products, then this will impact your supply chain. You’ll need to decide whether to remove those chemicals from your products, find a different supplier with a safer option, or look for alternative ingredients that are just as effective. If they’re concerned with children getting into your products, they might be happy if you adopt child-resistant packaging.
Increase the Transparency of Your Supply Chain
One of the biggest issues in the modern supply chain is a lack of transparency. Customers are increasingly expecting businesses to be entirely transparent about their supply chain and the conditions in which their products are made and here is the great section on their site that helps in all ways. This could involve creating a public database that shows every supplier you work with, what you buy from them, and what their standards are. The more transparent you are, the easier it will be to find new suppliers if something goes wrong in the future. It will also help put your customers at ease, as they will feel that you have their best interests in mind.
Utilize Technology
One of the best ways to make your products safer is to use technology to streamline your processes and ensure quality control at every step of the manufacturing process. This could involve using RFID tags and sensors to track every individual product through your supply chain, or purchasing digitization software to digitally store your inventory. This will allow you to track every product, know where it is at any given moment, and ensure that nothing gets lost or tampered with along the way.
Audits
Make sure you’re auditing your current processes. This will help you get a handle on different kinds of hazards and requirements you may be facing for product safety. It’s a good idea to check with your legal counsel to see what kind of liability you may have. Taking an action like adding child-resistant packaging can increase transparency ahead of any concerns and demonstrate good faith that you’re watching out for customers.
Certifications
Products certifications can show customers that you’re going the extra mile to use safer procedures or materials and that your product has passed quality and performance tests. Showing that you’re actively making improvements voluntarily rather than because you are forced to is a great way to gain customer loyalty and good press.
Policies and Procedures
You must write procedures and policies for maintaining product safety and people capable of executing them. These kinds of standards and guidelines can be the difference between a successful launch and a dreaded recall.
Learn from Your Competitors’ Mistakes
If you’re playing it safe and your competitors are playing it loose, you can keep an eye on where they stand with safety regulations. If they’re drawing negative attention to themselves, stay on top of what’s happening with regulations and recalls. You don’t want it to be your name in the headlines if people get hurt. Learn from their mistakes and do better. You wouldn’t want to be the very last company to adopt child-resistant packaging, for example.
Be a Leader
Safe products make for happy customers and public goodwill. If you aren’t the one leading the way, then you’re giving those bonuses to someone else.
Safety First
Ultimately, making your products safer is a continuous process that needs to be an active part of your business. You can’t just make one change and then leave it at that. Instead, you should be constantly reviewing your processes and looking for ways to improve. There are hundreds of kinds of child-resistant packaging, for example. This includes reviewing your suppliers and making sure they are meeting the standards you expect of them. It also means reviewing your own standards and practices to ensure that you are meeting your customers’ expectations.