Preventing Product Recalls For Manufacturers

By Rob Rogers, Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection

Technological advances in production equipment have made significant contributions to the efficiency of modern production processes. This has occurred in response to a growing demand for products, with manufacturers competing to get their product to market as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. As production speeds increase, so too has the potential for defective products to reach retailer shelves. While it is certainly true that product inspection equipment contributes significantly to recall prevention, the manufacturing and safety processes involved are of equal importance. The combination of the two, proper equipment and proper processes, will greatly reduce product recalls.

In addition, the movement toward a global market and growing consolidation of suppliers of raw materials has increased the potential scope of product recalls. This danger was demonstrated by a product recall of peanut-contaminated cumin that started in late 2014 and was still ongoing months later in 2015. By the time the source of the contaminated cumin had been traced, nearly fifty manufacturers located in the United States, Canada and the UK were forced to recall massive quantities of products. As manufacturing continues to become more globalized and the supply chain also becomes more unified, recalls of this scale are likely to become more common.