More and more companies—from Fortune 1000 corporations to local organizations—are only interested in vendors who understand the importance of safety and compliance, and who insist on it as it relates to every component of the manufacturing and import process. Additionally, the public is demanding more accountability and greater positive impacts on society from the businesses they support.
In order to meet these buyer demands for brand safety and responsible sourcing, Lehi, Utah-based C-Slide Holdings has applied to participate in the comprehensive Compliance Accreditation Program developed by Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), the promotional product industry’s independent, non-governmental accreditation organization dedicated to helping companies provide safe and responsibly sourced products.
Before applying for QCA Accreditation, Lori Metz, C-Slide Holdings’ operations manager, says the company had only done some limited testing within the supply chain, but now realizes it is time for a more formal approach.
“We have customers that require compliance documentation,” she said. “We want to have peace of mind knowing we are doing all in our power to run a responsible company. Then, once we achieve accreditation and can market ourselves as compliant, we hope even more sales doors will open.”
C-Slide Holdings has begun the initial self-assessment phase, which is followed by the rigorous implementation of policies and procedures. Once these are complete, the company submits its headquarters and supply base to multiple third-party audits. Finally, the QCA board uses a scorecard representing the performance of the applicant and its supply chain on the third-party audits as the foundation for granting accreditation.
“In January, QCA launched a new participation model to make the accreditation program more inclusive and accessible to companies of all sizes,” said Tim Brown, MAS, QCA’s executive director of operations. “C-Slide Holdings was immediately interested because they understand that corporate responsibility, sustainability and brand safety are no longer secondary concerns for businesses, brands and organizations. Buyers want assurances that their business partners have processes in place to protect their brand reputations, workers in the supply chain and the environment. Applying for QCA Accreditation is the first step C-Slide Holding can take to meet these demands.”
For more information about QCA, visit www.qcalliance.org.
