Buying promotional products shouldn’t be a risky proposition. Unfortunately, it can be. That’s why Fortune 1000 corporations and local organizations alike are more concerned than ever before about costly mistakes in this competitive economy. These buyers know that one wrong purchase could expose them to nasty headlines with claims that their brand merchandise was made by sweatshop labor or that poor product quality could even lead to a product recall.
No matter the size of the company, these kinds of hits are damaging to the bottom line, as well as tot he brand equity that takes years to build.
To help mitigate this risk and protect their brands, corporate buyers continue to focus on vetting their supply chains and requiring their partners to prove compliance and social accountability. In order to meet these customer emends, Calais, Maine-based Foamworx has begun taking the necessary, proactive steps to provide safe, compliant and responsibly sourced products by applying to participate in the comprehensive accreditation program developed by Quality Certification Alliance (QCA), the only coalition dedicated to ensuring accountability and independent validation of corporate responsibility throughout the promotional product industry’s supply chain.
“Foamworx began life as an international manufacturer of foam toys, so safety has always been in the forefront,” said Heather Garner, CEO of Foamworx. “We’ve had various audits conducted throughout the years and product testing in place for more than 10 years. To date, we’ve been able to satisfy distributor inquiries with this information. More recently, however, the requests come through for audits and social responsibility proof, and not simply corporate statements. QCA Accreditation will give us the tools to provide the necessary documentation to back up those claims.”
Foamworx has begun the initial self-assessment phase, which is followed by the rigorous implementation of policies and procedures. Once these are complete, then 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 branding accreditation.
“With QCA recognizing that all sizes of business are serious about brand safety and responsible sourcing through its new participation model, it was an easy decision to participate,” said Scott Long, director of operations for Foamworx. “The price tag to participate in QCA is offset by the value added to our business. To be able to prove, by way of qualifying for QCA Accreditation, that we are serious about brand safety rather than just being aware of it, is priceless.”
For more information about QCA, visit www.qcalliance.org. For more information on Foamworx, visit www.foamworx.com.
