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No business wants to encounter civil penalties due to product defects. However, these problems may arise if a company is unable to identify and report such issues properly. 

For example, consider Kolcraft Enterprises, a Chicago-based supplier of crib mattresses since 1946.  Kolcraft was penalized $400,000 in March 2013 due to its failure to report defective play yards to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

According to CPSC, Kolcraft received about 350 reports of its play yard collapsing between January 2000 and July 2009. These incidents resulted in 21 injuries to young children, but Kolcraft did not report the information regarding the play yards to CPSC until January 2009. Furthermore, in July 2009, Kolcraft and CPSC announced the recall of 1 million play yards.

As part of its penalty, Kolcraft also agreed to:

• Develop and enforce a system of internal controls and procedures to guarantee that it will promptly and accurately report required information about its products to CPSC;
• Provide CPSC staff with written documentation of its improvements, processes and controls related to its reporting procedures upon request;
• And create a program to ensure it complies with CPSC safety statutes and regulations consistently.

CPSC penalties often go beyond a business' bottom line. For instance, Kolcraft may suffer brand reputation damage due to its previous release of defective play yards. The company also may need to work hard to regain its customers' trust, as most parents are unlikely support a company that supplies play yard that could put their children at risk. 

If only there was a way for a company like Kolcraft to identify and mitigate product errors before their offerings reach consumers…

Thanks to PolyVista Alerts+, companies now can develop and deploy better products and services faster than ever before. And ultimately, businesses that use PolyVista Alerts+ will be better equipped to avoid costly CPSC penalties as well. 

Why should businesses utilize PolyVista Alerts+?

In the past, a company may have struggled to satisfy CPSC requirements for product development and testing. 

Businesses often must devote substantial time and resources to ensure that they follow CPSC guidelines at all times. And if a company fails to meet one of these standards late in the product development process, a business could face a costly, time-consuming setback, too. 

On the other hand, PolyVista Alerts+ serves as a product quality and hazard alerting system that empowers business managers with information they can use to take a proactive approach to monitoring product quality concerns. 

As an automated alerting system, PolyVista Alerts+ offers a valuable tool that enables business managers to understand and anticipate potential product failures and hazards. It helps business managers harness the product information they are gathering data after day and use it to protect their customers against potentially hazardous products. That way, both businesses and their customers can benefit from this state-of-the-art system. 

In addition, PolyVista Alerts+ offers a number of benefits, including:

• Enables business managers to detect product quality, reliability and hazard concerns quickly and effortlessly.
• Ensures business managers know exactly when to report hazard products to CPSC and other federal agencies.
• Allows companies to avoid federal penalties associated with the failure to report product defects.
• Eliminates the risk of human error.
• Gives business managers the ability to establish customized alerts based on keywords and receive automated alerts via email.

When it comes to product quality, every member of the supply chain is liable. But thanks to PolyVista Alerts+, companies like Kolcraft can take the guesswork out of identifying and reporting product defects. As a result, businesses in all industries can benefit from this system, as they will be able to address product quality concerns and avoid costly penalties due to non-compliance consistently. 

Summary

How does your business handle product quality issues? Today's companies must be prepared to respond to product quality concerns immediately; otherwise, these businesses could face federal penalties as well as irreparable brand reputation damage due to faulty products. 

Fortunately, PolyVista Alerts+ empowers business managers with a top-notch system they can use to mitigate product quality issues without delay. This system supports both a business and its customers, ensuring a company can deploy safe, dependable offerings that fulfill its customers' requests. As such, PolyVista Alerts+ may deliver substantial value for companies of all sizes going forward.