Technology Could Help Manufacturers Solve the Puzzle of CPSIA
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has created a lot of headaches for retailers and their suppliers since going into effect last February. Technology suppliers may provide some relief.
Miami Lakes, Fla.–based New Generation Computing is among the first to the mark, having released CPSIA-compliance software (Campbell, Calif.–based Centric Software also has a CPSIA tool.) New Generation’s software electronically produces the necessary documents to comply with the new regulation, which requires manufacturers to account for any lead content in their products for children.
The genesis of CPSIA goes back to 2006, when a child in Minneapolis ingested a metallic charm from shoe maker Reebok and later died from lead poisoning. The lead issue proliferated in 2007, when toy maker Mattel recalled nearly a million toys tainted with lead paint.
As part of CPSIA, manufacturers must have products tested by third-party agencies and provide General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) and Certificate of Compliance (COC) documents as proof that their products are lead-free.
“They want to trace who is supplying the garments,” explained Mark Burstein, vice president of PLM solutions for NGC. “You have to get a GCC for every factory, and every style you sell at retail must have a GCC.”
Burstein, who sits on the product-safety council of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), said compliance can be costly, running $200 to $500 per style.
Having conducted several workshops on the topic, Burstein has heard some horror stories. One manufacturer was forced to replace the buttons on 300,000 shirts, with each shirt containing seven buttons. Another manufacturer, whose product contained lead-tainted zipper pulls, was required to turn back 500,000 garments at port.
“The lead time is growing exponentially,” Burstein said. “What some people are doing, rather than wait for garments to be made, [is] sending components in for testing. But they are managing all this with spreadsheets, e-mails and Word docs. Our system tracks off that. It creates the GCC and ties it to styles.”
NGC has integrated the CPSIA manager within its e-SPS sourcing and production-management application. It is also offered as a stand-alone module.
Some in the industry are trying to have textiles and finished garments excluded from CPSIA, but Burstein is skeptical about their success. “It’s not going to happen,” he said. “I hear people argue that this is just a vehicle for protectionism or other motivations. I’m not going to disagree, but when it comes down to it, I’m a consumer with kids, and I want this.”
Burstein warned that complying with CPSIA is just the start. Proposition 65 in California allows consumers to sue retailers for selling children’s and adult products containing hazardous materials. This was made clear last month, when the state Center for Environmental Health issued a 60-day-warning notice with an intent to file lawsuits against 41retailers that sold women’s purses containing lead within the hardware. The lead content tested at levels 90 times above the norm. According to the CEH, retailers included Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, Forever 21, JCPenney and H&M.
“This is the law,” Burstein said. “The way these groups see it, you might as well be selling cyanide. It can result in millions of dollars in fines and prison time.”
