Quality and safety services firm Intertek has launched a Trim Qualification Program designed to help children’s apparel and footwear retailers, vendors and trim suppliers, comply with consumer product safety testing requirements.
Under the program, Intertek will provide trim suppliers around the world with training to build awareness of product safety rules and regulations, and will also conduct on-site visits to ensure the right measures and controls are in place to facilitate the manufacturing of safe, high-quality products.
The new program focuses on production capability and quality control systems, and helps facilitate the transparency and traceability needed to rely on component testing under the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Testing and Certification Rule. It also ensures product safety and quality standards are built into the manufacturing process, minimizing the risk of recalls and test failures.
Simona Romanoschi, senior director for Intertek’s Business Assurance Group, said, “The Trim Qualification Program benefits our clients sourcing material around the world by providing tools and a consistent framework to ensure traceability and ‘due care’ has occurred.”
Intertek’s trim program allows for benchmarking of a supplier’s performance against country, industry or global results, and suppliers can share audit reports among common customers to reduce audit fatigue and costs. The company’s iComply software tool, incorporated into the trim program, lets suppliers maintain product technical files, testing plans and other documentation to meet traceability regulatory requirements.
“For trim suppliers, their qualification status under the program will recognize them better prepared, and reliable business partners for producing safe, high quality products, which will further translate in increased business and cost benefits from working with global retailers supporting this program,” Romanoschi said.