PPB December 2016

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| DECEMBER 2016 | 77
THINK
dollar international printing
organization that has many
diverse product lines.
QCA is a reasonable starting
point for our industry, but is
made up of only 38 suppliers
(less than one percent of the
industry). While these companies
are relatively large entities,
there is limited rationale for a
single group of for-profit entities
establishing protocols on their
own and then marketing them as
standards for a broader industry.
During the aforementioned
panel discussion, it was stated
that QCA is a nonprofit entity,
which is supposed to sound like
a benefit, but that point is of no
relevance and is probably more
a critique of our tax code system.
How does a group of for-profit
companies create a 501(c)3 to
market themselves and end
up with a financial business
advantage? Another topic for a
different day.
Has QCA brought some
discipline, process and visibility
to compliance? Absolutely!
Hopefully this effort will
continue to evolve and be
shared to benefit the entire
promotional products industry.
However, having a small group of
suppliers position self-regulating
efforts as a base standard is
not appropriate for an industry
of our size. We recently had
another founding QCA member
comment to us that ADG’s
standards were higher than they
needed to be on a particular
product. That is okay at this time
and we will continue to maintain
that effort until more detailed
independent industry standards
are established.
It is important to recognize
that there are other suppliers,
like ADG, that have excellent
compliance and product safety
standards in place, and we can
all learn from each other to
get better. Some recent op-ed,
marketing and advertising
pieces in industry publications
have had a few non-industry
people question the quality
of “non-QCA” items. It’s an
approach that is, unfortunately,
self-serving and inaccurate
due to an absence of facts. This
type of miscommunication
is also damaging long-term
to our industry’s reputation.
The focus should be on bigger
challenges, strategies and
questions such as these:
1 Which independent entity is
best positioned to lead our
industry compliance effort?
We need PPAI’s leadership. If
we ask our end‑user clients
whether they aremore
interested in product quality
and compliance, or lobbying
efforts and brand positioning
of the industry, it is a safe bet
where their answers would
lie and where we should
spend our resources.
2 How do we best
manage components of
a compliance testing
process? For an industry
already challenged with its
profitability model, figuring
out how to efficiently
test relatively low‑cost
items is critical. Suppliers
often share overseas
production facilities so it
makes sense to insist that
the supply chain cycle
start there. For example,
recent industry battery
charger recalls included
a number of suppliers
(including a QCA‑member
company) but has anyone
really identified whether
the issue was caused
by a common overseas
facility? Let’s start at the
beginning, establish sound
fundamental processes
and constantly challenge
ourselves to improve. (Full
disclosure: ADG does not
carry electronic items such
as battery chargers.)
Our end-user clients will
continue to demand that the
promotional products industry
establishes and maintains an
independent, high-quality
and long-term compliance
program. Proactive leadership
is needed by everyone to
establish industry standards.
This is not the responsibility
of just a few entities.
Send your comments on this Guest Viewpoint or your idea for a future column to .
Bill Mahre, president of supplier ADG Promotional Products, has been in the promotional products
industry for nearly nine years with experience on both the distributor and supplier sides. Previously, he
held leadership roles with Procter & Gamble, Minnesota Twins Baseball Club, HealthEast Care System and
Minnesota Diversified Industries. He currently serves on the PPAI Product Responsibility Advisory Group.
Having a
small group of
suppliers position
self-regulating
efforts as a base
standard is not
appropriate
for an industry
of our size.