Illustration by Brian Currie

Lost amid the hubbub created by Mattel’s mea culpa to the Chinese manufacturing industry over faulty design specs that forced the recall of millions of toys with tiny magnets, was the fact that China’s manufacturing industry was still at fault for the recall of millions of other toys containing excessive lead paint.

Until there are repercussions for such transgressions, some specifications will still be ignored by overseas manufacturers, according to Randall L. Goodden, president of Goodden Enterprises LLC and chairman of the American Society of Quality’s Product Safety and Liability Prevention Division.

“We have to reach a point where Chinese manufacturers really do become concerned about what they are making,” Goodden says, “and they have to make an effort to build products that are safe and reliable and to the standards and specifications we ask of them.”

The Chinese government is still in a face-saving mode, and its General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) is making the right contrite comments regarding increased inspection of goods and materials being used. But Goodden says any chance to prevent another massive recall in the future will require action on both sides of the supply chain.

Overseas, Goodden says the GAQSIQ must begin to penalize with criminal charges or fines manufacturers not in compliance with design specifications and safety standards, according to Goodden.

Manufacturers that face these penalties will be encouraged to learn how to make these products at the highest possible quality levels, Goodden adds. “When they want to learn and figure out how to do it best, then their management teams need to have training and need to have an understanding of testing and product safety to be just as concerned about putting that product out as an American company would be,” Goodden says.

From the American side, Goodden says corporations need to go beyond establishing specifications and processes and then assuming they are implemented. He insists that if companies want to buy manufactured goods from overseas, they must have a way of making sure they are getting what they paid for, even going so far as installing a quality inspector or a quality department in the offshore factory.

“Right now, we’re caught up in both U.S. agencies and Chinese agencies trying to ensure products being shipped and received are safe and in compliance with U.S. standards, but it is not an assurance,” he cautions.

Goodden believes nothing will change until foreign manufacturers are hit with major lawsuits that impact bottom lines. “From there, it might start out that government imposes criminal charges on manufacturers not in compliance,” he adds. “Then, they might ... try to understand how quality works.”