Service: Product Recall Simulation

Client:

Major international consumer product manufacturer

Objectives/background:

The RQA product recall simulation is the best challenge for the product recall team and the plan outside a real product safety or contamination incident.  A scenario was developed by the RQA consultants in conjunction with one person within the company.  The scenario related to a specific product type and in advance of the exercise, RQA sourced actual batch code information from viewing the products in stores.

This simulation was for a food company, but similar approach is taken for non-food manufacturers.

Methodology:

The exercise was designed around the accidental contamination of a confectionery product with artificial fruit flavoring.  The product is sold in five European countries. The roles of consumers, retailers, media and authorities were played by RQA consultants.  A number of "consumers" complained about a reaction upon consumption of the product of a certain flavor. At least one retail customer received direct complaints. The local media soon picked up the story as did the local food authority. The exercise was made more difficult by including various complaint types to highlight different sources of notification. RQA distributed injects to the team via handouts, e-mail and phone calls in order to escalate the situation.  The team carried out risk assessments, traceability, made a robust decision on action and developed a communication plan.   The team also had to draw up the steps involved in oder to recall the affected product whilst also considering business contniuity aspects to ensure the remainder of the business was unaffected.

Outcome:

After this one day exercise, the company felt like they had gone through a real recall incident.  After receiving the RQA report, they reviewed their plan and made modifications to it to ensure any gaps identified were addressed.  Other learnings included:

1.      The recall team was slow to start.

2.      They acted calmly and cohesively during the incident.

3.      There was a lack of knowledge of the recall plans.

4.      The recall team missed the media deadline for the newspaper interview.

5.      The team was slow to implement the recall.

6.      There was an inconsistent approach between the markets where the product was sold.

7.      Overall substantial learning opportunity for the recall team.