Expert Recall

By Mike Rozembajgier

It has been more than two months since the BP oil spill, and it would be hard to find anyone for whom the spill and its ugly aftermath has not given rise to some thought about crisis management, from both a personal and a business perspective.

Amid all the analysis and criticism surrounding the spill, two primary elements continue to drive the discussion: crisis and the environment. Both are fundamental – whether recovering from an oil spill or managing a product recall.

Watching and reading about the spill, you may be thankful you aren’t a part of the catastrophe or the disaster response. You may be wondering what you would have done if your company had been involved. Even if your organization has nothing to do with deep water oil drilling, you may well be looking at the disaster from a broader crisis management perspective.

I recently had the privilege of attending an AdvaMed board meeting and sharing a few words with my fellow attendees. The association is made up of medical technology experts and is committed to providing healthcare providers with the tools they need to diagnose and treat patients. As an association, AdvaMed certainly understands crisis.

In fact, AdvaMed established the Medical Technology Preparedness Council with the sole purpose of ensuring the healthcare delivery system and the military are fully prepared to respond to crises. The Council reports directly to the AdvaMed Board of Directors, my audience that evening. These industry leaders understand the importance of risk management and effective crisis response. They take crisis management seriously.

When considering a crisis response – whether you are the product manufacturer, a supplier, a retailer or a distributor – a thorough understanding of the entire recall process is critical to success. Preparing for and executing product recalls in an effective and compliant manner is crucial to recovery.

At the same time, you must understand the impact potential on the environment and what you can do to protect it. In fact, developing strategies and execution plans for alternative use, recycling, and depackaging of recalled products should always be a part of your overall recall planning.  When you do what you can to “reduce, reuse and recycle” your recalled product, you not only win points with your customer base but you can also reduce costs.

Are you ready for the next crisis?  Is your recall team in place?  Do you have a plan? When was the last time you tested it?  Have you conducted a recall look-back analysis to identify hidden opportunities?

Are you doing everything you can from a sustainability perspective?  Are you maximizing beneficial reuse and minimizing costs?  Are you capturing all the green points you can and receiving credit you deserve for doing so?  Can you do more? 

These are all good questions to ask … and questions we can help you answer.

Stericycle ExpertRECALL™ is the industry leader in recall logistics and regulatory compliance for consumer product, pharmaceutical, medical device, juvenile product, and food and beverage recalls. ExpertRECALL’s professionals are experts in recall management who can help you streamline the entire product recall process.