QCA Accreditation

QCA Accreditation: Scope

In today’s business climate, promotional products buyers expect their vendor partners to proactively address the topics of safety and compliance. Distributors have the daunting task of providing safe and compliant products to their end buyer clients, and with QCA Certified Suppliers, they have a proven pool of product offerings as sources.

In order to provide the accountability necessary to assure buyers and end users that products meet applicable measures of compliance, QCA Accreditation tests not only for the presence of and completeness of compliance programs but also the effectiveness of these programs in detecting and deterring noncompliance. This comprehensive program assess five key areas:

Product Safety

A QCA Certified Supplier has policies and procedures that are robust and able to detect and deter non-compliant product from shipping to customers. Corporate brand equity is also protected by reducing the need for product recalls, thus keeping news of any unsafe product out of the headlines. The processes include:

• A commitment to assuring consumer safety and brand security
• Design guidelines that cover legal and product performance requirements as well as raw material specifications
• A product approval protocol that assures only product meeting specified design guidelines is approved for manufacture
• Testing guidelines for internal evaluations and third-party assessments
• Mechanisms for assuring traceability
• Recall protocols

Product Quality

A QCA Certified Supplier has procedures in place governing product quality from design through manufacturing that provide a means to monitor and verify quality standards are maintained throughout the process. An expectation of quality is established with:

• A formally documented Quality Manual
• A process that assures only product for which an approved standard exists are manufactured
• Inspections for both pre- and post-shipments
• A process for evaluating root cause and assigning corrective actions
• Supplier qualification programs

Supply Chain Security

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures meet the security criteria established by U.S. Customs’ C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) program that protects our borders. A supply chain security program should encompass both domestic and offshore process and facility review. It should include:

• Container security
• Facility physical security
• Procedural security
• Access control
• Supply chain visibility

Social Accountability

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures ensure that those facilities that are part of its supply chain adhere to legal and ethical standards that are based on internationally agreed upon protocols of the UN Global Compact. These include:

• Worker’s rights
• Legal compensation requirements
• Physical working and living conditions
• Worker safety

Environmental Stewardship

A QCA Certified Supplier’s policies and procedures promote an ongoing stewardship of the environment, which includes:

• Compliance with local environmental regulations
• Recycling
• Restriction and monitoring for banned substances
• Resource management

QCA Accreditation: Process

The QCA Certification process is a comprehensive validation that confirms a promotional products supplier has processes in place intended to detect and deter any non-compliant product from entering into the marketplace.

Additionally, QCA Accreditation verifies compliance with local and national laws as well as the laws of the country that may be importing the item for consumption.

The QCA Certification Process harmonizes the ever-increasing array of compliance tools, identifies the most rigorous standards, measures these standards, and continuously revises and updates the measures and methodology to reflect evolving concerns.

How The QCA Accreditation Process Works

Adapted from the analysis of quality defects model, the QCA Accreditation Process focuses on the effective documentation, implementation, enforcement and monitoring of a promotional products supplier company’s policies, procedures and practices. Training and corrective-action feedback are essential characteristics and components of the process.

A third-party testing organization evaluates performance of each facility submitted by a QCA Applicant for Accreditation based on the following grading system for compliance as defined by QCA Standards.

• Critical: If there is failure to implement programs and policies or if there are violations to U.S. import or manufacturing laws, the result is a Critical violation.
• Major: If there is failure to capture the output of process and adjust key processes when there is noncompliance, the result is observed as a Major violation.
• Minor: Issues that may be quickly addressed and improved over a short period (less than a month) result in a Minor violation.

Only QCA-qualified third-party audit providers are authorized to conduct audits of supplier companies on behalf of QCA. All providers are required to employ QCA standardized process tools.

Each QCA Applicant facility receives an overall assessment based on a numeric score compiled from the compliance scorecard:

• Approved: No observations were made and the facility is assessed as meeting QCA Standards, resulting in a score of 91-100.
• Approved With Corrective Action: Third-party findings result in a weighted score of 81-90. Applicant has 90 days to complete documented corrective actions.
• Below Standard: Third-party findings result in a weighted score of 71-80. Documented corrective actions must be completed and resubmitted prior to a follow-up audit.
• Critical: A facility receiving a weighted score below 70 in a compliance area. Documented corrective actions must be completed and resubmitted prior to a required follow up audit.

The assessment process begins with a QCA Applicant’s Company Headquarters, where an Approved or Approved With Corrective Action assessment is required in all five areas of compliance. Once this is achieved, then third-party audits of the supply base commence.

For observed non-compliances, corrective actions may be required. This corrective action may be in the form of documents, photographs or implemented procedures, depending on the nature of the finding. Some corrective actions may only be validated through follow-up audits.

Third-party validation is required to achieve QCA Accreditation. Upon successful completion of the Certification Process, QCA Accreditation and the QCA Seal of Approval will be extended to Certified suppliers for an initial two-year period.

While accreditation is good for two years, it is validated in the second year through monitoring of additional facilities. These random maintenance audits are a critical piece of the ongoing checks and balances established to validate the QCA Certification Program and have become part of the daily best practices for QCA Accredited companies.

QCA Accreditation: Benefits

QCA Certification brings a number of benefits that improve product lines, enhance organizational credibility, and directly impact both top- and bottom-line results.

Industry Leadership And Product Differentiation

• QCA Accredited companies take the leadership role in improving industry standards.
• QCA Accredited companies have a proactive comprehensive compliance program in place to protect the brand equity of the end user clients.
• QCA Accreditation enhances an accredited supplier’s reputation, increases brand value and opens doors to accounts with the most demanding purchasing standards—ultimately growing sales.
• QCA Accreditation differentiates competing product offerings, thereby increasing demand for QCA Certified Suppliers’ products.
• QCA Certification is a searchable field in many industry product-sourcing tools, thus delivering even more differentiation from competitors.
• QCA Certification delivers a greater ROI for new or existing safe product efforts via independent third-party accreditation verses self-certification that isn’t independently evaluated.

Cost Savings For Compliance Program Development and Execution

• The QCA Certification program works toward the standardization of compliance responses for end user clients, which eliminates redundancy and additional unnecessary costs.
• QCA Applicants and Accredited Companies receive testing and auditing cost savings through leveraging their collective testing and auditing services spend.  QCA companies are the industry’s super users of these services.
• The QCA Certification Program reduces audit fatigue because it harmonizes industry standards, resulting in an overall reduction of the number of audits required of industry organizations.
• The framework for a comprehensive compliance program built into QCA Certification simplifies the development process and dramatically reduces the costs associated with developing an independent, supplier-specific solution.
• The gap analysis approach in the QCA Certification Program reduces costs associated with consulting and/or compliance officers because program development is achieved through guided exchanges aimed toward effective policies, procedures and protocols.
• A legitimate third-party audited compliance program can be delivered faster and ROI achieved quicker through QCA Certification.
• The QCA Certification Program allows for storage of testing and certificate of conformity documents.
• QCA Applicants and Accredited Suppliers are eligible for cost reductions on factory audits, product testing and XRF guns.

Cost Savings On Continued Compliance Education

• QCA Accredited Suppliers receive frequent updates and education on all rapidly changing regulatory requirements and how they specifically impact the industry.
• Education and training on new and relevant safety and compliance information are also offered to QCA Accredited Suppliers, keeping them informed of changing global standards.
• QCA Executive Directors attend and report back on CPSC, ICPHSO and other industry product safety conferences.
• CPSC and product safety networking events are also scheduled, allowing QCA Accredited companies to learn best practices from experts and each other.