During the last decade we’ve seen the number of companies, especially in the consumer products sector, outsourcing such functions as manufacturing and packaging to streamline processes, reduce costs, and focus on core competencies. Although there are obvious benefits to outsourcing, there are complexities that come along with it.

No longer can you walk down to your manufacturing or packaging areas and check on whether quality or cleaning processes are being enforced, especially when you are headquartered in Chicago and your plant is in Tianjin City, China.

You need to ensure that your entire enterprise’s operations and processes—including those at your contract manufacturers and suppliers—meet the required standards. This is especially important to a company that owns the brand because it will bear the brunt of regulatory, media, and consumer scrutiny if there are any quality issues or product recalls.

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