This interactive panel will follow the product safety path of millennial inspired and innovative products from the initial product pitch to dealing with product safety issues and customer communications crises in the age of social media and online reviews. The session will also demonstrate how the millennial and centennial generations are driving changes in the consumer product marketplace that are increasingly impacting product safety and engage the audience on how to deal with new and traditional types of product safety issues with modern products aimed at connected consumers.
Emerging technology in the consumer products market is growing faster than ever. Products in our daily life are getting smarter: from wearable electronics and fashion accessories to virtual reality and 3D printing. With this growth come challenges and questions: Are the products safe? Do they work? Who is monitoring risk? How are they regulated? The panel will discuss these questions and how each stakeholder group approaches this evolving world of new products.
Safe is not simply ‘free of risk’; instead a product is deemed safe when its attendant risks are judged to be tolerable. The determination of safe requires both a risk assessment and a judgment of the tolerance of the risks.
Risk tolerance is one of the most difficult and controversial decisions regulators, industry, risk managers and consumers make. A number of examples demonstrate an apparent inconsistent determination of risk tolerance:
· Products with zero reported incidents can be recalled globally
· Products involved in fatalities may remain in the marketplace for years
· Products banned in one country are ok to sell in another
· Products with known risks may be deemed more tolerable/controllable than the ones unknown
The tolerability of product safety risk is influenced by policy, culture, and familiarity along with numerous other factors. This session presents an interesting dynamic with panel discussions and audience interaction.
With a new Administration, there are inevitably implications for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission including new leadership, funding levels and priorities. What will new leadership look like and mean for the CPSC? What do changes in the makeup of the House and Senate mean for product safety efforts? What are the priorities of stakeholder groups? What is the best way to achieve product safety goals in this new era? Participants in this plenary will include experts who represent all segments of the product safety community.
Takashi Tatsumi was appointed as the 4th President of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE) on April 1, 2015.
Prior to joining the NITE, Dr. Tatsumi served as Executive Vice President for Research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He also served as Vice-president for the International Zeolite Association. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the British Zeolite Association. He is also an editor of the Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical.
His achievements are outstanding and he has won many awards. The main prizes are as follows: Catalysis Society of Japan Award in 2003, Science & Technology Award from the Minister of Education & Science in 2005, Japan Petroleum Institute Award in 2006, Chemical Society of Japan Award in 2007, and Alwin Mittasch Prize from DECHEMA, the expert network for chemical engineering and biotechnology in Germany, in 2012.
He obtained his Ph.D. in engineering from The University of Tokyo.
Must compliance and risk management always be just a cost of doing business? Or is there a way to make those investments actually pay off—in better sourcing decisions, improved supply-chain collaboration, brand promotion, greater customer loyalty, and new business? These panelists will discuss companies that are automating the collection of product safety and compliance information, and using it to meet company-wide strategic goals. Some are now ready to make this information available in stores and online, to consumers poised to make buying decisions. What does it take, and how should you plan to make this pivotal transformation for your business? This session will help attendees understand how companies make the transition from compliance, testing and certification as a necessary cost, to enterprise-wide initiatives and information-sharing that help these savvy technology adopters generate revenue and surpass their competition.
