Mattel Case Analysis : Toy Safety

This is really important because if there are toys on lying on the floor carelessly it is more likely that a child could trip over it or put it in their mouth and injury themselves with it.

An elementary toy that is due to be shipped at the end of the week has failed quality control testing. A metal whistle has been shown to exceed the federal regulation guidelines for lead. The testing process showed the lead level for this particular toy tested at 103 parts per million. The federal guidelines dictate that toys cannot contain lead with more than 100 parts per million (OSHA, 2013). The projected cost to conform to federal guidelines and replace the whistle are

While Mattel had been a leader in safety standard and regulation, even collaborating with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) as well as establishing Global Manufacturing Principals (GMPs) the regulatory standards in place were not thorough enough. In 2007, quality issues surfaced within Mattel as various products were found to contain levels way beyond U.S. federal toy safety regulations. During the year, other issues surfaced with Mattel products surrounding the safety

The problem surrounding Mattel Inc. is their mismanagement of international subcontractors and vendors and the production of certain toys (the manufacturing process), as well as their inability to adapt their marketing strategy or product to the constantly changing “demographic and socioeconomic trends.” This is supported by Mattel’s legal battle with Carter Bryant and MGA, their forced recall of certain toys that were manufactured overseas, and the increasing rate at which traditional toys are becoming less appealing to today’s young audience. Essentially, Mattel’s mismanagement and oversight lead to violations in terms of ethical and social responsibilities and safety standards.

The biggest environment force affected Mattel recently has been legal and regulatory with the high levels of lead paint found in their die-cast toys in 2007. This issue created a voluntary recall from Mattel for over 2 million toys and created doubt in customers to the quality of their Mattel toys. Mattel responded by immediately implementing a check system to accept paint only from certified suppliers, tightened controls throughout the production process and testing every production run to ensure compliance. Mattel said that it is working in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies worldwide. Mattel is also working with retailers worldwide to identify and remove affected products from retail shelves.

In this day and age consumers always want more and they want it at the lowest price possible, but are they willing to risk the danger that could derive from it? Hundreds of thousands of toys are imported daily from overseas countries, such as China, into the United States, some toys are inspected for irregularities, but most are not. This may not seem like such a problem but the truth of the matter is that it is one of the larger problems in the nation right now. Children’s toys imported from China are found to be contaminated with high levels of lead and infecting American children with lead poisoning. Some people may say that this is an unnecessary argument, that China isn’t doing anything harmful, maybe it was just a few faulty toys,

All toys and equipment must relevant to the child’s age and stage of development and comply with BSEN benchmarks for safety.

We have a large shipment of our elementary toy collection scheduled ship at the end of this week but have encountered a problem with the production. One of the products in this collection has failed the quality control testing exceeding the legal limits of lead set by the federal government. This shipment will be delivered to South American schools. As of August 14, 2011 the total legal lead content must not exceed 100 parts per million for a product (CPSC 2013). Our levels tested above these limits and require us to take action. To reproduce this product it will cost the company

Mattel is a global toy company that has been around since 1949. They are the company that introduced Barbie and Hot Wheels to the world as well as many others toys. Mattel has license agreements with Walt Disney and Nickelodeon. In

In analyzing ratios, we recognized an improvement in both return on equity and return on asset ratios if we adopt the level monthly production.

To achieve this about 65 percent of its toy manufacturing was moved to Asia where its products could be produced cheaper. In doing so Mattel now has to work within the culture of its manufacturing facilities to ensure healthy and safe operations to its employees. This means that wage, possible child labor, and other ethical issues could arise, thus as stated before the Global Manufacturing Principles were created and implemented.

Design –Toys are designed by a small and selected group of people who develop the concepts for the products.

In the past four years, Mattel has had to recall nearly 30 million of toys due to safety concerns such as lead level in paint, magnets and dangerous toy parts or design.

Others felt that they should consider Indonesia as a way to take advantage of low labor costs and very attractive exchange rates. Mattel currently operated a plant in Indonesia that produced Barbie® dolls. Montalto had to decide whether Mattel should go forward with the new China plant, build a plant in Malaysia or Indonesia, expand one of the existing facilities, or outsource the surplus die-cast volume through VOA. Company Background Based in California, Mattel, Inc designed, manufactured, and marketed a broad variety of toy products. The company’s core product lines included Barbie fashion dolls, Hot Wheels die- cast toy vehicles, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fisher-Price preschool toys, and Disney toys. Most of these toys were made overseas, primarily in southeast Asia. Mattel had wholly owned manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Italy. Mattel was founded in 1944 by Elliot and Ruth Handler. Neither Elliot nor Ruth had much business experience or capital, but they both had dreams. The post World War II demographics of a huge baby boom plus a virtually toyless marketplace provided a unique opportunity to gain a place in a growing toy market. Mattel’s first products, simple picture frames and doll house furniture, met with mixed success. The first really big hit was a music box. By partnering with another toy inventor, they developed a music box that could be

The Corporate name, founding date, founding leaders. Toys R Us Inc., founding date was 1948 and the founding leader was Charles P Lazarus. The company, which was originated in Washington D.C. was named Children’s Bargain Town.