Supplier Starline USA (PPAI 112719) has been awarded QCA accreditation by the Quality Certification Alliance (PPAI 438711), an independent, non-governmental accreditation organization dedicated to helping promotional products industry companies provide product quality, product safety, supply chain security, social accountability and environmental stewardship. Starline is the third supplier in 2017 to achieve accreditation status by meeting QCA’s rigorous qualifications.
“Starline had developed an extensive compliance program on our own prior to achieving QCA accreditation. However, QCA helped identify areas of our program that needed additional attention while focusing on overall best practices,” says Jeff Hassler, director of financial analysis and compliance. “QCA was a catalyst in growing Starline’s compliance program from internally developed into a world-class program. Compliance in the promotional products industry is a shared responsibility, sometimes fractured by individual perspectives, but at its foundation, the same global compliance objectives. These unified objectives are essential to the long-term health of our industry. QCA provides a unique solution to efficiently communicating Starline’s commitment to compliance to all stakeholders in our industry.”
Tim Brown, MAS, executive director of operations for QCA, adds, “Brand safety through responsible sourcing has become the mantra across QCA’s accredited companies and the QCA Distributor Advocacy Council. As such, we are honored to grant this accreditation to Starline. By placing a priority on brand safety and investing in the resources necessary to go beyond a self-managed program, Starline has joined an elite group of companies that are at the forefront of responsible sourcing and protecting not only end-buyer’s reputations but the industry as well.”
QCA-accredited companies endorse a self-certification, complete a rigorous self-assessment, and then submit their headquarters and their supply base to multiple third-party audits. The QCA board uses a scorecard representing the performance of the applicant and its supply chain on the third-party audits as the foundation for granting accreditation.
