Why offering Operationnal Consulting



This story is purely imaginary.

To avoid this story to happen..

PLASTI-XXXX, based in Lorraine, is a French company that manufactures plastic bags for the food industry. Its business is growing well mainly with its key customer FOOD-YYY * Intl that represents 60% of its market.

Its main customer, FOOD-YYY Intl, based in Denmark, conditions sugar in 30 kg plastic bags. Its customers are big companies in the food industry. FOOD-YYY * Intl is a partner of PLASTI-XXXX fro many years. They know each other very well.

On September 8th, 2013, at 18:35, PLASTI-XXXX quality manager receives the following message from his counterpart of FOOD-YYY * Intl:

« Hi Denis, I hope you had good holidays this summer. I’d like to inform you that we have just received a complaint from a customer saying that they have found red fine particles in our sugar bags. We don’t know more today and are awaiting more information from the customer. They are suspecting those particles may come from your bags. We have asked them what bags lots numbers are concerned, but we think they gave us, uncompleted data (5 digits numbers only… ?) as on our production lines today we have bags references with 10 digits (e.g. 12 256 569 23 B). Can you come back to us rapidily with some explainations, thanks ».

At 6:38 p.m., PLASTI-XXXX quality manager , tired from its work day, quickly answers to his FOOD-YYY * Intl, counterpart before switching off his computer:

« Hello Torsten, good to hear from you, we know this story, some others customers came back to us recently with the same issue of red fine particles. We have identified the problem on our production line and some lots last year maybe be concerned with this issue (from # 12 245 … to 12 264…). Every think is under control now, please let us know when you know more from your customer, bye, say hello to your family ! »

On September 18th 2013, PLASTI-XXXX Genral Manager, located at the headquarters in Paris, receives the following registered letter from the Legal Director of FOOD-YYY * Intl. :

« Dear Sir, We are facing several critical situations with our customers being delivered with our products contained in your bags. In 2012, PLASTI-XXXX* have delivered to FOOD-YYY* Intl., plant, 65.560 lm of Plastic Bags, lots numbers 12245, 12246, 12247, 12252, 12253, 12258, 12259, 12260. Those plastics bags have been used to fill 347.689 tons of Sugar to our customers in Japan, South Africa and Brazil. On September 8th, 2013, our customers in Japan have reported red particles on frozen prepared food using sugar delivered by FOOD-YYY* Intl. We have checked lots numbers of those complaint deliveries to Japan and they all fit with lots numbers that you have listed as being non compliant in your mail dated Sept 8th (…red particles problems .. on lots from #12245 to #12264).

We have reviewed all our productions concerned with the non-compliant deliveries from PLASTI-XXXX* on this period. The following deliveries to our customers are concerned :
Japan : 2.356 tons of prepared food made,
South Africa : 1.427 tons of prepared food made,
Brazil : 892 tons of prepared food made,
TOTAL 4.675 TONS.

We have asked those customers to check their productions and they all found red partciles in their products. We have, immediatelty, asked our customers to block these products. Unfortunatelly for several of them the concerned products have already been distributed to large supermakets and sold to final users. Our customers have to informed local governemental services and organized large recall campaigns. To date, the amount of the prejudice supported by our customers and FOOD-YYY* Intl is estimated to be at least of 4.500.000 €.

We consider PLASTI-XXXX* as being responsible of those disorders.

We formally ask you to report this complaint to your insurer and inform you that, with no response from your company within the next 10 days, we will send this case to the Court. Regards.

On October 2nd; 2013, FOOD-YYY assigned PLASTI-XXXX to the local court.



* Names used in the story have been invented..

Discover the module "Educate your teams"

Educate your teams confronted with complaints or schedule an awareness session.