Expert Details
Consumer Product Safety, Regulatory and Retail Compliance, Quality Assurance
ID: 735946
Arkansas, USA
Expert has over 17 years of experience in the consumer products industry, most recently for the Product Safety & Compliance division at Walmart Stores, Inc. He was responsible for managing the regulatory compliance testing and auditing programs / policies / procedures / protocols / practices for general merchandise (non-food) items offered for sale in the Walmart, Walmart.com, Sam's Club, samsclub.com, and Puerto Rico formats. This included direct import, domestic, private label, supplier and national brand items in 20+ departments/categories.
In addition to being employed with the world's largest retailer (and company), Expert was also previously employed with Intertek, a global 3rd party test lab and QA/QC service provider and various consumer product companies, importers and manufacturers.
Expert has experience with the following consumer products areas in various capacities: Toy / Toys, Children's Product / Products, Sporting Goods, Costume & Fine Jewelry, Sunglasses, Watches, Bags and Other Accessories, As Seen On TV, Clip Strips and Impulse, Seasonal & Celebrations, Crafts, Fabrics and Sewing, Furniture (indoor), Outdoor Living (i.e. furniture and grills), Infant Juvenile Baby Hardlines & Consumables, Stationery, Kitchen & Dining, Small Appliances, Bedding & Bath, Home Decor, Storage & Organization, Electronics, Electrical, Lighting, Hardware & Paint, Automotive, Pets, Health Beauty Aids, Cosmetics, Personal Care Products, Household Chemicals & Consumables and other Consumer Products (i.e. softgoods, softlines, hardgoods, hardlines, etc.)
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: | Degree: Bachelor of Science | Subject: Business Information Systems (BS) | Institution: DeVry University |
| Year: | Degree: Master's | Subject: Business Administration | Institution: Keller Graduate School of Management |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2015 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Principal Consultant | Founder | Department: |
Responsibilities:-Providing consumer product safety, retail and regulatory compliance and quality assurance and control consulting services for Walmart and Sam’s Club vendors. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2011 to 2015 | Employer: Walmart Stores Inc. | Title: Testing Manager II | Department: Product Safety & Compliance |
Responsibilities:-Responsible for regulatory compliance testing programs in 20+ departments (sporting goods, toys/children’s, jewelry, crafts, electronics, outdoor, hardware, small appliances, HBA/cosmetics, impulse/checkouts, etc.) for 6 retail formats (Walmart, Sam’s Club, walmart.com, samsclub.com, Puerto Rico). Includes all national/supplier brand, direct import, domestic and private label items.-Demonstrated strong technical knowledge and influence best practices. -Leveraged and strengthened relationships with various approved test labs. -Engaged supplier development by providing continual technical support, failure resolution and supplier education on the program requirements. -Demonstrated the ability to quickly adapt and understand the associated risks and impact to the business in a constant changing & demanding environment. -Collaborated with internal parties to develop process maps and share best practices to design and maintain an effective monitoring program. -Identified deficiencies by utilizing root cause analysis and created corrective action plans to guarantee compliance moving forward. -Published monitoring reports and monthly/quarterly summaries to communicate progress and program development plans to leadership. -Notable monitoring programs: Undue Influence training, CA VOC noncompliant items & in-store audits, CA Pesticides registration, EPA Pesticides claims in-store audits, CARB Composite Wood, E-waste state registration, Drop Ship Vendor- GCC/CPC, Lacey Act, Lead Document Acceptance. -Recognized and capitalized on continuous improvement opportunities (i.e. identified process gaps in the testing program, advised lack of/or misinterpreted criteria on test protocols, aligned testing procedures with labs, investigated questionable test reports, etc.). -Partnered with internal support teams to resolve testing issues and develop actionable resolutions to ensure an improvement plan is communicated and executed in a timely manner. -Monitored the iCiX program to ensure suppliers and labs are regularly maintaining their requests. Played large role in the early development and continuous improvement stages of iCiX. -Notable projects: bb/air soft gun risk assessment, fuel gel/pots investigation, expanded in-store testing, poncho investigation, lab benchmark projects, planned annual lab conferences, XRF/HDXRF study, lab proficiency studies, testing cost studies, and various monitoring programs. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2009 to 2011 | Employer: Readerlink Distribution Services | Title: Quality Assurance Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:-Responsible for 1500+ children’s SKUs spread through 3 juvenile divisions.-Developed and enforced a standardized testing process that complies with US & International toy/children’s standards and customer requirements (Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, BJ’s, Target, Barnes & Noble, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Michaels, The TJX Companies, etc.). -Enhanced the product risk and integrity assessment process for new products. -Evaluated and approved products to meet regulatory, quality and customer requirements through comprehensive reviews of component, pre-production, production test reports. -Developed Oracle-linked database to house test results with reporting tools for trend analysis. -Developed procedures to comply with the CPSIA’s certification of conformity requirements. -Built GCC/CPC website and database tool to auto-generate required regulatory certification. -Provided expert guidance on cost effective testing to global supply chain. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2007 to 2008 | Employer: Intertek | Title: Account Manager, Business Development | Department: |
Responsibilities:-100+ key accounts; managed $2.0M USD in annual sales.-Specialized in toys/children’s product testing and QA inspection; knowledge in soft lines and hardlines products (furniture, soft home, sporting goods, housewares, electrical, consumables, etc.). -Proficient in other quality assurance fields, such as social compliance audits, product risk assessment, import trade security, factory audits, certifications, etc. -Provided innovative solutions and total cost modeling for bundled services. -Executed short-term and long-term strategies to expand business for our clients. -Recommended necessary lab tests, based on the client’s product, wants/ needs, turnaround time, budget, sample location, lab testing capabilities, etc. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2007 | Employer: Jada Toys | Title: Chief Assistant to General Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:-Responsible for Marketing and Consumer Services department.-Defective product testing and analysis reporting. -Composed and executed toy promotional marketing campaigns. -ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system implementation. -Trademark and copyright maintenance. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2002 to 2005 | Employer: Cerwin Fortune | Title: General Manager | Department: |
Responsibilities:-Supervised staff of 10 employees and reported directly to President.-Managed $3.0M USD in annual sales for toy, children’s product and sporting good products. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Associations / Societies |
|---|
| International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization (ICPHSO) member |
| Licenses / Certifications |
|---|
| Certificate in Product Safety Analysis – St. Louis University Certificate in Product Risk Assessment – St. Louis University Certified Quality Improvement Associate – American Society for Quality |
Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| Number of Times Deposed/Testified in Last 4 Yrs: 1 |
Language Skills
| Language | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| English | Native proficiency |
| Mandarin Chinese | Professional working proficiency |
Fields of Expertise
consumer product, product liability, product safety, consumer product safety, CPSC, consumer product safety commission, regulatory compliance, retail compliance, quality assurance, quality control, laboratory testing, inspection, auditing, federal state local compliance, CPSIA, consumer product safety improvement act