Manufacturing companies in the United States must comply with a variety of regulatory standards, guidelines, and legal requirements to operate. From EAR, ITAR, and OSHA regulations, to GMP recommendations and beyond, the compliance landscape is complex and constantly changing. While tackling these challenges head-on can feel daunting, putting compliance on the back burner risks serious financial and legal consequences for your business.
A proactive compliance strategy ensures your company stays ahead of key regulatory requirements, empowering your team to identify and resolve potential issues before they escalate into costly problems. While proactive compliance requires an upfront investment, addressing risks early prevents expensive shutdowns, reputational damage, and lost trust from partners and buyers.
Here are five key steps your company should take to build a culture of proactive compliance:
1. Prepare Your Employees
True proactive compliance requires 100-percent buy-in from all of your employees. Build a well-structured compliance training program into employee onboarding that helps your team understand crucial standards and protocols and why they matter. Emphasize the importance of compliance in daily operations, including the specific efforts each job role needs to make in compliance efforts.
Don’t let training just begin and end during onboarding, though. Mandate regular, updated organization-wide training updates with incentives for completion so that all team members stay involved in compliance efforts. When employees identify and address non-compliance risks and gaps in your protocols, recognize their efforts to reinforce a culture of accountability.
2. Screen Contractors
Manufacturers frequently rely on outside contractors and subcontractors, which introduces compliance risks that employee training alone cannot mitigate. Unlike full-time staff, these personnel may have varying qualifications, schedules, and insurance requirements, limiting your direct oversight.
Make sure you’re informing contractors about any rules and regulations they must follow every time they check into your sites. Keep updated records on all of their necessary qualifications and insurance, including a system that flags when certain qualifications may expire, so you can ensure everyone on your factory floors is completely up to date.
3. Implement Compliance Self-Audits
Practicing regular internal audits and inspections ensures your team is ready for, not fearful of, inspectors. Knowing exactly what information you may need for specific audit types like ITAR or FSMA and how to collect it quickly also means minimal interruptions to your operations when a real audit does occur.
Unannounced ‘“surprise”’ audits can also expose gaps in your compliance efforts. For example: Would your staff be able to pull data on everyone who visited your North American facilities within the last two years, or will they be slowed down because all of that information is in a paper logbook hidden at the back of a storeroom? Simulating real audit scenarios enables your team to address potential risks before they become actual problems.
4. Build In Consistent Protocol Reviews
The manufacturing regulatory landscape is constantly changing, so it’s also critical that you continually evaluate your compliance posture and keep it updated in accordance with the relevant rules that govern your industry. When the time comes for an audit, ignorance of a new requirement won’t be an excuse for non-compliance.
Set a regular schedule to review your protocols, like whether a new product or partnership may require your company to comply with additional guidelines. This review is also a good time to evaluate your contractor and subcontractor policies and the compliance efforts of any of your partners and vendors.
5. Enforce Visitor-Relevant Compliance Guidelines
Employee and contractor compliance are only part of the equation. External visitors—such as delivery drivers, interview candidates, and maintenance workers—also pose compliance risks and should be included in your protocols.
Consider key compliance factors for every visitor such as:
- ITAR-related citizenship status
- Escort requirements for restricted areas
- Proper safety equipment.
Maintain secure, comprehensive records of visitor entries, relevant details, and acknowledgment of compliance protocols to safeguard your business during audits and security incidents.
Creating a Culture of Proactive Compliance
Embedding proactive compliance into your company culture helps you eliminate guesswork and ‘what-if’ scenarios. Your team will naturally follow protocols that protect your facilities and products while ensuring visitors do the same. Additionally, a proactive approach can provide strategic advantages, helping your business adapt to shifting regulations more effectively than competitors who rely on outdated checklists.
Ready to strengthen your compliance strategy? If you’re still relying on paper logbooks to track visitors, Receptful helps global enterprise manufacturers secure access points and monitor employees and guests across all facilities. Join an upcoming product tour to see how Receptful can help your business minimize compliance risks and enhance security.
