Material selection and product safety: theory versus practice

The role of material development and selection as well as product safety and liability is explored in this paper. The paper presents a conceptual framework which facilitates an interface between material selection and product safety/liability at the three planning-horizon levels of strategic, intermediate, and tactical. The five specific areas of interface include: (1) strategic material development and usage, (2) product safety, (3) product liability, (4) materials selection and testing and (5) materials usage and processing. Then, five propositions pertaining to each area of interface at each level of planning are proposed and evaluated for a company as an example. The results indicate that the company performed well for two propositions (2) and (3); and performed very poorly for three propositions (1), (4) and (5). The company had to comply with stringent safety and regulatory requirements but was under no internal or external pressure to improve its material development, selection, and processing practices. Finally, the conclusions, assessment, and future research directions are presented. Additional recommendations, prerequisites, or guidelines for effective incorporation of the propositions for the company or other companies that might embark on similar programs are proposed. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.