Do you know that you should never remove your grade stamps throughout the manufacturing process?
The old joke, “can I be arrested for removing a mattress tag?”, is alive and well on the internet. The threatening language still confounds the naive. But, if you’ve lawfully purchased a pillow or mattress with one of these tags, the answer is no, you will not be arrested. It’s only against the law to remove the tag prior to the sale and delivery to the final consumer. Essentially, that means sellers can’t remove a “stamp, tag, label, or other identification” on a pillow or mattress; only consumers can. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
Sellers who remove or mutilate a tag before sale or delivery of a mattress or pillow can potentially be held liable for an unfair method of competition and an unfair or deceptive act or practice, under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Why are we talking about this subject? Recently, while in the process of auditing a component manufacturer, I heard a very unfamiliar sound emanating from a shed close to my location. My curiosity got the best of me, so while waiting on some design documents I wandered over to the source of the sound to investigate.
A truss plant worker was diligently using a vibratory sander, sanding the stamped area of the lumber member removing the stamp. Glancing over to boards recently placed on the live deck leading to their linear saw, I saw several boards with a bright, recently sanded area at one end of each board.
Needless to say, I was now very interested in what was being accomplished and, more importantly, why. Asking questions, I quickly determined the worker, at the request of management, was told to eliminate the stamps. He explained that he did not know the reason but that it was necessary for this particular job.
Red lights were flashing in my mind. I ran through the legitimate reasons this might be necessary. I was unable to accumulate any reasonable responses as to why legitimate grade stamps, such as those shown in the photos, should be removed.
I started to consider the illegitimate reasons. Was the grade of the lumber incorrect? Was the proper grade of lumber not available? Was there a misunderstanding? Could this job have specified that, since the project was exposed, the end user did not want grade marks to be shown? The last conjecture may have been the reason, but was the component manufacturer allowed to remove grade stamps? The answer is no. Never.
Think of this as the rule that governs the removal of tags from your pillows or mattress. The warning states “by penalty of law, tag cannot be removed unless by end user.” This law was passed many decades ago to prevent manufacturers from substituting inferior materials by selling it as something else. This is exactly why the component manufacturer cannot remove lumber grades.
The Bottom Line
In this situation, just so you are aware, the lumber that was altered could no longer be used in the components. Instead, it had to be treated as if it were never graded.
Trackability must be maintained throughout the manufacturing process. If your customer wants the stamp removed, then you must let him do the deed.
Make sure to visit me in the Timber Products Inspection Booth #212 at BCMC Columbus in September