Recent months have seen major car recalls by GM and Ford Motor Co. They're just the latest in a seemingly endless series of failures. Can this trend be stopped? Automotive recalls are serious business. Past component and system failures have resulted in multiple injuries and deaths. Even when the problem doesn't threaten passenger safety, it can have huge ramifications for manufacturers and brand reputation. On this episode, we speak with Robin Hopper, senior vice president of product management with Intelex Technologies Inc., a provider of software for managing environmental, health, safety and quality issues for regulatory compliance. He explains why system failures and subsequent recalls keep happening, how the growing complexity of global supply chains is at least partly to blame, and what steps carmakers can take to increase quality assurance and improve communications with both suppliers and consumers. Recalls might be inevitable, but their frequency and severity can be controlled through better supply-chain management.