Version 7 audit experience

As July approaches I would be very interested to hear from any Food Manufacturers that have been the first to be audited against version 7 of the BRC. Especially regarding the new clauses around threat/vulnerabity.

This is great, I would also like to hear from anyone that has audited against the new standard/clauses.

Please count me in too especially from the fruit producers and packing areas in the UK.

Our first version 7 audit is scheduled around August 20th. And then again Aug 24th - 25th, and then again Aug 26th - 27t... 3 audits in a row, same auditor, same type of process! I will let you know how it goes. Vulnerability is something quite relevant for us as we are dealing with many IPM products.

I will try to remember to come here after our 3 audits!

Our Company is scheduled for end of July.

I will forward findings or comments afterwards.

My first BRC 7 audit is scheduled August 13th.

Doing a lot of IFS audits at the moment.

Also very curious on results and experiences.

Would be great to hear how the new version 7 audits go!

Hello
Does anybody know about BRC7 NC raised so far?

I was very unlucky. My BRC V7 audit was the 1st July. We are completely unannounced, I was shocked when they turned up at the door. 

 

We received 9 NC's most were because of fabrication. I had 1 for HACCP as I hadn't included equipment. 2.14.1 and then I had 1 for TACCP where I hadn't included Economics. We are very low risk and only pack 3rd party. Economics were considered but not recorded.

 

I was very happy with 9. 

 

I'm now just waiting for them to turn up at my other site.

 

Good luck to everyone that's waiting for there audit.

I was very unlucky. My BRC V7 audit was the 1st July. We are completely unannounced, I was shocked when they turned up at the door. 

 

We received 9 NC's most were because of fabrication. I had 1 for HACCP as I hadn't included equipment. 2.14.1 and then I had 1 for TACCP where I hadn't included Economics. We are very low risk and only pack 3rd party. Economics were considered but not recorded.

 

I was very happy with 9. 

 

I'm now just waiting for them to turn up at my other site.

 

Good luck to everyone that's waiting for there audit.

 

So did you get A+?

We sure did.

 

:biggrin:

I was very unlucky. My BRC V7 audit was the 1st July. We are completely unannounced, I was shocked when they turned up at the door. 

 

We received 9 NC's most were because of fabrication. I had 1 for HACCP as I hadn't included equipment. 2.14.1 and then I had 1 for TACCP where I hadn't included Economics. We are very low risk and only pack 3rd party. Economics were considered but not recorded.

 

I was very happy with 9. 

 

I'm now just waiting for them to turn up at my other site.

 

Good luck to everyone that's waiting for there audit.

What do you mean by economics, is that the possibility of having substandard product substituted unawares

This is what we put, like i say we are 3rd party packers and and orange is an orange. 

 

Likelihood of Occurrence Summary:     Historical Incidents No incidents recorded by **. Incidents are monitored by a customer Current/ emerging concerns Out of spec product packing out of the same batch. Economic Factors To be monitored by a customer. ** packs as per customer's specification to an agreed price. No organic products are packed. Ease of access No specific issues relating to access Availability To be monitored by a customer. ** has no responsibility of sourcing the product Availability of adulterants/ complexity and cost of committing fraud fraud will not be profitable as there is no exclusivity or cheaper options Likelihood of occurrence Unlikely fraudulent activities by **

Well done Claire...very brave.

I started a new topic on the subject of grading. :smile:

Hi Claire,

 

Thank you for your openness on your experience, it really helps to hear what is being picked up, especially on the new topics. Congratulations!

Hi All.

 

Please count me in too for any NCs - especially vulnerability etc.

 

I have had lots of advice and this area seems extremely open to interpretation.

 

Thanks,

 

Ed. 

Me too! Thanks

I must check this out more thoroughly 9 minors, including a HACCP minor and that's an A+?  5 minors gets you marked down from Excellent to Good in SQF.

Issue 7 Grading.

 

Marshall

I am also really interested in any results as I too feel that the there is scope for lots of interpretation on vulnerability and supply chain.

Thanks

C X

Be prepared, we were trained by an approved BRC trainer (April 2015)the audit we went thorugh after being pre-assessed by the Technical director of our CB (May 2015), and the audit did not fare as well as expected (end of July 2015). The time commitment is an issue to watch for, if the audit is 20 hrs, there is a + or - of 30% additional time allowed in the guidance documents on BRC Participate. The auditor is required to spend 50% of the time on the floor, which will take away from documentation reviews.

Be aware of during the audit that the Non conformances must be identified, our auditor provided a blanket statement that if it is said it may come up later, we had a rushed closing meeting due to extension of time.

During the course of the audit, auditors may identify non-conformities or areas for further investigation. Any such non-conformities must be identified at the time to the site representative accompanying the auditor(s). This is important as it:

ensures that the potential non-conformity has not resulted from a misunderstanding, for example by allowing the information to be discussed with relevant people in the area

helps to avoid conflict at the closing meeting.

There arr other issues involved at this point and it is not meant to be a horror show review, but things to watch for.

The auditors were also told to drill further down than previously.

Our first version 7 audit is scheduled around August 20th. And then again Aug 24th - 25th, and then again Aug 26th - 27t... 3 audits in a row, same auditor, same type of process! I will let you know how it goes. Vulnerability is something quite relevant for us as we are dealing with many IPM products.

I will try to remember to come here after our 3 audits!

so how did the version 7 audits go?

Thanks for the advice, Jeffrey - all I see is a three-olive martini, not a question funnel (sorry)

 

On the serious side, I'm surprised to read that the auditor is required to spend 50% of the time on the floor.  Have the others that have had BRC 7 audits observed floor level audits of similar duration?

So... 3 audits later! (Sorry for the late reply - I've been busy in the last few weeks!)

 

It went fairly well. We had the same auditor as last year for our 3 sites. The audits were pretty much the same. The new clauses in Version 7 did not create any issue. However, please note that we do not use agents / brokers so this was not reviewed, even though we updated our corporate policies to cover that (as other of our sites do use agents / brokers).

 

In our industry, we have several products with claims. These claims are achieved by the suppliers so it makes it that much easier for us - it is controlled through our supplier approval program / claim verification program. Our product is like a banana - it has its own natural packaging, so the product is not vulnerable to substitution either. But anyway, we had our risk assessments / vulnerability assessments completed and ready for the auditor to review. The auditor was satisfied with our approach, as we took everything into account. Some specific situations (like the fact that we grow our own product, on top of buying it from others) were fully addressed / assessed. I actually think it is a good thing that we now have that documented. Too often, we take things for granted. However, some wise person / Company may try to sell products that do not meet the standards / claims and get away with it. Let's mitigate this risk!

 

The auditor spent the same amount of time in the plant as last year. I would think that roughly 50% is right. With BRC, we are now used to have them longer in our plants, and I am perfectly fine with it.

Any questions - please let me know!

Just thought I would share

 

We have just had another unannounced audit at our other site. 

 

We received 5 minors which means we are a AA+ site.

 

I am very proud of both my sites

 

The 1st July one site was graded A+ and now the other site is AA+

 

I am a very happy Quality Manager

 

:happydance: