3.5.1.2 - Supplier Approval
Hello everyone! Hope you can assist me.
We are a winery that also buy in huge amounts of bulk wine. Most of the other wineries don't have GFSI certification. Out of the 60 wineries we buy from only 7 are accredited. I won't be able to audit all theses wineries. It will be a full time job. How do I approve them without GFSI certification and supplier audits?
Kind regards
Ninke
Supplier questionnaire, send it to your suppliers & have them fill out all the GMPs and any Food Safety/Security measures they take and by reviewing this annually you can see if they are making any progress towards furthering their systems.
I agree with pooled. You should build your own SAQ (supplier assessment questionnaire) from your favorite GFSI standard and enhance it so it asks for the specific information you need for your assessment. We base ours on the relevant BRC standards, but enhance by asking about ethical standards, lab systems and finished product handling which are not in the standards at the level we require.
You may find that you want to audit some of them when you read their responses. Our experience is that a traceability test is a good guide to their abilities, and can substitute for a site visit.
I received a NC in our last audit because they aren't GFSI certified and evidence of supplier audit could not be given. Supplier assessments wasn't sufficient...
I thought of bringing Clause 3.5.1.4 in here and using product testing before and after receival to verify product quality?
You might be able to argue that a traceability exercise is an audit. It will cover many areas of a full site visit and does give you a good view of their competence. I forgot to mention that we also ask for a range of supporting information in our SAQ such full HACCP plan including process flow, copies of other audits, quality policy, EH&S and authenticity.
It's true that there's no substitute for a site visit as it gives you a feel for the site and the way it works that an SAQ cannot. However, once you've assessed the risk, you should put a rolling 3-4 year audit plan in place. You don't have to do them all in 1 year, but 4 years is probably the maximum time you can leave. If you have a tight audit document, you should be able to complete each in 1-2 days, so visiting 3 in a week if they're close should be possible. I know it's 12 weeks, but it will also help you build a relationship and it might improve the commercial discussions as you're demonstrating your commitment to them.
Hi,
You can use supplier questionnaires based on GFSI requirements.
Any non conformances found will need to be corrected in order for the supplier to supply. Ensure that you get some evidence that this is on place (photos, documents, etc).
It is more than possible that the supplier will refuse to carry out some of the corrective actions, in which case they cannot be approved.
Some further options became more clear post 2015 following certain BRC clarifications as detailed elsewhere in this forum.