All,
I recently started with a new company. We are a low risk flavor ingredient powder manufacturer under SQF 8.0 Level 2 (Manufacturing).
They have been under SQF for 3-4 years with no major concerns(97,98,97 scores).
Our previous QA and Consultant had a goal of SQF Quality, however never started the process. Is SQF Quality Worth the Investment for a ingredient manufacturer?
Here are a few of my thoughts or questions:
1. We are a small ingredient manufacturer (25ppl), not consumable retail goods- while some of our suppliers may like the idea, its not a necessary requirement. Most companies in our industry are FSSC 22000.
2. SPC controls- We weigh all boxes individually and verify scales daily using Nist MaV standards. The need for trending is low risk due to have one box size and small quantity of orders, and a validated calibration program. We are not a retail manufacturer with high speed lines producing 1000/ bottles a minute at a juice manufacturing facility. The cost of a MT scale- for this purpose for a FIRE EXPLOSION ROOM is $10,000k plus.
3. QMS- I created a QMS based on our current FS plan. We are currently performing Quality checks but not to the level of SQF 3(QUALITY). If our program did exist-Our QCP is NaCL levels, which is important for our products. We do not ship with OOS NaCl, due to a major CP with our customers and end-use.
4. Personnel- Currently we do not have a large QA staff- would need to add another within 1 year for SQF Quality.
5. Continuous Improvement-Currently building a state of the art Biosafety 2 lab- for pathogens and a chemistry lab for all laboratory tests. All tests are outsourced currently.
In all, we are doing the right things and moving in the right direction, however we our unsure about SQF Quality. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions? I would personally rather go for a ISO cert to get our lab approved for Lab testing for all our 'sister sites' vs sqf level 3. I do not see a direct benefit of an additional audit/cost.