2 replies to this topic

[Liliana Moreno]

Hello Every one, 

I am writing to get some professional support, I started working in a family owned company that at the moment has HACCP certification. They want to get BRC and to do that they hired me to update the current system. I have experience in GMP and HACCP Documentation and implementation. Looking at the detail of the BRC Issue 8, there are a lot of requirement that the company do not meet, the main I am concerned  at the moment related to Standard 1 an 3.

For I can see and read about it is basically the ISO 9000 requirements and at the moment the company does not have (at least on papers) mission, vision, objectives or organisational structure or something clear, so I suppose I have to create it.

They are not in a rush and the general manager is somehow committed. The company has approximately 10 to 15 employers on plant and 3 admin.  

And the fundamental reason to get BRC is to put our product in Costco and Aldi. 

I would like to have your guidance and experiences about how to develop that ISO 9000 parameters in a practical way to the company. 

 

I really appreciate your  cooperation. 

 

Kind regards 

 

Liliana

[Charles.C]

Hello Every one, 

I writing to get some professional support, I started working in a family owned company that at the moment  has HACCP certification. They want to get BRC and to do that they hire me to update the  current system I have experience in GMP and HACCP Documentation and implementation. Looking at the detail of the BRC Issue 8, there are a lot of requirement that the company do not meet, the main I am concerned  at the moment related to Standard 1 an 3.

For I can see an read about it it is basically the ISO 9000 requirements and at the moment the company does not have (at least on papers) mission, vision, objectives or organisational structure or something clear, so I suppose I have to create it.

They are not in a rush and the general manager is somehow committed. The company has approximately 10 to 15 employers on plant and 3 admin.  

And the fundamental reason to get BRC is  put our product in Costco and Aldi. 

I would like to have your guidance and experiences about how to develop that ISO 9000 parameters in a practical way to the company. 

 

I really appreciate your  cooperation. 

 

Kind regards 

 

Liliana

 

Hi Liliana,

 

I foresee (from my own experiences) a quite large undertaking.

 

A few suggestions -

 

(1) I suggest you invest in the BRC Interpretation Guidelines. Sometimes the Standard is IMO almost mystically incomprehensible (similar to ISO9000). (The early BRC versions were more user-friendly and even contained hints as to how to respond to the clauses !)

 

(2) Many of yr queries may well have been answered already here. A (rather hidden) search option is here -

 

https://www.ifsqn.co...earch_in=forums

 

(3) JFI a complete BRC Package written by an expert, highly experienced Forum member (Tony-C) is available here -

 

https://www.ifsqn.co...tion-programmes

(note the free samples) (IIRC some direct assistance is also part of the Package)

 

(4) Don't hesitate to post a query on the interpretation of specific clauses. Most BRC users here have previously encountered similar "brick walls" (although BRC keep thinking of new ones !)

 

Good Luck !

[pHruit]

For I can see and read about it is basically the ISO 9000 requirements and at the moment the company does not have (at least on papers) mission, vision, objectives or organisational structure or something clear, so I suppose I have to create it.

They are not in a rush and the general manager is somehow committed. The company has approximately 10 to 15 employers on plant and 3 admin.  

 

Hi Liliana,

Charles is spot on with the suggestion to purchase the Interpretation Guide - it really is essential for some of the elements of the standard. If you've already registered with a certification body you may also have free access to this through BRC Participate, but if not then it well worth the £62.50/£125 for a copy. You'll save more than this in the cost of your time spent not trying to figure out what exactly they mean in some of the clauses

 

As you're a relatively small site, my suggestion would be to try to not overthink the requirements. e.g. Your organisational chart will be relatively compact and simple, because your business is relatively small - you don't need to turn it into a huge diagram to impress an auditor, you just need to show how your structure works so it's clear.

Similarly the objectives in 1.1.3 / 1.1.4 are mentioned specifically in the context of the "safety, legality and quality", so whilst the business may want to develop (or formalise) broader targets, for the purposes of BRC you can focus on these.