Tasks of a QA

Good Morning World. :-) :spoton:

I would like to hear your opinion on the tasks of QA in the production plant. My bosses want me to do some stuff which i think are not related to the QA field, and since I am new to the field there is not a lot of previous experience. They want me to make new and old spec sheets for the products that we are making in Adobe Illustrator. Verify and order labels. Contact companies for repair and all other sort of stuff that are not really in my responsibility imho. Can somebody share what are the tasks of a requalr QA in a food production industry?

Thanks for your help guys. :helpplease:

Labels and specs are your responsibility-----or at least you should have signing authority on the final product (i,e. your signature on final versions)

as for repairs etc. it really should be maintenance manager taking care of that .............

Oh boy, that's so different and depends on many factors like staff availability, personality of company owners, finances, etc. I've worked for several companies and some of them, being pretty small, had several qa staff sharing their duties, however others, having enough money but greedy owners, had only one qa (me). I was doing everything plus a little bit more:) My friend's working for a big company as a qa, but making no documents or signing nothing, just watching the line people and helping on runs sometimes.

Labels and specs are your responsibility-----or at least you should have signing authority on the final product (i,e. your signature on final versions)

 

as for repairs etc. it really should be maintenance manager taking care of that .............

Yes, spec sheets in their most basic form like excel and end product of labels for approval for allergens and stuff  but not creating them from scratch? Right?

And what to do if we have no maintenance manager?

Oh boy, that's so different and depends on many factors like staff availability, personality of company owners, finances, etc. I've worked for several companies and some of them, being pretty small, had several qa staff sharing their duties, however others, having enough money but greedy owners, had only one qa (me). I was doing everything plus a little bit more:) My friend's working for a big company as a qa, but making no documents or signing nothing, just watching the line people and helping on runs sometimes.

Which runs are we talking about?

Yes, spec sheets in their most basic form like excel and end product of labels for approval for allergens and stuff  but not creating them from scratch? Right?

And what to do if we have no maintenance manager?

As per Post3. 

In many situations, regardless of yr job description (do you have one ?)  the practical answer will be everything and anything which in the Company's opinion is relatable to QUALITY. It's really as simple as that.

Which runs are we talking about?

Product runs: she's simply helping with production like regular worker.

As per Post3. 

In many situations, regardless of yr job description (do you have one ?)  the practical answer will be everything and anything which in the Company's opinion is relatable to QUALITY. It's really as simple as that.

You right, no real job description was given.

As per Post3. 

In many situations, regardless of yr job description (do you have one ?)  the practical answer will be everything and anything which in the Company's opinion is relatable to QUALITY. It's really as simple as that.

This has been my experience as a (new) QA as well. I'm the only person responsible for our fsms but I've been doing just some basic maintenance work to try and keep things a little more smooth and to get to know production staff (we're a small operation) on top of hiring for non-QA roles. I don't exactly want to be taking apart skids of expired product and squeegeeing floors, but it has to be done and it helps me understand what our true staffing needs are since there's our production mgr runs somewhat of a racket and my bosses aren't exactly transparent with me about things.

Obviously for some of these things my patience is limited, but I think stepping outside of QA is part of the job in many places. It's bad from a labour perspective considering QA has to be so flexible yet is typically underpaid but I think deciding boundaries for what you'll do and for how long can be important. 

I'm a manager, I'll do anything that needs to be done to get mix sold, and out the door to the customer, while ensuring food safety first.   That's what I do, and it can entail anything.   I make my own spec sheets (create a template and it's easy), and do a lot of things that aren't my job, but I've never uttered the words 'it's not my job' in my life.   If the boss asked me to do it, it's my job, and I do it to the absolute best of my ability.

Yes, creating specs from scratch if there are not any IS your responsibility

If NOT quality, then who????????

Quality is responsible for ensuring products meet specs-----so why don't you think you should be doing that part?

I'm a manager, I'll do anything that needs to be done to get mix sold, and out the door to the customer, while ensuring food safety first.   That's what I do, and it can entail anything.   I make my own spec sheets (create a template and it's easy), and do a lot of things that aren't my job, but I've never uttered the words 'it's not my job' in my life.   If the boss asked me to do it, it's my job, and I do it to the absolute best of my ability.

This is a great attitude but to me can become a slippery slope.  You can't audit something you participate in, so you have to have some separation from production processes or you're in-validating most FSQ principles.  For example how do you do an internal audit on a process that you performed yourself?  Just some food for thought.

Yes, creating specs from scratch if there are not any IS your responsibility

 

If NOT quality, then who????????

 

 

Quality is responsible for ensuring products meet specs-----so why don't you think you should be doing that part?

I meant redoing them in illustrator pretty and fancy. 

I've always kind of approached it that if a boss/supervisor asks you to do something, it's your job. Is what they're asking you to do going to pull away from your daily tasks? If so let them know, especially if they are food safety related tasks. One simple trick I've found works, is if they pile what you consider too much on your plate, simply give them a rundown and ask them to prioritize.

For example, "we want you to create all new spec sheets for our 100 products." Your response "that sounds like a pretty involved task, but we sure could use them. I'll put together a management report on that project and try to get my head around the responsibilities and time sink involved. If it works for you, I should have that report by X, then we can discuss where you would like me to fit that into my current responsibilities."

This let's them know you aren't kicking it to the curb, gives you time to try to determine how much is going to be involved, and then let's you re-approach later to have them give you the priority they want it done.

This is a great attitude but to me can become a slippery slope.  You can't audit something you participate in, so you have to have some separation from production processes or you're in-validating most FSQ principles.  For example how do you do an internal audit on a process that you performed yourself?  Just some food for thought.

That's against the rules anyway, you can't do that.  You're not allowed to audit your own performance.   Moot point.  I mean we're not talking about anything ethically concerning here...

Anything where there's conflicting interests, of course.   Other than that, I do whatever needs done.   I don't see it as a slippery slope at all.   However, we're not a huge company.   Many of us wear whatever hat we need to wear to get things done.   At a huge company I'm sure it would be different.  But spec sheets?   Labels?  Ingredient statements?  Yeah, those are all on the docket.

One more point that I thought about, there will be times you do have to push back and only you can decide when that is.

I was given the opportunity to assist our China location with getting SQF certification and was told this would involve regular trips to China and very regular early morning or late night video conferences with the Chinese management. I informed them that sounded like something that I would be interested in, but that we needed to discuss the particulars. Turns out, the particulars were for current position/title/money but greatly increased responsibilities and time sink. I respectfully declined. I know for a fact it hurt my chances for future advancement in this corporation, but it was a calculated decision and I don't regret it in the least.

Just make sure whatever direction you take, it's a calculated decision and you weigh the pros and cons of that direction.

Good Morning World. :-) :spoton:

 

I would like to hear your opinion on the tasks of QA in the production plant. My bosses want me to do some stuff which i think are not related to the QA field, and since I am new to the field there is not a lot of previous experience. They want me to make new and old spec sheets for the products that we are making in Adobe Illustrator. Verify and order labels. Contact companies for repair and all other sort of stuff that are not really in my responsibility imho. Can somebody share what are the tasks of a requalr QA in a food production industry?

 

Thanks for your help guys. :helpplease:

Good morning ~ ! 

Like many have said above - these DO and can fall under QA's responsibility depending on the structure, culture, audit scope, size, etc. of your company. 

Label making, label verification, spec sheets, are all daily document stuff  I gotta do for my job to be done well. Scheduling and calling maintanance repairs / services are a part of this too. 

and because you specifically mentioned you are new, I would fall under the thought process that these tasks are good foundations anyways later on, -let's say if you have a tech or another colleague on your QA team, you can then appropriately know they are doing the job right and delegate accordingly now that you know the essentials. 

In terms of auditing processes, I do something similar to what TimG wrote, so that the senior mgmt team is aware and reminded that QA shouldn't be in charge of everything so that we aren't auditing things we've done. 

Depends on the size of the plant. I worked in a very small plant (less than 15 people). I was the food safety person, pest control person, answered phone calls, did label verification, took environmental samples, performed monthly audits, edit documents, answered customer questions, etc.  I also filled in on the line when needed.

Now I work in a larger plant (200 +). My responsibilities are higher but I wear fewer hats. That isn't to say, I don't help out where needed. 

Like others have said - you do become more marketable when you know how to do more things. It also shows you're hardworking and have initiative.

Thank you very much guys, for insightful replies. I am sure glad that I will be able to get answers to my questions. 

Please have a great day and a wonderful weekend ahead. :happydance:  :happydance:  :happydance:  :happydance:  :happydance:

I would say specs are your responsibility, especially signoff.

Everyday maintenance may not be precisely in line with your responsibilities, but you should have some insight and control over that.

This is a great attitude but to me can become a slippery slope.  You can't audit something you participate in, so you have to have some separation from production processes or you're in-validating most FSQ principles.  For example how do you do an internal audit on a process that you performed yourself?  Just some food for thought.

I think this is referring to helping out on the floor when you're busy and staffing is tight.

One of the best morale builders is employee seeing their boss do some heavy lifting every once in awhile. Don't make it your job, but go out there and restack some pallets and dump some flour (or whatever). It's easy to start thinking "my boss doesn't know how hard this is".

It's very respectable to see the boss not afraid to get their hands dirty. You don't want to be the guy they only see when you have a clipboard in your hand.