2 replies to this topic

[Josharp186]

As some background, I work for a spice company and have built out our Food Safety and quality program entirely from scratch. We are SQF certified two years in a row now. I have been tasked with creating a QMS system that will encompass each department of the business from sales, marketing, operations, food safety, fulfillment etc... We have the SQF/Food safety/quality framework built out and I believe this is where I should start, seeing how each department can support the SQF functional requirements and building upon our CAPA program.

 

There are a lot of programs I can purchase which would make this a breeze but I have no budget allowed for these, at least until we build out the framework ourselves and can show improvement metrics. I can visualize the end goal and what needs to happen but I am feeling scattered when it comes to planning out the steps needed to get there. 

 

I am just looking for advice or anecdotal situations where others have done the same? Is this less daunting of a task than it feels in my head? 

[Brothbro]

Well, it seems a very good thing that the company is taking a business-wide approach to quality. I would start by asking yourself this question: what documentation and/or records would I like these departments to keep to support the quality system? For fulfilment, an example could be ensuring lot numbers are traceable on customer orders, to support your recall plan.

 

Another item may just be education to help other departments understand how everyone can have a hand in quality. I have worked for some small companies where people in sales or marketing really had no idea what a systematic approach to quality really looked like. Once everyone understands how your company works to deliver on quality, you may be surprised to find others giving good suggestions on how to further improve the system. This understanding plays into the "Senior Management Quality Commitment" that is required in some certification systems.

[Josharp186]

Thanks for the feedback! I am going to start by just taking each department and mapping out the flow and how each flows into the same systematic goal. I will then associate checkpoints in each part of the flow to show where quality checks are needed. I plan to then hold a meeting and show this to all stakeholders and get an idea of how they mesh and start building out a master quality document. 

 

After this, I guess I will just have to figure out the documentation and sustainment piece in the usage of the program. Baby steps!