SQF Pre-Assessment Documents

Hello All!

We are having a pre-assessment audit at our Beverage co packing site. Our auditor has provided us a list of documentation needed for review. Can anyone provide insight or elaborate on exactly what they are asking for when they say "Specifications for raw material, packaging, finished goods, and services." 

Specs for raw material and packaging - it's for the ingredients and packaging (bottles?) you use in your production, should be provided by your ingredient & packaging suppliers.

Specs for finished goods - for the products you manufacture (co-pack), should be made by your company.

Specs for services - for instance, specifications of waste removal service, or laundry, or pest control; should be provided by your service providers.

Specifications means details like

Pack size (units in a shipping container like 12/box)

How it's packaged (carton, bag, sleeve, vacuum packed)

How it needs to be stored (ambient, fridge, frozen)

Etc

For incoming materials

same as above 

PLUS and specific requirements you have,  like a CoA for each lot or in supersacks only  

As for services, think of your pest control provider,  exactly what will they do, frequency, licenses etc

Hello All!

We are having a pre-assessment audit at our Beverage co packing site. Our auditor has provided us a list of documentation needed for review. Can anyone provide insight or elaborate on exactly what they are asking for when they say "Specifications for raw material, packaging, finished goods, and services." 

Hi USBQA,

I'm curious how you were able to Purchase Raw materials without Specifications ?

What I've learned in my short time utilizing this site is that "this is not a safe space." The lot of you are very presumptuous and a bit snarky even. 

There was never a mention of us not having specifications... I simply asked what exactly this entails.... Further more, if I may elaborate, I've been the Quality Coordinator of this company for only 6 months. It is my very first time time as an acting SQF Practitioner and I am, in fact still learning. Being over the QA department in a co-packaging company that does not process their purchases through quality but through the purchasing department, I am not privy to all of the ins and outs of the vendors used or where these specifications are obtained.

I am grateful for those that simply answered my question though. 

We have purchased items that did not come with specifications unless we specifically ask for them. We are a small company and work with many smaller suppliers, so this has been common in my time here. 

We also purchase ingredients from local grocery stores, which do not come with specifications, so our plan for this to comply with SQF is to create our own specifications to fit our needs and then make sure that the purchased ingredients fit those specifications each time we receive them.