Controls required when transporting materials between processing plant and warehouse
Hello Everyone,
The company just got a new warehouse and is 5 miles from the processing plant. We manufacture food packaging (not food) and we will transport final product and raw materials back and forth.
I was wondering what do you recommend in terms of inspection to comply with the code?
is it a risk asessment combined with a one day inspection to the truck and a end-of-the-day cleareance that the product was transported back and forth withouth issues okay?
I do know that i need to implement pest control, cleaning etc.
I believe you have two options here. Incorporate this into your already certified company (by letting the CB know and including it in your scope) or by having this site be certified on its own to the Storage and Distribution part of the code. Research and figure out what would work best for your company. Id' imagine incorporating it would be easier and easier to manage. You'll have to have all the required elements covered and just make sure it is in similar condition as you other building. Depending on where you are at as far as timeline for recertification, they may want to have someone come out and audit it.
1. Call your CB to amend your scope and include it. The warehouse is incorporated into all codes just like your primary location has.
2. Treat it as a supplier that operates under a separate name and make it subject to your approved supplier program, approved service provider etc.
3. Have a separate storage and distribution certification for your warehouse.
We have a bunch that went with #1, several that chose #2 and now a new one has opted for #3.
The easy way is #2 and then #1.
I like SQFConsultant's #1 and #2 choices best. Last time we set this up for a client, they added a warehouse down the street into their scope and updated every program to reflect a second warehouse: site maps, people/product flow maps, sanitation schedules, non-conforming product procedures, etc.
One extra point the OP made about truck inspections: I think trying to go with a single daily truck checklist is risky because who knows what could happen to that truck during the day. Driver decides to skip closing the doors on a quick drive to the second warehouse and a family of raccoons jumps into the back while he parks it for lunch? While it would be annoying for receiving/shipping staff, I think the best practice would be to perform truck inspection checklists each time that truck backs up to a dock. If you want to perform a risk assessment to try and justify the single daily check, you can try, but it'll be something the auditor will scrutinize so make it as solid as you can.
I like SQFConsultant's #1 and #2 choices best. Last time we set this up for a client, they added a warehouse down the street into their scope and updated every program to reflect a second warehouse: site maps, people/product flow maps, sanitation schedules, non-conforming product procedures, etc.
One extra point the OP made about truck inspections: I think trying to go with a single daily truck checklist is risky because who knows what could happen to that truck during the day. Driver decides to skip closing the doors on a quick drive to the second warehouse and a family of raccoons jumps into the back while he parks it for lunch? While it would be annoying for receiving/shipping staff, I think the best practice would be to perform truck inspection checklists each time that truck backs up to a dock. If you want to perform a risk assessment to try and justify the single daily check, you can try, but it'll be something the auditor will scrutinize so make it as solid as you can.
Makes sense Jfrey, maybe then create a form more of a checkboard for every trip he does like a horizontal sheet with several rows with collums with the tasks to perform for every trip. You are right that holds better during audit. Thanks for your input.