Conducting a consultative review of a Campden BRI member company’s QMS
Opportunity
The Technical Director of a Campden BRI member company requested advice and a consultant to help them understand if they were taking suitable due diligence measures. They also wanted Campden BRI to advise them about whether there were any gaps in their processes and training compared to industry best practices – and whether there were any changes or additions required.
This specific request was as opposed to them reaching out for support with audits, such as checking that they were actually doing what they said they should be doing. The client has BRCGS AA grade certification, so were confident that they were pretty much accomplishing this already.
The scope of the project was agreed to be a ‘Consultative review around the Due Dilligence and gap analysis in key areas of QMS risk assessments, processes and documentation’. To be performed by the means of an initial document share, followed by a face-to-face review session at Campden BRI prior to the end of the month.
Approach
Initially via e-mail (and covered by a confidentiality contract), key procedures and risk assessments were provided to facilitate a thorough document review. Through the means of a remote, desktop assessment, many questions were identified, particularly related to the context and justification of risk.
Understanding documentation is an easier function when you have written it but is frequently less straightforward when challenged from the perspective of an experienced outsider. Critical and probing questions can be asked over why and how decisions have been made, leading to system improvement and better understanding. Often, systems are inherited from previous technical managers or are written in a particular way - “because we’ve always done it that way and never been questioned”.
Consequently, on the day of Campden BRI’s visit most of the focus was on areas where information or intent within the documents was not as clear to an external reader as it could be. Clarifying the intent and information within these documents will make both the purpose of the document clearer but also make it easier to follow (and be audited against) and to show that it demonstrates suitable due diligence. There were several instances where there were very open conversations to question the intent and practicalities of policies and procedures to ensure that they were both sufficient, but critically not overly burdensome such that it is not practical to implement and use them.
Results
Following the consultative review of their QMS, the client encountered a number of streamlined benefits.
Recounting their experience the client said, “We were given advice on how to make some of our documents more powerful by simplifying them, reducing the number of points or questions (in particular, closed questions) – but also focussing on key questions which will provide the information which is required.
It was also very useful to have an external expert review, to help give us the confidence that while there are some areas we can enhance, our processes, procedures and training were all broadly commensurate for the activities we cover.”
The Campden BRI difference
Effective quality systems underpin all food manufacturing quality. Subsequently, we can offer you rapid help with the development, review and implementation of quality systems that enable you to meet the criteria requested by your customers, audit standards and enforcement authorities.
More generally, we have over 100 years of combined expertise in many areas and are uniquely placed to offer consultancy and guidance in all aspects of food safety and quality – from initial supply chain risk assessments through to final product testing, and every step between. We also provide support with crisis management, including turnkey solutions of root cause analysis, integrity, problem solving, and addressing product issues and process failures.
Need advice?
If you have any more questions about quality management systems and our approach to this, contact our support team to find out how we can help.
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