Smart QA managers work with smart tools

Much has changed in the food industry in recent years. Strong automation, Industry 4.0 and stricter laws and regulations have meant that quality managers have their hands full trying to keep everything on track. Smart QA managers therefore use smart tools that take a lot of work off their hands.

"Digitization is growing rapidly in the food industry. Quality managers who purely use paper and Excel lists to keep track have become administrative workers while it is so important to also be present on the shop floor. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to digitize processes. It unburdens the quality manager and benefits quality," says Klaartje Eeckhaut. She is senior consultant Quality Assurance at KTBA. The company supports producers and suppliers in the food industry on quality, safety, laws and regulations. Eeckhaut is involved in the development of KTBA's digital program QA OnLine. "QA Online is an online real-time quality application, specially developed by and for quality managers in the food industry. The software package consists of several modules: Document Management, Plan-do-check-act, Specification Management and Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis Raw Materials."

Document Management 

Eeckhaut elaborates on the Document Management Management module. "This module allows employees to manage documents and reports online and in real time, regardless of where they work. Especially when working from home is necessary as it was during the corona crisis, this is a convenient option. Each employee who logs into the system sees a personal dashboard of actions, documents and reports, while a workflow ensures that documents automatically reach the right person for approval and signatures. A rights structure is then also built into the system so that only authorized individuals can access certain information." The dashboard also indicates when certain certificates expire. "This can be a huge time saver. Regularly checking whether all documents are still up-to-date, especially during audits, is no longer necessary. The system automatically notifies you when documents expire in the foreseeable future."

Plan-Do-Check-Act

A second module is Plan-Do-Check-Act. "Here it is clear which tasks require immediate action and what else is planned. Each action is linked to a responsible party while the status of the action is also clear. In this way, everyone involved knows what still needs to be done by whom and when. As a result, the quality manager always remains 'in control' of all actions."

Growth and development

QA Online also continues to grow. "We stay in constant contact with our consultants and customers. We identify desires for additional extensions so that we can improve QA Online even further. For example, feedback has led to the development of the Specification Management module. In this module you can enter raw material data based on a large-scale ingredient database, you can create recipes and make automatic calculations of nutritional values but also manage supplier certificates. In this way, the entire process from supplier of raw materials to final product specification becomes transparent. Even before the end of the year, the supplier evaluation module may be added. We continuously seek feedback from the market and thus keep up with the latest trends and developments."

Indispensable

The food sector is very positive about the system, notes Eeckhaut. "Quality managers realize that they can very easily keep the overview in one system which reduces the human error burden. They notice huge time savings because of this." 

Investment

Digitizing quality management does require an investment. "You quickly recoup the investment costs for the system because of a time savings it generates. However, as with any digitization project, you will have to set aside time for implementation in the beginning." Eeckhaut therefore recommends a step-by-step approach. "Choose one module to start with so that everything remains manageable. After implementing a module, a QA Online specialist remains the point of contact for questions so that companies can quickly reap the benefits of the system."