<FONT color=blue>[Online Extra:]</FONT> The Best of 2008

In each issue of QA magazine, we bring you a feature profiling the quality and safety practices of a successful food or beverage processing company. The goal of this best practices focus, is to provide you, our readers, with information you can use — processes from which you can learn and practices to apply in your plant. As such, we’ve chosen to take this opportunity to review a few of those processes and practices from 2008, keying on the best of the best.

Setting the Standard at Case Farms. “To be the best in the industry, you’ve got to be a leader. We’re not going to be a follower, we’re going to set the standard.” Paul Storsin, quality assurance manager. To set this standard:

• Case Farms maintains a Salmonella rate far below USDA standards by taking extra steps throughout the process: Replacement breeder stock is required to be Salmonella-free; 30 Salmonella tests are conducted each week in the hatchery; and the pullet and breeder houses are cleaned out after every flock. For prevention throughout the live operations areas, a strict control program prevents rodents from getting into the houses and complete biosecurity clothing is required for all entering personnel.
• While Case Farms undergoes a multitude of third-party audits, it also has an internal auditor who conducts monthly audits and mock audits prior to scheduled external audits. In all audits, each department head takes ownership of the process for his own area, presenting his own documentation and answering any questions the auditors may have.
• To maintain quality in all areas, managers from each of Case Farms’ three locations and the company president and owner participate in a weekly conference call. Any problems or complaints from the week are disclosed and discussed. This enables a sharing of ideas for improvement as well as incentive to avoid the “call to the president’s office.”

Blending Balance and Consistency at Magic Seasoning Blends. “If you put something in somebody’s mouth that’s really great, it makes them happy.” Chef Paul Prudhomme, founder.

While inventive flavor profiles create the magic of Chef Paul’s Magic Seasoning Blends, it is the consistency of the blend that keeps its customers coming back. Keeping variance to a minimum while ensuring a safe and secure product means incorporating detailed standards from the time the ingredient is in the field until its delivery to the customer. These include:

• All suppliers must go through an approval process, including a full evaluation, tracking and traceability standards and on-site visits.
• For consistency, Magic Seasonings contracts its ingredients on an annual basis, selecting each year’s herbs and spices to be consistent with the previous years.
• To select the best fit, harvested herbs and spices are sampled from various fields and approved suppliers; once selected, all deliveries of that ingredient must be from the same spot in the same field.
• A pre-shipment sample of each lot is sent to Magic Seasonings; delivery of the shipment is then accepted only if the sample tests consistent with the quality and taste set for that ingredient. Random samples are then taken upon lot delivery and must match the pre-shipment sample.
• Once a product is blended, sensory testing is conducted to ensure final consistency in the customer’s kitchen.

Implementing Process Controls at Just Born. “We have progressed from a policing role to an auditing role with more team-affiliated participation.” Analee Rubio, technical services manager. Just Born’s Sweeter Tomorrow Systems (STS) implements quality controls throughout its process, including:

• Morning gathering of the managers of all departments to visually review plant performance and discuss current projects, personnel and safety concerns. Daily performance reviews help keep all departments on track and provide ongoing direction for improvement.
• Identifying root cause issues that lead to consumer complaints, then determining what controls can be put in place to eliminate those issues is the basis of Just Born’s vital ICE process for continuous improvement.
• Implementing statistical process controls to bring weight variability in line has saved Just Born significant monies previously lost to overfill. By maintaining a better handle on precise fill rates, the manufacturer meets customer expectations while employing more cost-efficient standards.
• Just Born educates its employees in the nuances of quality and value through an employee sampling program. Testing and rating sample product enhances associates’ understanding of what makes a quality product and the role they each play in product quality.
• Except for the metal detector at the end of each packaging line, the company has no need for finished product analytical testing — beyond periodic sampling checks. Quality controls placed throughout the process enable problem detection before the product hits the point of distribution.

Transitioning from Art to Science at Consolidated Biscuit Company. “Before we had SPC (Statistical Process Control), it was more art. We relied on the experience and expertise of our people. But baking also is a science.” Don Green, Process Improvement Team Coordinator. SPC’s science has led to improvements in:

• CBC is gradually implementing and expanding electronic applications with real-time data acquisition, analysis, charting and reporting of quality data to help bakery employees more quickly detect process variation and quality issues.
• To set thresholds, CBC determines the upper and lower levels for a particular measurement, and then tracks according to variation within these limits. With its electronic storage, data and control charts can also be accessed later for review and analysis.
• Once a product is in CBC’s system, its electronic data retention enables consistency no matter how infrequently it may be run.
• Using SPC at all critical stages alerts workers to inconsistencies and enables quality corrections. Before SPC, something could change in the process and workers would see it, but have to work at identifying the issue or source. With the electronic system, workers can look at the control charts and know immediately where the fix needs to be.