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QA and QC in the bakery
It is not easy to do, however the advantages of having the workers understand that coping with problems all day, commonly referred to as firefighter management, is infinitely more difficult than taking simple steps to keep problems for occurring in the first place, understood as preventive management.
A HACCP, or hazard analysis critical control point program, can be viewed as a sub program of quality control. The HACCP program is comprised of pre-defined criteria for evaluating hazards by ingredient and process, monitoring for deviation, documenting compliance or lack thereof, documenting deviation, a plan for addressing deviation and documenting the responses to deviations. Elements of a HACCP program, in addition to the prior mentioned policies and documents, are control points and critical control points. It is generally recommended that there are many control points in processing, ingredient handling, and contracted handling of freight by transportation after the shipping to customers. Additionally the critical control points are described as the last line of defense against safety compromised product going out. Again, more information concerning this or the other elements of the Q&QA programs is available. The goal of this article is to make recommendations concerning how these programs can and should be structured and implemented for success.
It has been my experience that only the largest of baking companies and a percentage of the mid level retail/wholesale companies have a functioning QC&QA program in place. Many have a paperwork skeleton in place that provides for the appearance of coverage without the practical protection of the product and the brand. It should be understood that the cost of having a dedicated and capable person take the time to organize the approach is infinitely less than the cost of a catastrophic problem and the legal fallout. Further, the ability to do business with customer companies that can distribute our baked goods in mass can provide plenty of incentive and the profit that it sometimes takes to get us to take the practices seriously.
(1) Comments • Permalink • 08 04 2008
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