QA and QC in the bakery
Dan Ettling’s tips to successful Quality Control and Quality Assurance in the bakery.
Generations of bakers past managed their bakeries seat of the pants, so to speak, when bakeries were small, multiple contract supplying and component manufacturing yet rare, and people were less likely to sue each other for various realities. Since, the methods of manufacturing, the marketing structures and the need to protect brand integrity mandate solidified quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) programs in the bakery.
In order to illuminate the components of QC and QA programs, it is important to understand that they are not the same thing nor is one a sub component of the other. It is generally recommended that quality control be viewed as the line of defense against sending a product out to the general public that does not meet required standards of quality and safety. Quality assurance, on the other hand, is generally recommended to be viewed as the maintenance of a production environment that is conducive or supportive of producing products that will meet required standards of quality and safety.
Examples of quality control include, but are not limited to, a metal detector after packaging, objective standards for symmetry, dimension, color etc., of the finished product, temperature parameters for shipping whether going out as a frozen product or at a pre-determined temperature range supporting quality or safety. These are the last line of defense against something going out that is sub standard. This category includes all the methods that we implement to catch any flaws before they are realized by the public.
Examples of quality assurance, on the other hand, include the following. Calibration of thermometers used in production stages, proper ingredient use and handling, monitoring mixing and handling practices, good manufacturing practice (GMP) programs, etc., that are undertaken to maintain a bakery environment that produces quality products that will not be eliminated as sub-standard by the quality control checks. There are a number of sources for more information concerning the specific steps. I am choosing to focus on the correct implementation of these steps.
One issue that seems to dramatically hinder the effectiveness of QA and QC programs revolves around the integration or cooperation of QA & QC staff with production staff. If the training and resulting posture of the management is not focused on cooperation, far too often the production staff will see the QA & QC staff as the enemy or the people making more work for the production staff unnecessarily. Production people are very busy and do not typically want to take the time to take temperatures, check equipment and calibrations etc. It is simply seen as extra work. An effective implementation of QA & QC will make clear that the above mentioned activities are not unnecessary or extra work, but that when conducted they will make the whole of the production facility run more smoothly and therefore reduce the inherent reactionary work, manifesting itself as production problems to be accounted for, created by the lack of control.