Baking & Snack - February 2008 - 119

120

QUALITY CONTROL

activity is to paint the plant. There are those who believe
a good coat of paint will hide a substandard operation. It
is a poor auditor who falls for that trick. Another ploy is
shut down for a day or more to clean up the plant.
One question no auditor wants to hear when he or
she first enters a plant is, "What do I need to pass?" Even
though audits may be time-consuming and potentially
disruptive to the plant's routine, a processor who has
this attitude is truly unclear on the concept. If
the company does not accept the audit as a
means for enhancing existing operations,
the audit will be a waste of both the auditor's and plant's time. Ideally, every
audit should be a 2-way street; you
learn from the auditor, and he or she
learns from you.
PRE-AUDIT ACTIVITIES. When an
audit is scheduled, the processor should
work closely with the audit firm and/or the
auditor assigned to do the project. First, the
processor should obtain a copy of the audit form. If the
audit firm cannot or will not provide a copy of the actual
form, it should provide the company with guidance as to
what is expected during the audit. As noted earlier, audit
firms have changed their procedures over the years, so
even if a processor has been audited previously by a firm,
it should be informed of any changes. It is not fair to surprise an auditee with a new element. For example, prior
to 9/11, many audits did not emphasize food defense. Today, this is an element in almost every audit. There are
even stand-alone security audits.
Consideration should be given to sharing information

with the auditor in advance of the visit. This can make
the audit go more smoothly and more quickly if materials can be reviewed ahead of time. Many operations will
not do this, however. Company policies forbid removing
materials from the plant, so everything must be done inhouse. If procedures and policies can be shared in advance, it is best to send them to the auditor via courier
with the proviso that the materials be returned during
the audit.
And of course, many firms are concerned enough about proprietary aspects of their business that they mandate any visitor sign a confidentiality agreement. If this is your policy,
get the agreement to the auditor
in advance. And on the subject of
confidentiality or proprietary information, make it clear to the auditor
if you believe certain things should be
off-limits such as consumer complaints
or new products.
And finally, the auditee should be sure that all persons who will be involved with the audit understand
their roles. A third-party audit should not be the purview of the quality manager alone. Operational areas
that are included in most audits include maintenance,
sanitation, laboratory operations, human resources,
warehouse operations, shipping and receiving. Managers should receive information pertaining to the sections of the audit that focus on their areas. This will
allow the managers to understand what questions will
be asked and, hopefully, get the proper information
organized prior to the audit.

ER DROP 450 COOKIE AND
CAKE DEPOSITOR
This versatile machine adds speed and
efﬁciency for the easy production of:
* Spritz and soft dough butter cookies
* Hard dough cookies, brownies and biscotti loaves
* Batter depositing (cupcakes, mufﬁns, ladyﬁngers,
sheet cakes, etc.)
* Pate choux products like cream puffs, éclairs, meringue
and more
* User friendly touch screen in 9 languages
* Capable of storing 54 programs
* Larger model also available
See a video at our website: www.erikarecord.com

For more information, see Page 133

BAKING & SNACK / February 2008

For details contact Craig at

ERIKA
RECORD LLC
Clifton, NJ * tel. 800-682-8203 * fax 973-614-8503,
email: craig@erikarecord.com

http://www.erikarecord.com

Baking & Snack - February 2008

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