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Assessing the Compliance of your Food Supply Chain – An Integrated Approach

In a survey of EtQ workshop attendees at the 2015 ENG Global Food Safety event, 29% of respondents

said they were managing 500+ SUPPLIERS.

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Food Safety Compliance has FOUR KEY ELEMENTS

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1. Do your Homework

Before reaching out to a potential supplier, research its HISTORY.

Culture – can they show buy-in to food

safety, from C-suite down to shop floor?

Compliance – GFSI certifications, ISO accreditation, inspection status,

customer satisfaction.

Food Safety – recalls and results,

product/facility risk rating, HACCP/GMP compliance.

Quality – customer/consumer loyalty, specification

adherence, continuous improvement efforts.

!

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Over HALF of respondents had to comply with 3 OR MORE

Industry/Regulatory standards (GFSI, ISO, HACCP, FSMA, etc).

Learning how new partners deal with problems helps make the RIGHT CHOICE.

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2. Set your Expectations

When approaching a potential partner, communicate CLEARLY AND IN WRITING.

Talk to EMPLOYEES as

well as managers.

Make sure your RFI and contract is solid and unambiguous.

If they can’t pass a desk audit, they

won’t pass the on-premises one!

Verify critical food safety programs are in place...and meet

current requirements.

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67% of respondents are looking to reduce overall operational risk through better supplier

management

Ambiguous terms and incomplete information mean TROUBLE.

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3. Set the Systems

REMEMBER: You’re working with a PROCESS, not a product.

How are changes handled and

communicated (from both sides)?

Clear rules of engagement are key.

Are they flexible and nimble to adapt to changing needs?

Are they audit and inspection ready at

all times?

Look for where you can gain VISIBILITY and CONTROL.

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88% of respondents have to issue supplier CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.

50% of them struggle to get suppliers to take accountability

for these corrective actions.

Ground rules are not ADMIN – they’re the BEDROCK of success.

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4. Nurture the Relationship

Food safety compliance is ONGOING and proactive, not all ONE-OFF firefighting.

Help them improve – think

WIN-WIN.

Set intervals to communicate REGULARLY.

Decide HOW you’ll share information – formats, protocols,

frequency?

Don’t rely on box-ticking…

TALK.

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45% of respondents use SUPPLIER SCORECARDS to

communicate performance on a routine basis.

Sustainable success stems from PARTNERSHIP, where the interests of both parties are ALIGNED.

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We also sent out a survey to the attendees to identify their biggest challenges, and which resources

and tools they are using to manage their supplier base.

Here are the results:

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How many suppliers do you currently manage?

Which of these standards does your organisation comply with?

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Do you issue supplier corrective actions?

What is the biggest challenge facing supplier corrective actions?

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What are the greatest challenges towards automating your supplier

management program?

What are the strategic goals of your supplier

program?

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What are the biggest risks facing your supplier

management program today?

What challenges do you face with supplier audits?

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Do you complete supplier scorecards with your suppliers?

How often do you complete supplier scorecards?

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What is the prime method of communication with

your suppliers?

How regularly do you communicate with your

suppliers?

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What is the biggest obstacle to supplier on boarding?

In which areas would you most like to improve in your supplier

management?

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If you answered ‘yes’, what functionality does your

software give you?

Do you use software to manage your supplier

management program?

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What would you say is your biggest supply chain challenge?

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Those are the principles. You’ll notice a clear theme – successful food safety compliance has a lot to do with connecting the dots.

Or making sure all parts of your process are integrated together in a single overarching system, with no risk of noncompliance leaking

out at the edges. A great way to achieve this is with automated food safety compliance software. Learn more at www.etq.com.

For More, Check Out EtQ’s Presentation:

An integrated approach to assess the compliance health of your supply chain

EtQ is the leading Quality, Compliance and EHS Management software provider for identifying, mitigating and preventing high-risk events through integration, automation and collaboration. Founded in 1992, EtQ strives to make overall quality and compliance operations and management systems better for businesses. EtQ has main offices located in Europe and the U.S. and has been providing software solutions to a variety of

markets for more than 20 years. To learn more about EtQ, visit www.etq.com or blog.etq.com.

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