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Storage & transportation quality management system works on PDCA cycle
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Monday, 04 November, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Anurag Mishra
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Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonne — gets lost or wasted, according to studies.
Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$680 billion in industrialised countries and US$310 billion in developing countries. One of the major factors are accounted from lack of food processing, poor storage and distribution.
To reduce the waste, it is important to process /store/transport food to make it fit for consumption and that’s why the food processing industry has emerged as one of the important segments in terms of its contribution to global economy. With approximately US$2,000 billion market size and potential growth with more than 5% CAGR, this sector is reaching to new heights year on year. This is resulting in business expansion within businesses and new setups.
With increasing number of units and varieties of processed foods, what stands out is ‘quality’ of the product and due to competition, consumer awareness and regulations, most of the companies are maintaining quality & food safety while manufacturing. But it’s equally important to maintain the quality while distribution and storage till product reaches to consumer so that consumer can enjoy the signature taste and quality which was maintained during the manufacturing. It’s all about caring your stock during distribution and storing in warehouse, distributor’s place.
Other than wastages, food safety incidences are one of the most serious concerns which may be the result of poor storage and distribution. Daily we can find news regarding food safety incidences resulted from storage and distribution issues like temperature variation, pest control, allergen mix-ups and cross contamination.
In 2010, as a result of numerous sanitation and temperature control problems during storage, famous meat producer induced 10 cases of listeriosis, after ingestion of chicken salad and prepackaged, diced celery only. Five people deceased in consequence of this incidence. All products were recalled as it seemed likely that other fresh vegetable products would have become contaminated.
In 2018, there was a recall due to infestation reported in Canada where a world-famous brand recalled its candy brand, because of possible contamination from a mice infestation at the manufacturing plant.
Another example of recall due to infestation reported by rice processor, where an organisation recalled its product due to possible insect (weevil) infestation which made these products unsafe to eat.
So it’s high time to put same focus (like organisations do while manufacturing) in distribution i.e., storage and transportation to mitigate the food safety incidences and waste reduction.
Most of the organisations follow quality/food safety management system while manufacturing/ processing food products and in the same manner we can design storage and transportation quality management system i.e., STQMS.
STQMS works on PDCA Cycle
- Plan - Plan all the elements of STQMS system and provide resources
- Do - Implement all the elements as per plan
- Check - Check the effectiveness of the system
- Act - Continual improvement
The system may have below key elements
Scope of the STQMS: Scope is the key for any management system and same is equally important for STQMS as well. The detailed scope will help entire management team to allocate resources and draft the plan for STQMS implementation. Scope helps outlining the boundaries of the system.
Management Commitment: Management commitment is the key for STQMS. For effective implementation of STQMS, management must be committed for providing required resources in terms of man, material methods and so on.
Document Control: It’s a key element to document all the procedures, policies and define the required record keeping. Record and Document Control system will help every team to follow the right processes at right time. It also helps to retain records in correct manner.
Training and Development: Training and Development is the key of effective implementation of STQMS so it must be planned accordingly.
Infrastructure and Practices: The most important element of the STQMS is infrastructure and various practices like Good Warehousing Practices (GHP), Good Transportation Practices and so on Poor Infra and Practices will affect the STQMS’ effectiveness.
Prerequisite Programmes: Various pre-requisite programmes like Good Manufacturing/ Warehousing Practices, Pest Control, Loading and Unloading, Temperature Control, Good Housekeeping Practices, Cleaning and Sanitation, Infra Maintenance and so on are the backbone of STQMS to reduce food safety incidences.
Inventory Management: Inventory Management reduces the possibility of stock loss due to expiry and poor planning.
Internal / External Audit Management
Corrective/ Preventive Action and Continual Improvement: Correcting issues and implementing the preventive measures for the errors are the key to continual improvement in STQMS.
(The author is food safety professional.
He can be contacted at Anurag.ft@gmail.com)
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