Quality and profitability

From agricultural cultivation to transport, storage, processing, trade and consumption by the consumer, the food market is very complex. Quality in line with specifications and its assurance can only be achieved if all factors in this chain are known and optimally aligned. In the increasing competition, price pressure is intensifying because customers are increasingly losing purchasing power and compensating for this loss of purchasing power by choosing cheaper products in their daily food shopping.

About the person

Graduated food engineer from the University of Hohenheim with over 30 years of professional experience in a wide range of industries and tasks with a focus on organic products (EU 2018/848).

Contact me if I may assist you.

info@ralph-weishaupt.de

QM-Certification

QM certificate as a byproduct
Effective processes and minimising risk as the real goal

Support in the establishment or further development of your QM system.

Certifications require a lot of effort, so it is immensely important to exploit the full potential of this system. Effective controlling shows the possible improvements.

Due to the cooperation with various companies, we have many years of experience in setting up and optimizing QM systems.

An individual QM system is an effective tool to effectively implement the company’s objectives.

I support companies with certifications such as: ISO 9001 ISO 22000 as well as IFS or EU Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848.

My support essentially covers the following areas:

Preparation and review of crisis management
Conducting of internal audits as well as supplier audits
Vulnerability analysis
Project coordination and implementation
Support in case of food law issues
Staff training

Crisis and risk management

The savings potential of good risk management is usually underestimated and therefore not fully exploited.
Significant cases of complaints and fraud in the food industry exists as long as the industry itself.

From adulteration due to inferior ingredients to the addition of dangerous products such as glycol, there are many possibilities for fraud. In addition, there is the contamination by harmful substances such as PAHs, plasticisers, solvents and many more. The “perceived” hazard potential of food by the consumer has increased significantly. In addition, the smallest traces of pollutants can be detected by more modern analytical methods. The publication of very lurid and sometimes tendentious reports by test magazines further aggravates the situation.

In extreme cases, uncoordinated action in a crisis situation can place an extreme burden on the company. In return, however, good crisis management can significantly reduce costs and create additional trust with the customer.

My tip:
Integrate a functioning crisis and risk management into your quality management system and test this at least 1x per year. Use external support in case of a crisis. Be on the spot where the problem arose.

If you already have a crisis management system, check whether the following factors are included:

functioning emergency call system
comprehensive address list of laboratories, lawyers, authorities, media, police, employees, customers
instructions for critical procedures (in a crisis, things get hectic and people forget…)
Informationssystem: ideal als E-Mailverteiler: Krise
Document list with a list of where to find the desired information, possibly reports or software required
Substitution arrangement (keep affected staff away from day-to-day business)
Set up and define a crisis centre (quiet workplace with PCs and meeting facilities)
Hotline (with possibility of text announcement)
Set up FAX and e-mail services in advance (obtain customers’ consent in advance)
Arrangement of task distribution with naming of substitute personnel

Due to many years of work in the organic sector, where a lot of analyses of critical substances are carried out, I have extensive experience in crisis management.

My support essentially covers the following areas:

Preparation and review of crisis management
Sector expert in the event of an actual crisis
Vulnerability analysis
Project coordination and implementation
Support with food law issues
Staff training

Process management

If the core processes operates effectively and are well monitored, corporate profits are almost unavoidable.

Knowing one’s core processes and optimising them contributes significantly to improving business performance. As an external consultant, it is possible to minimise conflicts when optimising processes.

My tip:
Regularly check your processes to see whether they are still being implemented effectively and correspond to the procedures described in the QM manual.

My support essentially covers the following areas:

Assessment of Process Audits
Recording and monitoring processes
Coordination of internal processes
Staff training

If you have already defined process flows, check whether the following is included:

Definition of the documents used in the process incl. archiving.
Definition of interfaces
Definition of responsibilities
Definition of procedures in case of deviations

Product development

Innovation starts with the product, adherence to deadlines and budgets with controlled processes

Especially in product development, many factors have to be taken into account right from the start. Through the coordination and support of many product developments across large parts of the food industry, there is a comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing technology. I am happy to provide support from the selection of raw materials to the manufacturing technology to the trial set-up for tasting. Although this area is very sensitive for a company, the cooperation is worthwhile. An external view as well as knowledge from very many industries bring significant advantages. Another aspect of external support is that deadlines are followed and met. Day-to-day business very often distracts from the important tasks of product development. Especially in smaller companies, where product development has other tasks to take care of, there is a big deficit here. External support can compensate for personnel burdens.

In my experience, innovative products can achieve considerable increases in turnover.

My tip:
Check which comparable product developments have already been carried out in the company. Check which competitor products exist and evaluate them in relation to your own product specifications. Formulate clear specifications regarding the product, the costs as well as the time and personnel requirements and monitor these regularly.

My support mainly covers the following areas: