Case Studies

Food Safety and Quality Process and System Optimization

2 minute read

The Client

Global health snack company

The Challenge

The company was acquired by a multi-billion-dollar global food brand. This brought the need to evaluate the food safety and quality (FSQ) systems of the company’s external manufacturing partners.

Specifically, the company needed to assess the capabilities of each partner and prepare for the deployment of the new parent company’s quality management standards. Additionally, our client wanted to foster a quality culture within each manufacturing partner and act as the intermediary to handle FSQ issues.

However, despite these objectives, neither our client nor the acquiring company had the expertise, bandwidth, or internal resources to execute the project.

The Solution

To lead this project, Catena Solutions appointed an FSQ Expert who has 15 years of experience directing and implementing impactful FSQ programs. Tapping into their career expertise at large food and beverage companies, the consultant used their understanding of the big picture to develop a solution and drive results.

The solution entailed:

      • Leading all weekly quality assurance meetings and managing quality issues by developing written technical reports
      • Managing and updating onsite assessment trackers for multiple sites, which included closing out Corrective and Preventative Actions (CAPAs) from a previous audit
      • Investigating and dispositioning non-conformances for finished products and making recommendations to correct non-conformances based off the sampling plan
      • Conducting quality validations and assessments of the new Panning & Polishing Room and Packaging Line, which included one site for hyper-dried products and one site for hyper-chilled products
      • Leading the foreign material inspection program to repack and secondary test finished product to release product into commerce; included leading an 8-month project to work through a release with a specific co-manufacturer
      • Closing CAPAs and customer complaints
      • Onboarding and training new third-party logistics (3PL) and third-party warehouse (3PW) partners on FSQ standards and hold capabilities
      • Leading the dialogue to run specific samples needed based off pathogenic risk, or retesting if the product didn’t meet specifications
      • Completing Product Related Incident Management Process (PRIMP) write-ups for the entire division to review
      • Supporting the release process and transfer postings during the integration of SAP S/4HANA

      Additionally, the consultant successfully executed the solution despite two major project challenges:

      1. Leadership changes: Leadership changed three times during the project’s course. This led to shifting priorities and strategies, however, the consultant was able to navigate ambiguity and get leadership up to speed each time.

      2. Remote project management: Experience in different industries and in-house, people-orientated past roles enabled the consultant to effectively manage this project remotely.

      The Benefit

      Specific benefits of the project included:

        • A reduction in non-conformance issues from hundreds of open issues to one; accomplishing 99%+ conformance
        • 93% of tasks completed with the onsite assessment tracker
        • Defined KPIs and objectives to reinforce food safety and best practices throughout the external manufacturing network

        Facing any similar challenges? Contact us to discuss how Catena Solutions can help.

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