Quality and Compliance
One audit can cost you a retailer.
Pass every audit, not just the next one, and cut what poor quality costs you every day: complaints, warranty claims, scrap and rework.
Food
USDA noncompliance records cut by 90%.
A CPG food plant averaged two USDA noncompliance records a day, from pre-op, waste handling and labeling, with escalation meetings and production starting two hours late on average.
- Measured in the client's own numbers.
What changed
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| USDA noncompliance records | Down 90% |
| New records | Closed within 72 hours |
| Production starts | On time, with sanitation time down 10% |
| USDA escalations | Ended |
Where it starts
Audit findings rarely start in the quality office.
Most start on the floor: sanitation, changeovers and labeling. Close them there and they stop coming back.
- Findings traced to where they start.
Where do your findings start?
Beyond food
A threatened recall avoided, with field failures cut to 0.1%.
A Tier 1 automotive supplier faced a threatened recall, controlled shipping and a new-business hold. We pinpointed where parts were failing, then traced it to two root causes.
- The same discipline, in a different plant.
What changed
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Threatened recall | Avoided |
| Field failure rate | 0.1%, from more than 10% |
| Controlled shipping and new-business hold | Lifted after 90 days without a failure |
The everyday cost
Quality costs you long before an auditor shows up.
Complaints, claims, giveaway and rework drain margin every day, and they rarely appear on one line of the P&L. We go after each one at its root cause.
- When a customer asks for your corrective action, you have one to send.
Where we cut the cost of poor quality
| Area | What we do |
|---|---|
| Customer complaints | Reduced |
| Weight control | Variation controlled first, then the average moved closer to target net weight, with cost savings, within USDA and FDA guidelines and MAV requirements |
| Warranty claims | Analyzed and reduced |
| Root-cause analysis (CAPA) | Done to a standard you can submit to your customers |
| Scrap and rework | Reduced |
What it pays
Quality that shows up in the P&L.
Weak process capability gets paid for in extra time, extra heat and extra product. Fix the process, and that cost comes back as margin.
- Measured in the client's own numbers.
What it looks like in practice
| Area | What we did | Result |
|---|---|---|
| BRCGS certification | Audited against the standard, with gaps identified and closed | Certified by a third-party auditor |
| Weight control | Controlled the variation, then moved the average closer to target, staying compliant | 63% less giveaway |
| Cook cycle | Improved process controls where product was cooked 20 degrees higher and 30 minutes longer | Yield loss under 2%, from 8% |
What we cover
The programs your customers and regulators hold you to.
A quality system should do more than pass the audit. Built well, it becomes a profit driver. Our work is led by operators who have run quality systems and sat on both sides of the audit.
- Pass the audit. Keep passing it.
Programs we work on
| Area | What we do |
|---|---|
| Quality management system | Built or improved: ready for third-party audit, and a profit driver |
| Supplier quality | Supplier quality management systems built or improved, and supplier audits |
| Food safety | SQF and BRCGS audited and implemented, plus HACCP and FSMA programs |
| Regulatory | USDA and FDA compliance, from open records to escalations |
| Retailers | Retailer audit and supplier programs |
| Sanitation | Sanitation programs built or optimized for food and beverage plants |
| Net weight | Net weight compliance and giveaway reduction |
| New products | APQP and PPAP, and our Advanced Quality Planning program for food, beverage and CPG |
| Industrial and automotive | ISO 9001 and IATF 16949, with lead auditor experience |
Common questions
Something else? Ask an operator
Can you help us pass an SQF or BRCGS audit?
Yes. We have audited and implemented both. One venture-backed frozen food brand reached an SQF score of 96 and two retailer audits rated Excellent.
Do you cover FSMA, HACCP and FDA requirements?
Yes, along with SQF, BRCGS, USDA and retailer programs.
Can you write a CAPA our customer will accept?
We do root-cause analysis and CAPA that can be submitted to your customers when they require it.
Do you develop APQP and PPAP?
Yes. For food, beverage and CPG companies, we also have an Advanced Quality Planning program.
We have open USDA noncompliance records. Can you help?
Yes. At one CPG food plant averaging two records a day, records fell 90%, any new record closed within 72 hours, and USDA escalations ended.
Can you build our quality management system?
Yes. We build or improve full quality management systems that are ready for third-party audit and turn quality into a profit driver. We do the same for supplier quality, and we perform supplier audits.
Do you work outside food?
Yes. A Tier 1 automotive supplier avoided a threatened recall, with field failures cut from more than 10% to 0.1%.
What if our quality head's seat is open?
We can have an interim operator on the ground in 72 hours. See Interim Leadership
Everyone on the job has done the job
When is your next audit?
Talk to an operator who has run a quality system like yours. We reply within one business day.