QA manager leaving the company, me having to take over

Hello Everyone,

Our Quality Manager decided to leave our company on a very short time.

I am now asked to take over / combine this position (currently I'm the product development manager) untill a qualified person is found (this can take a while)

The BRC/IFS audit is planned in may, so that means leaving me 3 months to prepare

I have good background in food (general knowledge / HACCP / technology) and i have the qualifications

The only problem is that I have been out of the real Quality Management for some years now

So my question to you (experts) is to give me some advise in pulling this off

We are already BRC IFS approved, so a lot of procedures / reports are in place (i hope )

Thx in advance !

Ok, first thing is there has been a new standard for BRC so there are new requirements.

If you post what you produce here, someone might be able to pick out the main changes for you. Biggest ones off the top of my head are allergens (greater emphasis), chilling controls and high care / high risk controls.

I believe May 2012 is a great time for Holidays!

Focus on the Fundamentals Sections first, and then if you have the time work through the rest

good Luck!

I'd also manage the expectations of the senior management.

Bear in mind that the auditors have been told that the systems should have been embedded for 3 months for audits after the beginning of April so you really should have made all of the changes already (sorry to panic you) so you may (or may not, let's be positive) have got one non conformance already. That said, you have to get to more than 10 to lose an 'A' but it's sensible to manage the expectations of your bosses so that they are expecting a 'B' at best and can be pleasantly surprised if you all do better than that.

I'd also manage the expectations of the senior management.

Bear in mind that the auditors have been told that the systems should have been embedded for 3 months for audits after the beginning of April so you really should have made all of the changes already (sorry to panic you) so you may (or may not, let's be positive) have got one non conformance already. That said, you have to get to more than 10 to lose an 'A' but it's sensible to manage the expectations of your bosses so that they are expecting a 'B' at best and can be pleasantly surprised if you all do better than that.

Ok ? I have readed the whole manual together with the Quality Assistent. As I'm coming out of R&D, I had the opportunity to look at it as an auditor would.
Thats the only positive thing i discovered.
In short:
- there is nothing implemented on the work floor (HACCP plan is directing to procedures that or do not exist or are not implemented on the floor !
- A lot of grey areas exist in the study... some points are left out , reason : they are too difficult to cover.

That's something what i wouldnt expect from a quality manager !!!
So my conclusion is that in theory everything is covered , but i'm a practical person and for me the most important thing is the daily control on the floor !

Dear All,

For the benefit of interested readers, the process under discussion is presumably the one detailed here -

http://www.ifsqn.com...dpost__p__51544

Offhand, based on the previous post (but also depending on past audits), I would be rather cautious over this comment

So my conclusion is that in theory everything is covered

Rgds / Charles.C