So one of our suppliers was sent the Approved Supplier packet to fill and this was their response:
The first question on this 4 page form asks for the name and location of the actual manufacturer. That is proprietary information and I will not disclose that for any products we sell.
This questionnaire is incorrectly written. Most of the information they are asking for is already included in the documents we provided to you (many of which I am attaching here once again for you to submit to your QC Dept). The problem is that in many QC Departments no one actually spends the time to read and understand the documentation provided, they instead want to simply check boxes off on a list and stick the papers in a file to forget about them. If they had actually read the documents we provided, they would not need to ask all of the redundant questions in this questionnaire.
For example, in our allergen declaration we clearly confirm that we do not process, pack or even store any of the 8 USFDA identified allergens (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts). We furthermore do not even procure any products whatsoever from any factory anywhere in the world that processes any of these allergens. Furthermore, we do not even process anything onsite anyway, and had your QC Dept taken the time to read our documents previously submitted, they would know that. Thus there is absolutely zero risk of allergen cross-contamination in our warehouse, while we hold our inventory. Yet, your QC dept asks me to repeat all of that allergen by allergen on their form, which even worse must be written by hand on your printed form because they did not provide it in a format that can be edited.
I started to complete your questionnaire, but I will not continue it. Aside from the questions which are plainly redundant (as the information has already been provided to you), after spending 10 minutes I realize that most of the questions under Section D are completely non-applicable, and yet they do not allow for choosing n/a as an option. This questionnaire was written for a manufacturer. Your QC Department should send us instead a proper questionnaire for a distributor.
Regarding pest control, I believe that is included in our SGS audit inspection report, but anyway we use 3rd party with regular monthly inspections and we have monthly reports in file for the past 3 years.
We have already sent you our SGS Audit Inspection report from the most recent on-site inspection in May 2019 (see attached again), and our Allergen Declaration (see attached again), and a host of other documents including our HACCP/HARPC Declaration (see attached again).
I really feel this entire process is a designed waste of time, and my strong preference is not to spend additional time on this. If they send us a proper questionnaire, a simplified version, designed for a distributor and without all of the redundancies, then I will complete and sign that form and return it to you within 2 week of receipt (or earlier if I am not travelling).
It seems to me that they're just too lazy to continue a simple questionnaire. We all know their duty is to fill it out AND attach documentation where applicable. Do they really think we have to mold questionnaires to fit their processes??? Simply just put N/A on the things that do not apply!
What would everyone do? I'd like to hear some suggestions from the folks here :)