How It Works: The Processing Cycle – Fishupdate.com
How It Works: The Processing Cycle Published: 02 September, 2010
Quality AssuranceAt Seachill, the Quality Assurance (QA) team are responsible for setting important specifications for each product.
These criteria are business specific and to ensure traceability, some of the criteria Seachill need to specify include: ocean of origin catch method date received registration plate of delivery vehicle
To enable quality assurance, Seachill also ask staff to identify other information including: temperature of produce quality of produce condition of delivery vehicle
The minimum standards set for these criteria are used as a benchmark at all stages of the processing cycle, from ordering stock right through to despatch. These criteria enable traceability and ensure that only the highest quality produce enters and leaves the site.
PurchasingAt this stage, stock is purchased by the Buying Team to meet retailer requirements and Seachills own QA standards. A purchase order number is then generated within their online stock tracker system.
Goods Received/IntakeSeachills touch screen network allows staff to easily identify purchase order information and record when all or part of the order has been received. Integreater® will not allow produce to be entered into the processing system without identifying the QA information outlined above.
In order to reduce errors at this stage, specific defaults were identified by Seachill and programmed into the system. For example, most fish Seachill purchase can only be caught in certain locations. If staff try to allocate an incorrect ocean of origin when produce is received, Integreater® has been programmed to alert the operator to this error, ensuring they select the correct option before progressing any further.
Goods Out/ProcessingWhen raw materials are sent to the production area to be processed, this information is recorded via Seachills touch screen network. Upon receipt, the QA team carry out microbiology tests before entering the results on Seachills database using touch screens located in the lab area. If raw materials meet QA standards, they are sent to be processed.
Packing/Despatch At this stage, produce is packed and labelled with the following data: display until date use by date price barcode
Integreater® significantly reduces the risk of incorrect labelling by checking that both the retail and product label type are correct for each unit. This works because Integreater® compares information from Seachills label printers to the specifications set by the QA team. If there are discrepancies, for example: an operator loads the incorrect retailer or product label or the incorrect catch method has been entered, Integreater® halts the printing process.
In addition, Integreater® features a verification scanner. This acts as a second checker to ensure the quality of barcodes produced by its OCMs for boxes containing multiple product units. If there is a problem, operators will be notified immediately as one poor quality barcode can prevent the whole product pallet from being dispatched.