NWA Quality Monitor—The Best and Easiest Way to Collect HACCP Data

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You can choose from a wide variety of software products to define and document your HACCP program. However, there are remarkably few packages that actively support your staff in the task of collecting and recording Critical Control Point (CCP) data.

NWA Quality Monitor (QM) solves that problem. QM is designed for plant floor quality data collection and you can use the same software to collect CCP data. With QM, your technician can record the data, enter corrective actions, get immediate feedback with SPC charts, and electronically access SOP documents.

Here are six HACCP plant floor problems you can solve with NWA Quality Monitor:

1. QM electronically collects plant floor data in real time.
2. QM instantly alerts your technician to CCP violations.
3. QM enables your technician to electronically record corrective actions.
4. QM provides immediate CCP performance analysis with SPC charts.
5. QM puts HACCP program documentation at the technician's fingertips.
6. QM saves CCP data to a large variety of databases. You can use the data management and reporting tools you are already familiar with.

HACCP—The Standard Food Safety Program

Establishing HACCP as the standard for food handling and processing is an important step in Food Safety. However, food processors face a challenge with HACCP: how to implement the procedures in a multitude of diverse and complicated plant floor environments.

In 1992, the National Advisory Committee on Microbial Criteria published the seven HACCP points in the International Journal of Food Microbiology defining the HACCP process. They are:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis. Prepare a list of steps in the process where significant hazards can occur and describe the preventive measures.
2. Identify the Critical Control Points (CCPs) in the process.
3. Establish critical limits for preventive measures associated with each identified CCP.
4. Establish CCP monitoring requirements. Establish procedures for using the results of monitoring to adjust the process and maintain control.
5. Establish corrective actions to be taken when monitoring indicates that there is a deviation from an established critical limit.
6. Establish effective record-keeping procedures that document the HACCP system.
7. Establish procedures for verification that the HACCP system is working correctly.

One major challenge to making the program work is finding a simple, unobtrusive, and inexpensive way to collect the data that a HACCP program requires.

Since the Committee's 1992 publication of HACCP, food processors have used many different tools and methods to meet the Committee's guidelines – with mixed success. A few companies have been able to assemble systems to meet their HACCP needs. This requires that they understand the fundamental differences among HACCP software tools. Most HACCP-related software focuses on preparing procedures and documentation in accordance with the HACCP guidelines. While these tools are valuable when planning a HACCP program, they do not provide much support for day-to-day plant floor operation. Data collection is a major issue. And the data collection abilities of most HACCP-related software are severely limited.

Of those products that do provide data collection, users frequently find that they must alter their procedures to fit the tool. Some systems may limit the user to only entering and recording data manually, increasing the likelihood of transcription errors. Or, the software may lack the capacity to collect data in real-time, a critical function in performing HACCP. They simply do not provide an effective way to gather and deliver HACCP data throughout the plant floor.

Another common problem is the software's inability to fit within a company's existing manufacturing system. This invariably results in a needless waste of time and revenue. Often, an unanticipated purchase of high-end hardware is made in order to accommodate low-end software.

NWA Quality Monitor—Six Points for HACCP Data Collection

1. Real-Time Data Collection

The flexible QM user interface design makes it easy for your technician to collect CCP data accurately in real time. Each record can be automatically date/time stamped. QM is designed to run on a plant floor PC and can be set up close to where the CCP is being monitored. It can also be loaded onto a portable industrial PC and be carried to any part of the operation.

2. CCP Alarming

QM provides instant feedback to the technician. You can define alarms for each CCP data input field. A clear visual and optional audible alarm alerts the technician when a violation occurs (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Alarm for out-of-spec temperature.

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3. Recording Corrective Action

When a CCP value triggers an alarm (Figure 1), the technician is alerted to take corrective action. You can define CCP specific drop-down lists of corrective actions to enable consistent, error free recording (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Recording Corrective Actions

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4. SPC Charts

SPC control charts are a good way to improve a successful HACCP program. QM can automatically produce SPC charts to evaluate the performance at the CCPs.

You can analyze plant floor data collected by QM with NWA Quality Analyst at your desk. Using control charts, you can determine if your process performance at each CCP is stable or if a trend is occurring that requires investigation (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Control chart with out-of-spec CCP for cooking temperature.

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And, control charts simplify internal and regulatory audits. The ability to produce up-to-the-minute snapshots of your process with control charts provides efficient and effective proof to inspectors that you have your process under control.

5. HACCP Procedures

Every HACCP program has written procedures that must be followed. Most often these procedures are kept in notebooks which cause real problems in a processing environment.

Instead, QM can display SOPs stored in standard web or document formats such as HTML, DOC, or RTF. Your SOPs can be instantly available to the technician on the QM screen (Figure 4). Quick access to SOPs can be the difference between program violations and proper action.

Figure 4

Operators can directly access HAACP SOP documents.

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When you alter procedures, updating all those notebooks is a time-consuming task. When you update SOP documents on your server, the up-to-date SOP can be instantly available to all networked QM workstations.

6. Database Connectivity

You can design perfectly usable data collection stations without connecting to your databases. However, you can use the QM Database Connectivity to write the data directly to any ODBC-compliant database. You can then use all the database's management and reporting features to satisfy your HACCP program requirements.

What Will NWA Quality Monitor Do for You?

NWA Quality Monitor has the flexibility to make an outstanding HACCP and data collection tool. Its ability to fit into virtually any process environment and perform to your specifications and procedures with minimum requirements in time or cost, makes it first for plant floor environments.

QM is an off-the-shelf package that fits easily within your plant floor SPC quality system. It requires only the use of your PC and runs off your existing database.

The screen shots in this article are examples of what you can do using the Quality Monitor Designer. You can create a design that best fits your own HACCP plan using the powerful QM visual designer tools.

Whether you are just starting your HACCP program, or already have a program in place, adding NWA Quality Monitor will increase your program effectiveness.

Reference:

John G. Surak, Ph.D., Jeffery L. Cawley and Syed Ajaz Hussain, Ph.D. "Integrating HACCP and SPC." Clemson University Extension, September 1998.
Reference material available through Northwest Analytical.

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