New Operator and Quality Assurance Training Programme Supports Manufacturers in Regulatory Compliance and Improving Manufacturing Efficiency
Food and beverage producers can now benefit from additional knowledge and skills to help them ensure regulatory compliance and also to maximise productivity, with an innovative user training programme from Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection (www.mt.com/pi-training). Designed for machine operatives and quality managers using the manufacturer’s checkweighing, metal detection, x-ray and vision inspection systems, the new modular courses provide structured, standardised practical and theoretical guidance in operating the technologies and using them to meet both employee safety and food quality standards. At the same time, it will also provide the skills to minimise maintenance and changeover downtime to enhance line efficiency. In doing so, it will enable producers to provide consumers with the highest quality products, safeguarding brand reputation, as well as lowering operating costs to protect profit margins.
“Food producers in both Europe and Asia are seeking to export their products overseas, making it important for them to ensure their manufacturing processes comply with all of the food safety regulations in place in their target markets,” explained Jana Meier, Marketing Team Leader Product Inspection & Head of Marketing Checkweighing, Mettler-Toledo. “At the same time though, with the price of raw materials and labour increasing worldwide, food producers are looking to cut costs by enhancing line efficiency. Our new user training programme is designed to help producers achieve these two objectives by giving their machine operatives and quality managers the skills to ensure their product inspection systems offer optimum performance, boosting quality control with minimum downtime.”
Set in a classroom environment, the modular learning programme will give machine operatives comprehensive theoretical education in the latest requirements for compliance with guidelines approved by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards Version 7, as well as other legislation governing product quality, such as the International Featured Standard (IFS) and UK Weights and Measures Act. They will also receive extensive practical, on-site training in operating Product Inspection technologies, and in using them to maximise production line performance and ensuring product quality control.
The user training modules are tailored to three different target groups:
· Operations – teaching operatives how to interpret both inspection and performance data for product inspection systems, ensure due diligence and uphold Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Plus, the course covers how to maintain safe work practices;
· Quality – communicating about complying with food safety standards, with training in quality assurance functions and performance verification routines, as well as best-practice guidance on documentation processes;
· Maintenance – providing theoretical and practical guidance to help maintenance personal carry out proactive care of product inspection equipment, uphold high hygiene standards and accurately log machine performance data.
Each module lasts four to five hours, and ends with an exam to ensure attendees have full understanding of the topic. Attendees receive a Food Regulation Training certificate on completion of the course, to demonstrate due diligence and compliance with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles to auditors.
Customers who have already attended the training have been very positive about it, such as, Susanne Mädrich, Group Leader Quality Management Process Safety, from Bischofszell Food Limited (BINA) in Switzerland; “Our company is committed to quality and we desire to comply with the strictest global food safety standards. Therefore, we wanted our operators to understand why they were testing for metal contamination, the influences on metal detector sensitivity and how to improve operator efficiency.” After Mettler-Toledo experts developed a bespoke plan for BINA and trained 65 line operators, Joachim Gründing, Team Leader Quality Management Food Safety, Bischofszell Food Limited (BINA) was very pleased with the level of participation and learning that took place during the training sessions. He said: “After the training session, I feel everyone now has a much better understanding of metal detection – why it is so important to have metal detection systems, and the importance of testing our metal detectors correctly”.
For more information about the training programmes offered by Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection, please visit: www.mt.com/pi-training
