Learn how FoodLogiQ customers are leveraging new document types to strengthen their supply chain in our latest E-Book, 7 Ways FoodLogiQ Customers are Minimizing Risk During COVID-19.
Employing strong, strategic documentation management strategies and practices is vital for all active organizations in the food supply chain. The ability to capture, store, review, share and reference data within a designated, consolidated space is not only key to upholding compliance and meeting regulatory requirements, but is also an indicator of a mature food organization. Furthermore, it is coincidentally of utmost importance in the face of a global pandemic.
During this time, It is essential for food brands to swiftly and accurately distribute, collect and review required documentation from their suppliers, whether current or net new. This is not only true in relation to virtual supplier onboarding, which has become a common necessity thanks to shifts in demand, availability and emergency supplier additions. Effective documentation management has also been instrumental in communicating new protocols and procedures that reflect evolving guidance and regulation by organizations like the CDC, FDA and WHO.
As the situation continues to evolve, so too does new research and additional recommendations, such as the FDA’s recent food safety checklist, Best Practices for Re-Opening Retail Food Establishments During the COVID-19 Pandemic. From questions on handwashing and warewashing equipment to those surrounding facility operations, sanitation measures and social distancing, the checklist covers many crucial practices that should be followed in preparation for re-opening and restarting operations.
This is also true with respect to documentation on proper sanitation methods and safety measures distributed in consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, as well as in retail grocery. Food organizations need to immediately capture and share updated guidance and instructions on required practices such as those provided by the FDA to keep their employees and consumers safe, to uphold brand trust and to ultimately continue operations.
In FoodLogiQ Connect, this need is being fulfilled among both food brands and their suppliers. To distribute updated strategies and ensure that suppliers are following their most recent protocols, FoodLogiQ customers are leveraging new document type functionality to share and collect COVID-19-related documentation.
By creating new document types dedicated to COVID-19 documentation, brands are able to add in relevant, explicit instructions and context for their suppliers, and assign documents as business-level requirements to all supplier groups. In some cases, FoodLogiQ customers have used this technology to require suppliers to provide planning and SOP documentation related to COVID-19. Others are using the system to distribute updated plans and protocols like sanitation strategies, information on EPA-approved cleaning agents and inbound freight SOPs.
For each document that is shared or requested, suppliers receive a new To-Do in the Supplier To-Do List on their dashboard, instructing them to provide or complete the necessary documentation, and driving top-of-mindness and accountability. The To-Do is complemented by notifications in the To-Do weekly digest until the task is fulfilled. For key stakeholders, document review and approval is quick and easy, which has allowed customers to exchange required information and affiliated documentation as soon as it becomes available, as well as guarantee that their suppliers are following protocol.
The arrival of COVID-19 has undoubtedly exposed and directly resulted in supply chain disruption throughout the food industry, and FoodLogiQ customers have not been exempt from these impacts. However, as demonstrated in strategies such as those surrounding required documentation management, many of these leading food brands have strategically utilized resources like FoodLogiQ Connect to respond to, work with and withstand the negative effects of this crisis. We have never been more proud to partner with them.
As we approach the “New Normal,” the distribution of resources, successful strategies and evolving regulatory guidelines will continue to be of utmost importance. This is in addition to ongoing collaboration, partnership and unity.
To see how FoodLogiQ customers are navigating and minimizing risk during COVID-19 in action, check out our latest eBook, 7 Ways FoodLogiQ Customers are Minimizing Risk During COVID-19.