[View Point] What pieces make up your pie?

Disgruntled employees, costly cockroaches, perishable produce. A quick scan of the feature topics in this issue could set a prospective QA manager running for an alternate industry. And these are just a fraction of the concerns that food industry QA managers confront each day.

Greg Baumann, NPMA Vice President of Technical Services, says it well in relation to pests (Pest Management, page 42): "In the big picture of quality assurance, pest management is one piece of the pie. Until something happens—then it is the whole pie." In place of the words "pest management," you could substitute any of the responsibilities of the QA manager: intentional or unintentional contamination, unsaleable product, ingredient quality, regulatory compliance, sampling procedures, packaging specifications …

In fact, a recent article citing industry consultant Thomas Cutler (www.quality-assurance.com, News, January 4, 2010) lists 30 standard duties of food industry QA professionals, noting, "This is not an exhaustive list and every placement is unique."

Concerns can vary based on the size of the plant and run, the number and experience of employees, the product being manufactured, the critical control points of a process, and a multitude of other major and minor factors. Not only does this mean that every quality assurance manager has different ingredients in his "pie," but that the slices of the pie can vary day to day, line to line, and shift to shift.

At this point, you may be thinking, "Tell me something I don’t know!" That is exactly our goal: not to simply state the issues you face each day, but to provide answers and practical solutions.

Our hope is that we do tell you something you don’t know; that you take away actionable knowledge every time you read QA. If not from each article, at least from every issue. For example, before reading this issue, did you know:

• insiders are more of a threat than foreign terrorists, but you can thwart them. (p. 20)

• inspectors often "know" if you have problems before they enter your building. (p. 42)

• the "Miracle on the Hudson" airline-river landing can provide lessons for your team. (p. 48)

• bed bugs don’t need a bed; they can infest even ster-ile locker rooms, but you can deter them. (p. 58)

We keep our eyes on the industry to bring you current, applicable solutions to your day-to-day management responsibilities, but we would love to hear from you for future issues. Are there pieces of your pie that you would like to see addressed? Does your plant have a unique or best-practices approach to food quality, safety or defense? Would you like to comment on a published article?

Your feedback is welcome and can be sent directly to me at llupo@giemedia.com.

The author is Managing Editor of QA magazine.