The achievement of the Total
Quality is the main objective Unigrana established
to enter the modern market as one of the most reliable
and serious players in the milk-cheese field and to strengthen
its leading position in the Parmigiano Reggiano business.
Unigrana founds its company philosophy on its capacity to manufacture and package
butter and cheeses with such a quality to satisfy the customers’ needs.
The Quality Policy in its widest meaning is based upon:
- careful analysis of
the customers’ needs
- unadulterated and healthy ingredients with no bacteriological
risk
- quality invariability
- decreased costs for non-quality
THE STEPS OF THE QUALITY SYSTEM
Certification of the management systems (ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001),
initially intended to provide guarantees of the company's reliability in customer/supplier
relations, has developed over time, becoming a means by which Unigrana itself
can provide guarantees concerning the product offered to customers and consumers
alike.
The work which began in July 1997 has led to the development of an integrated
management system that includes the following forms of certification, obtained
for both the company's production locations:
- ISO 14001 Environment
- ISO
9001 Design
- OHSAS 18001 Work-place
safety (extension of Italian Decree Law 626)
- HACCP
- CCPB Organic
Certification
In the same way as management system certification, voluntary product certification
also responds to the market's demand for "quality".
As well as product certification for its butter made from 100% Emilian Cream
(obtained in 2003), Unigrana is now also introducing product certification for
its butter made from 100% Italian Cream.
Unigrana's well-established certification policy aims to underline and promote
the relationship between the product and its production area, assuring the consumer
guaranteed quality with regard to the origin of the cream used, traceability,
and the transparency of the entire production chain.
Product certification with origin defined under DTP 019:
• "BUTTER MADE FROM 100% EMILIAN CREAM"
• "BUTTER MADE FROM 100% ITALIAN CREAM"
Early in 2004 Unigrana was proud to record to more major achievements:
BRC and IFS STANDARD - HIGHER
LEVEL CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY
The expansion of the international market and the need to win the trust of European
retailers led Unigrana to apply for certification under two different international
standards, BRC e IFS.
These standards were created by English and German retailers respectively, in
order to provide a common basis for the assessment and qualification of suppliers,
by standardising the requirements to be assessed and reducing the number of inspections
to be carried out by the customer.
The BRC and IFS standards
contain a series of very detailed, precise requirements which inform the company
not only "what" has to be done but also "how".
They both set requirements concerning:
- the documented quality management system;
- the principles for application of the HACCP plan
(risk analysis and crucial control points);
- control of the production environment, product, processes
and personnel.
Since Unigrana already had an Integrated Management System
(covering quality, the environment and safety) and a certified HACCP System,
it was able to save a great deal of energy when it came
to implementing the BRC and IFS standards:
use of existing documentation, instructions and training
for staff already up and running.
For Unigrana, its BRC and IFS certifications
are important additions to its credentials when it comes to winning the trust
of European retailers, who insist on compliance with requirements related to
hygiene, prevention and the adoption of good processing practices.
And that is not all. BRC and IFS certification was also a major opportunity
for auditing the company's progress, assessing the improvements achieved and
setting new targets for the future. And Unigrana passed the test with flying
colours, with the award of Higher Level certification.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & QUALITY
FOR COMPETITIVENESS
It is already some years since Unigrana first implemented the Qman and Qbase
corporate Quality Management software packages, software systems that organise
the acquisition and storage of documents and data, and not only offer documentation
management functions but also allow the collection and analysis of data (complaints,
nonconformities, corrective and preventive actions, evaluation of internal and
supplier audits, inspections and traceability).
A Quality IT system provides certified companies with operational advantages,
since it speeds up compliance formalities by keeping a record of both actions
and events, and decision-making benefits, since it helps the management to take
decisions oriented towards customer satisfaction and customers' expectations,
continuous improvement and cost reduction.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS TO PROTECT
THE CONSUMER
The quality and safety of finished products depend on the control capabilities
and quality of every link in the chain: the first factor is the quality level
of the raw materials, followed by that of the production process (in compliance
with the preset hygiene standards), through to attainment of a final product
the consumer can really trust.
Every year, Unigrana performs a large number of inspections on its suppliers'
premises in order to assure and guarantee our customers with regard to the quality
of the products and services supplied to them; for Unigrana, procurement management
is one of the fundamentals of the Integrated Management System.
The audits have provided detailed pictures of the many dairies visited, and have
given outstanding results with guarantees concerning the quality of the product
supplied.
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