Procedure for Supplier Evaluation

Procedure for supplier evaluation
Policy:
The company shall do business only with suppliers that provide high quality safe food ingredients/products.
Purpose:
This procedure outlines criteria for selecting and evaluating appropriate suppliers that have the capability and systems to supply products, materials, and services which are match with the company’s specified requirements, as well as meet relevant statutory/regulatory requirements.
Scope:
The procedure applies to all vendors of products, materials, and services that may affect the safety of company’s food products.
Responsibility:
Purchasing department
Finance department
Food safety team leader and food safety team
QA Executive
Procedure: is detailed below 1.0 Approved vendor list 1.1 The food safety team leader shall maintain an ASL-QA-00.21 Approved supplier list, identifying suppliers who have demonstrated the capability of meeting the company’s quality and food safety requirements. 1.2 The Approved supplier list shall be organized by product. 1.3 In addition to the product or service identification, ASL-QA-00.21 the should include, at a minimum: I. Vendor name; II. Item Name III. Vendor contact information; IV. Vendor Class: 1.3 To be listed as an approved vendor, a candidate must provide certain assurances of capability, depending on the nature and seriousness if the potential risks its products or services pose to the quality and safety of the company’s products. 2.0 Vendor classification and requirements 3.1 Vendor shall be classified according to the potential risk their products pose to the safety of the company’s products; A. Class 1:
Vendor’s product affects food safety (e.g., raw materials, processing equipment, monitoring/measuring equipment, software).
Unless already certified to ISO 22000, Class 1 vendors shall require a second party audit by a food safety team to the ISO 22000 standard. In the cause of the audit, the vendor must provide evidence that all of its processing affecting food safety are effectively documented and implemented. In order to remain on the company’s approved vendor list, each vendor must be re-audited at two year intervals or be certified to the ISO 22000 standard.
Certification of conformance of a vendor’s HACCP plans or PRPs may be substituted for the second-party audit requirement, but such vendor’s HACCP plans and PRPs are subject to a second-party audit to verify compliance at any time. B. Class II
Vendor’s product/service does not affect food safety.
Verification of initial shipments will be performed in products or services provided by any Class II vendor and vendor performance will be monitored in accordance with company requirements for non-food-safety-related vendors. C. Class III
Vendor’s product (service) may or may not affect food safety – the vendor cannot be second party audited but the company will grant an exception based on the vendor’s performance history (i.e. their QA system is considered sufficient to meet requirements). Examples include express shippers and office supply vendors.
Verification of all shipments will be performed on products and/or services provided by any class III vendor.

3.0 New vendor evaluation 4.2 Food safety management shall evaluate new vendors using following criteria. I. The vendor performance capability (i.e. financial status, sufficient facilities, capability of equipments, and capability/training of employees), ability to fulfil company requirements, and ability to deliver accurately, completely and in a timely manner. II. Competitive pricing is but one component of the evaluation; pricing will not be the deciding factor unless competing vendors are equal in every other area. III. Prospective vendors shall be subject to reference checks. IV. Vendors certified to the ISO 22000 standard shall be given preference. V. When such vendors cannot be found, the company shall give preference to having HACCP based plans and PRPs in place. The company shall verify the prospective vendor’s HACCP plans and/or PRPs. VI. A copy of the vendors ISO certificate and/or verification of the vendor HACCP plans and PRPs shall be kept on file. VII. When food safety management adds a vendor to the approved vendor list, it shall notify purchasing, accounting, and the likely requisitioning department using form ASL-QA-00.21 Vendor performance log.

4.0 Vendor disqualification 5.3 A supplier (vendor) may be disqualified, based on the degree of nonconformity in a single incident, in accordance with non-conformance and corrective action records. 5.4 At periodic re-evaluation, ASL-QA-00.21 Vendor performance log may indicate a vendor’s performance rating in the period being evaluated is unacceptable. 5.5 Disqualified vendors should be removed from the approved vendor list. Alternatively, there should be a “qualified/disqualified” indicator on the approved vendor list. 5.6 The date of disqualification shall be noted. 5.7 A disqualified vendor may be reinstated no sooner than 90 days following a disqualification, subject to re-evaluation.

5.0 Vendor re-evaluation 6.8 Food safety management, with the assistance of QA, shall periodically evaluate the performance of each vendor on the approved vendor list (annually, at a minimum) for the following factors: I. History of supplying safe products or services (i.e. safety performance rating) II. Overall Quality rating = Average reject percentage is calculated for each supplier and a mark is allocated for reject percentages according to predetermined criteria. Second-party audit results III. On-time delivery, 100% on time expected (zero days early, zero days late) 6.9 A record of each vendor shall be maintained on a separate form QA-R-00.20 Vendor performance log for purchasing use. Information on the vendor performance log shall include, at a minimum: I. Vendor name and contact information II. Vendor class III. Last safety inspection, inspecting authority IV. Quality/food safety contact V. Order date VI. Required/actual delivery date VII. Quantity ordered/delivered VIII. Deviation (discrepancy) 6.0 Second party vendor audit programme 7.10 Food safety team shall audit the company’s class I vendors on a periodic basis. 7.11 Top management shall re-evaluate the second party vendor audit programme periodically, to ensure that class I vendors are being audited on a timely basis.
Effectiveness criteria I. Number of approved suppliers II. Average supplier quality ratings III. Average on-time delivery ratings
References:
Vendor performance log- QA-R-00.20
Approved supplier list- ASL-QA-00.21
Supplier Evaluation Results-SER-QA-00.22
Supplier Requirement-SAF-QA-00.23
Marking Scheme for supplier evaluation- SAF-QA-00.24
Fruit Supplier Communication Letter-SC-QA-00.25

Revision history: Revision | Date | Description of changes | Requested by | 0.0 | | Initial release | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |