Why did you start looking for a digital solution?
“Our production rounds used to be so cumbersome. We’d walk the rounds, take photos, and enter everything into a custom Excel file. That file did generate a score, but it required a lot of extra work. We did send the Excel file, but the photos, for example, weren’t visible to the production team. As a result, production staff never really understood what issues we were encountering. And then we thought: there has to be an easier way that takes less time.”
You really gain a lot more insight—not just by department, but also by topic.
— StarCuisine, Normec Foodcare
You’re now conducting inspections using the inspection app. What are the differences compared to the old way of working?
“We’ve now broken down the major production rounds into separate lists for the different departments. This way, each department can see exactly what’s going on through the report, including the photos and additional comments. It’s just a lot more convenient, faster, and clearer. On the production floor itself, you can see that employees really get to work on the issues as soon as they receive the report. They review the report, look at the photos, and try to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. They’re more motivated to take action. Right now, we send the report to all departments. Our goal is for all departments to have their own login for the QA software so they can resolve the issues themselves, but we’re not quite there yet.”
What benefits has digitization brought to the organization?
“We’ve certainly saved time by working with this module, but above all, we’ve made the information more visual. And I actually think that’s even more important than the time savings. The frequency of inspection rounds has increased thanks to the use of the Inspections module. We used to conduct a round once a month. Now we do it weekly, so we can also view the scores on a weekly basis. As a result, the scores have generally gone up a bit. We can see more clearly what’s going wrong. Because you can view statistics immediately, it’s easier for management and for us to see which areas we need to focus on. Should we pay more attention to general hygiene or personal hygiene? And how is the completion of the registration forms going? This way, management can also see which registrations are going well and which aren’t. They have a better understanding of which areas to focus on. You really gain a lot more insight—not just by department, but also by topic.”
“As a result, the scores have generally gone up a bit. We can see more clearly what’s going wrong.”
— Starcuisine, Normec Foodcare online
How do employees feel about the increased inspection frequency?
“Of course, it’s still the case that you’re checking the work. Beforehand, I was worried that people would think we were being too critical. But our colleagues actually see it more as a challenge. The moment you walk into the department, you can already hear them say, ‘This time we’ll get 100 percent, right?’”
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