CAN YOU DO A PRODUCT BETTER AND CHEAPER

THINKING ABOUT WHETHER DOES SOMEBODY CAN DO THE SAME PRODUCT BETTER AND CHEAPER?

Today is the time to think about the products that we supply to our market – which are for me SPICES and DRIED FRUITS &NUTS – can there be done better and cheaper?

As a producer ...Are we supplying at least a decent quality of products?This means that you would love to bring your products home and serve to your chidren whom we are caring most? From my side I can say easily yes but when its comes all the foodstuffs we buy from the nearby grocery stores are not equal quality wise.

It is very probable that you can come across with a much cheaper pasta for instance . What is the quality difference between the most expensive one. What we should be   buying. Is the cheapest one the same product?

We won’t die from cheapest pasta. We will quench our hunger from both. Will the taste and texture be same ? Surely not.. Does it matter? For some yes…For some not. Hence we can come into a conclusion there is not much difference -in quality- based on our sensory perception wise…

Pasta is a quite simple product.. when it comes to more sophisticated products the risks are growing.
Canned products need more attention. Fish and meet are at the top of the list.Diary products maybe even more sensitive.

McDonalds or Burger King “must” offer you the best meat as they are not able to dare to a tiniest complaint which can deteriorate their world wide reputation . While your butcher in your neighborhood is not exposed to a such a big responsability. If you did not like the meat you bought last week you can complain to him but only the clients in the shop will hear it by chance. This will affect very slightly the business of your butcher. Right ?

Famous brands are and have to be more and more quality orianted than pricing. This does not prove that their quality is perfect. Some chemical and medicinal researches takes very very long time. Needs maybe more sofisticated analytical machinery to be invented.

Products without any brand have almost no risk. But can only sell with an attractive price. This is causing a dillemma price against quality.

The task of the legislator is more difficult. How to materilize the flow of decent products into the market without interruption? Not everybody is an expert of what we buy as food.Hence a neutral comitee must check but moreover think about public health .

Regretfully safety is endless notion. Achiveable precautions must be compulsory but in a reasonable extent. But NOT social media or uncompetent legislator must poke his nose into it.

Avram Aji
28.11.2017

IS THE PROFIT THE SURPLUS STOLEN FROM OUR WORKERS AS SAID BY KARL MARX

Peter Drucker is saying that it is not. Moreover this is the only way for the workers to make a living. The theory of economic growth is showing that only innovators but nobody else can obtain a profit.

An innovator is person that take a risk. Spending his valuable time to think about how to improve the existing commerce or production he already has, or to look after something more valuable to the world in near future..

Especially nowadays the knowledge is playing a big role in our world. Expensive researchs can only be made by very rich mutinational companies . Who can invest 500 million dollars to send a rocket to the the sky and trying make it return for the re-usage?

Governmental organisations can not dare , as they dont have the  luxuary to fail. But a mutibillionnaire can. If SpaceX or Hyperloop projects fails nobody will sue Elon Musk for it. He  is not doing them for presidential expectation too.

Big datas accumulated at the internet is conveying us on how to process them which is becoming the most important business of today. Google is saying that now able to identify the tiniest epidemic . Hence such a research and innovation-although must have be done by our authorities -due to the fact that they dont have the resources and allowance to fail ,research and innovation work is conveyed to entrepreneurs... Do not demonize them or invent a conspiracy story for every singe evil in the world.

Avram Aji
19.11.2017

IDENTIFYING THE FUTURE - Comments over Peter Drucker views (1)

I started to read the book of the most valuable guru of management  in 21. century Peter Drucker where I have been asked to identify the new trends of the field we work as homework.

I took the courage to think about how our food manufacturing company will continue to exist and what will be the management system in the near future.

My son and myself had had many difficuties in managing the small food production company we own. Every single worker , regardless he or she is white or blue collar have his own way of seeing the world , the factory , the business , his or her co-workers and ourselves as the owner of the business. Needless to say this is making very difficult to install a rigid discipline in all senses. Starting from they wear up to obeying the managerial and behaving individually differently.

I have come accross to a very few people who is eager to learn something and to look after on how to contribute to the existing system , on how to improve our existing production. Although we did not put in place a hierarchy in the management system ,old workers behave as having more authority and knowledge -which is not mostly the case- putting pressure on newcomers..

We have two major progress in our field. Mechanization is the first one. Unsophisticated hand work is becoming very expensive and the legislation of labor safety is becoming so impracticable  or if you follow strictly , is becoming so difficult to fulfill than as a manager you start thinking for mechanization every single day. The second major change is that the young workers do not want to work in physically hard jobs such as carrying heavy things , noisy , dusty  and cold environment.

Food legislation is becoming more and more difficult to implement to the manufacturer like us. The view of the legislator is to put restriction to every tiny issue to improve public health care without considering its costs and without making the risk analysis against the benefit .

They have a cruel and pitiless social media network and press… There is no any control , more over penalty and pay off for incorrect , inaccurate news that we are receiving daily basis.Hence , for the legislator put control on it is the safest way to react.

To conclude I can say that there will less available workers in the for difficult jobs which will push us to mechanization more and more. We will be obliged to spend more time and money to follow up the legislation and to implement . Staff working  such fields in the factories will increase either under the name of quality control manager or human resource manager or production manager.

Investment in modern technology will speed up.

We have been always badly affected from illegal competition whom are finding  a way to jump over the legislation. The major duty of our authorities was and must be to prevent their existance.

I have serious  doubts on it.

Avram Aji

17.11.2017

RISK ANALYSIS IN FOOD VERSUS QUALITY MANAGEMENT

BRC , IFS , FSSC , ISO quality management systems indeed have many advantages to produce safe and reliable products . But quality auditors do  not categorize neither give priority to the risks. This is giving unnecessary labor and waste of time and money to all companies.

For instance WHO is assuming that max 7mm metal is not dangerous for men if swallowed.. Children often swallow cherry pits which is not given any nuisance and trouble. On the other hand we are installing 0,7 mm sensible metal detector , neodium boron 8000 gauss magnets to get rid of fine metal powder, X-Ray detectors . Beside the expenses done to buy you also have to calibrate all the time and certify the calibration.

1-2 mm stone in the product can hurt your teeth. But you do not die of it. Pesticide residues indeed have negative impact in human body in long term. You can not consume 1 Kg of spice in a year but 1 kg of bread in a day.

On the other hand salmonella and e-coli contamination or growth in the product may be fatal instantly.

The calibration of glassware of laboratories must be done once for life time , as glass is an inert material. Calibration of scales is good for the trade but has nothing to do with health risk.

The importance of Major and minor non –conformance do not have the same magnitude .

The classification of risks must be categorized as follows

GRADE 1   -FATAL

GRADE 2   -LONG TERM SPREAD

GRADE 3   -NO EFFECT

Non conformances must be rated accordingly.

For instance if you don’t have microbiological analysis done the non conformance rating must be more severe than if you haven’t calibrate your scale. And the ratio must be 1 to 10 at least if not 100.

At the present time allergens are an insolvent disease issue. But the occurrence is so scattered and diverse!  On the other hand the preventive efforts spent for contamination is huge. But regarded as fatal for some auditors.  I do not want to give the impression that allergen management, labelling is unimportant for me but cost benefit analysis must be done also for rating.

All companies have a limited budget for the improvement of the product and production. Hence Grade 1 conformity must be %100 while Grade 3 conformity may be overlooked  in some extent.

Avram Aji

01.11.2017