Tap Into Time-Saving Software For Food Safety’s Sake

Robert Holthouse

Robert Holthouse

Time is a valuable resource and can be a major motivator, too. Case in point: Holthouse Farms in Willard, OH, — an operation that dates back to 1903 — had to prepare for the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit so the farm along with its marketing operation, D.R. Walcher Farms in North Fairfield, OH, could be GFSI certified. Robert Holthouse, son of co-owner Ken Holthouse, had opted to return to his Ohio roots in early 2012 and tackle food safety tasks for the farms. Getting ready for the GFSI audit seemed like a doable project at the time, or so he thought.

With a degree in media productions, on the surface Robert’s background didn’t seem to fit the job at hand. Little did he know, however, that with the help of his wife Kate and his friend, Brad Chase, a software engineer, it was a perfect fit. “My dad had been talking about what the farm was doing with food safety, and I needed a challenge,” explains Robert. He accepted the challenge in February 2012, knowing he needed both farms certified by July. Between the two operations, more than 1,400 acres of peppers, cucumbers, squash, gourds, and pumpkins are produced and packed.

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Setting Standards

What followed was a significant amount of research, writing food safety procedures, and compiling 600 pages of standard operating procedures (SOPs). “It seemed insurmountable. I kept telling myself that I just would write one [SOP] at a time, but then every one of those SOPs needed a corresponding log to validate it,” he says.

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It all came together, however, and Holthouse Farms received its first GFSI certification on Aug. 1, 2012. Robert points out that both farms had been getting GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certifications for years before they went to the GFSI audit. “We have always been concerned with making sure our products are safe. Passing audits is just a bonus for safe food. GFSI is a more active and robust safety scheme so we adopted it not only for the audit itself, but because it helped us be even safer,” he says.

Part of that process includes tending to more than 60 logs every day at each location. Robert says between 120 and 150 log entries must be made per day. “Documentation is very important. And to outside people, it validates that a practice is being done. To me as the food safety director, it gives me a better picture of what is going on,” he says.

Keeping track of what was going on required mountains of paperwork. With the SOPs in place and toward the end of Robert’s first year as food safety director, he and his wife noted that numerous hours were required to make sure that what people are writing down actually happened and then checking paperwork to make sure it was done correctly. It was usually after employees went home when Robert had the time to check the books to be sure everything was in order and all the logs were properly filled out. This time-consuming process needed to be sped up and streamlined. “The first thought I had was to have the information entered digitally and have a digital tracking system,” he says. “The problem you run into, and the reason why I didn’t do it this way the first year, is the data can be changed, and I may not be able to see that it was changed.” That was a significant drawback for maintaining valid records of food safety procedures.

A New Software Program

Holthouse Farms needed a software program that would not allow information to be changed once it is entered into the log. Robert knew of no such program. So, along with his wife, he contacted Chase, and together they formed the company Orizant. Last year, the software they developed went through three GFSI audits as well as Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA audits. Holthouse Farms and D.R. Walcher Farms passed all audits.

According to Robert, the reason they are successful with the software is because of how it is set up: Nothing is installed locally. The program and the data it collects are housed on the web. “When one of my crew members generates a log, I can’t do anything to change it; I can’t delete it, and I can’t change the information on it,” he explains. “Once the log is created, it is created permanently. That gives the system the validity it needs to be auditable.”

Users log into the program, called “Sapphire,” to make their entries. Sapphire handles all inspections and general food safety logging while the T3 Produce Scan inventory and traceability system from T3 Technologies handles the inventory portion of the operation.

Robert says the logs sheets for Sapphire look like eMail inboxes. In the first column, the user indicates the date, time, and location. If an exclamation mark appears with the entry, he knows there was a problem and an eMail will be generated and sent to Robert’s inbox. Clicking on the exclamation mark lets the user know the details of the problem and what the corrective action should be. “It keeps track of comments and of everyone who looked at this entry,” he adds.Orizant software screen capture

Just a few months after they began collaborating, they introduced a prototype logging system at one of the farm’s loading docks. He proceeded with caution with the rest of the operation, using the software for water logs and then for daily operation logs. “The hardest thing to do is keep people off their smartphones at work, and I figured if they are going to have [the phones] in their hands anyway, why not use this logging system?”

How It Works

In the morning, users log into the Sapphire system with their user name and password using either their phone or a computer. They see only the information they are responsible for. For example, the shed manager sees the logs she must fill out prior to operating the shed, such as information pertaining to raw produce inspection, etc. “In the morning, she will fill out her logs with a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ response, and if she has a ‘no’ checked off, then she is notified with a corrective action,” Robert explains. “She can’t submit the log until she fills out the corrective action, describing the problem and what she did to fix it.”

The system’s use is similar in the field. Before a crew starts harvesting, the crew manager checks off the field inspection, indicating the presence of portable restrooms, the absence of flooding, etc. Once the logs are made, they are sent to Robert’s inbox.

Ensuring good recordkeeping is important, but there is another benefit as well: Everyone is able to do these tasks much faster. “The system keeps everybody pretty honest,” Robert adds. “It has been huge in simplifying and streamlining my food safety tasks — and it saves time.”

The Importance Of SOPs

After producing 600 pages of standard operating procedures (SOPs), Holthouse says the operations were already doing much of what they needed to do to be in compliance with the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Some of the changes they made to be in compliance included using easier-to-clean surfaces in the packinghouse. Specifically, wood surfaces were replaced with stainless steel and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene took the place of regular plastic surfaces. On top of that, bird netting is used so there is no concern about birds roosting anywhere.

One of the biggest details regarding SOPs was having a document for employees that contained proper procedures. For example, the shed was cleaned every night, says Robert, but the specifics on how it was to be cleaned were never written down. “Now there is a SOP that states exactly how the shed is to be washed, for example, top to bottom, a specific concentration of cleaner, the order in which the pieces of equipment and surfaces are washed, etc. Now we have made those activities a standard business practice.”

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