Interview with the SKYBRIDGE Q.A. department of FRATELLI PAGANI

1. What do you do? Can you briefly summarize your main tasks?

The mantra of Fratelli Pagani’s Skybridge Q.A. department can be summed up as “Quality Oriented” as it is aimed at constantly assuring the high quality of raw materials, semi-finished products, services and in general of every procedure, always in full compliance with the regulations governing the matter in question.

Our main duties:

  • PUNCTUAL CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE, IN THE PRE AND POST-PURCHASE PHASES

Daily feedback is provided to Customers (acquired and loyal, or potential ones) regarding every aspect related to food quality and safety, products and the Company.
The support provided covers a very wide range and is diversified according to the type of customer: if it is a “potential customer” we provide the package of documents complete with the necessary answers to configure and accredit Fratelli Pagani S.p.A as a new supplier, and we support the sales staff in starting a first purchase evaluation; to the loyal customer, instead, we provide assistance on compliance, certification standards, documents or new information.
The sector in which Fratelli Pagani operates is constantly evolving and the demand for answers about safety and quality of food ingredients is more and more transversal and multifaceted. The constant updating is essential in order to respond in an immediate and decisive way to national or international Customers.

  • SUPPLIERS CHECK

In order to guarantee the safety, the legislative compliance and the quality of the raw materials used, a meticulous and constant attention to the check of the suppliers and of their supply chain is necessary.
In this context, the inherent documentation is kept up-to-date through direct and constant contact with suppliers located in different parts of the world, carrying out checks on their reliability, on the process and on the ingredient supplied, also assessing the potential risk associated with them.

  • COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT

In the case of a complaint, the Skybridge Q.A. department, in collaboration with the other related internal departments, and as per BRC Standard, not only carries out all the checks to identify the cause, but above all proactively proposes the most appropriate, fastest and most effective corrective actions possible. The goal is always to reduce non-conformities, through a process of continuous improvement inherent in the nature of the company, which we like to call kaizen.

  • CERTIFICATIONS

The company, through its internal Quality department, pays particular attention to the maintenance and implementation of BRC, Halal and Kosher certifications, as well as proactively accepting first, second and third party audits.

2. What is one strength of your team within the company and how important is collaboration (including with other departments)?

Collaboration, problem solving, personalized service and responsiveness make Skybridge Q.A. an essential pivot of the exclusive Method offered by the Company. Skybridge is structured in four essential phases and accompanies and supports the Client in the research and development of a made-to-measure product of the highest quality. Qualified personnel, composed of professionals and technologists in the field of Food Science, entirely manage the project up to the final phase where it is possible to test the desired final result.
In order to follow this process with each customer, the collaboration and coordination are essential with the commercial department, with the management, and also with all internal departments, including Quality Control, Research & Development, Production and Purchasing.

3. What skills and abilities are essential to perform in this profession?

Scrupulousness, empathy understood as the compression of the Client’s needs, as well as working “care” for the latter, together with an indispensable technical competence, are necessary to carry out this task.

4. Speaking of optimization and continuous improvement, what improvements have been made internally in the last two years? (e.g.: new colleagues in the team, new working methods, better communication, etc,…)

In the last two years, the Company has adopted new technologies and new procedures aimed at improving assurance support to the Customer.
In order to make the QA action more effective, the department has been enlarged with the insertion of a new resource in the staff with the qualification of internal auditor, and another resource is being inserted: a new figure, strictly linked to the production processes and in close collaboration with the Production Manager, with the intent to make the values of continuous improvement and total quality permeate inside the Company.

5. What are your future plans? Thinking about a medium-long term company strategy, how are you acting so that the company objectives can be reached in the best way?

Internationalization and diversification are the main focuses that the company has introduced for several years now and it will certainly work with a particular attention to this, offering support to different targets (not only ‘meat’), especially in the crucial phases of the “pre” purchase.

6. Which of Fratelli Pagani’s values do you identify with the most? Why?
  • Solidity: the customer is at the center of Fratelli Pagani’s attention, radically structured on the basis of ethics, respect for values, people and corporate culture.
  • Flexibility: the ability to manage time and resources in an optimal way to offer a service in line with expectations, anticipating needs and giving effective answers.
7. Finally, if you had to attribute three qualifying adjectives to the Company, what would you say, and why?
  • DINAMICS
  • SKILLED
  • SOLID

…Three adjectives that summarize the Company identity, made of expertise, strong roots and with a great push towards the diversification of targets and countries, and towards a bright future!

SKYBRIDGE Q.A. TEAM

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