A Look Behind the Scenes of Sprague’s Quality Assurance Team
In the words of Martha Branch, QA Auditor
Sprague Pest Solutions Emeritus Vice President Larry Treleven once told me, “What gets measured, gets done.” That sentence perfectly encapsulates the mission of Sprague’s QA team.
The work that the Sprague Quality Assurance team and I perform is essential to our success and that of our clients. Our brand and their brands are linked together, we pride ourselves on providing uncompromising pest management service and our customers’ brands depend on us to do so.
We believe that our internal audits should be the toughest ones a client has to deal with. Our objective is to protect the client and look out for their best interests when it comes to pest control and food safety. We expect them to receive a perfect audit score.
Each member of our audit team has extensive experience working as a pest control technician. I personally have over 20 years of food processing industry experience as well. We know what we’re looking for as we’ve been alongside a plant QA manager who’s trying to maintain a pest-free environment in addition to the other numerous items on their to do list.
Last year, our team did an average of 15 audits a day. That’s a lot of preparation and a lot of time on the road. The audit team can be on the road anywhere from 50 to 85 percent of the time.
Let me walk you through what it’s like to audit one of our customers’ facilities, show you how we prepare, what we do when we are on-site, what we occasionally find that surprises us, and what we do once the audit is complete. You’ll see it’s not a breeze in and breeze out process.
The Prep
Before we step foot into a client’s facility we need to prepare. This first step is the most important step and the most time consuming. We need to know the facility and pest control program inside and out before we get started.
Our audits are chosen at random, and every Sprague account is in play. Our Route Managers and clients don’t get advance notice we’re coming unless the contract requires us to do so. Our Regional or Branch Managers will sometimes request we do an audit, but the timing is up to us.
We do a deep dive into the details. This is significantly easier with our Online Logbook technology – the holy grail of documentation and our window inside an account. From my laptop, I can find out everything I need to know about our documentation.
I key in on several things in my preparation starting with the device maps. I want to make sure what’s in the logbook matches the published service reports. I’ve seen interior traps listed on the device map, but the service report indicates it’s on the exterior. That’s a problem that could throw off a third-party audit. If numbers and information don’t match, I’ll flag it for a closer look when I’m on site.
Signed documents are another item I’ll review closely in my prep. Having those completed and easily accessible is important.
Reading the notes on the service report gives me an additional snapshot of the account during my prep. I may see things in data but not in notes and we want full transparency for our customers.
When I’m done with my prep work, I want to make sure I’m as familiar with that facility as possible and feel confident we are doing enough to consistently improve their pest control program.
The QA Audit
I always have a game plan but at the same time I want to be flexible and observational. Since our audits are done with no advance notice, I usually spend time initially visiting with the contact and explaining why I’m there and what I’ll do with the information.
Nothing is off limits during a Sprague audit – we’ll look at all areas of the client’s pest control program. I’ll check bar codes and time stamps on devices to make sure they are being checked. I’ll also pay attention to the appearance of a device – if it doesn’t look functional, it’s checked. Devices play a key role in accurately capturing the pest data needed to deliver a successful pest control program, any discrepancies could mean a lapse in pest prevention.
I open doors, a lot of doors. I want to see what’s inside a storage closet or room to make sure nothing is going on. I will also get up on the roof to look around.
We make sure to dig for the smallest detail and make sure it is inspected and conditions noted, something our clients appreciate.
For example, I was auditing a cheese packaging facility that was experiencing an Indian meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) problem; an unusual pest for cheese production, given that the pest is usually found in facilities that are processing grain, nut, or cocoa-based foods, not cheese.
I did a thorough inspection of the facility’s storage areas and transportation coolers, but there was no sign of the source of the infestation. While walking through a storage room I noticed a large tarp – roughly 20’ x 20’ – square in the middle of the room. That caught my attention.
Thinking it was a food commodity I lifted the tarp only to discover a stack of wooden beehives. The hives were being stored there by the owner and the honey residue inside the hives was attracting the moths. The hives were removed, and the moths disappeared.
Our audits are also opportunities to prevent future problems. During another audit of a food distribution warehouse, one of our team noticed the client had started storing raw chocolate in a room that was not previously used for commodity storage. The customer operated multiple facilities that we serviced and the auditor, being familiar with the client’s other facilities, knew that a similar situation at another location resulted in an Indian meal moth issue.
The Sprague auditor took the proactive step of having the Route Manager proactively install pheromone monitoring traps in the temporary storage room. Fortunately, no pests were observed in the traps, but our customer had peace of mind that they were protected and would not have an issue with pests or third-party auditors!
The Result
Once I’m done with an audit it’s time to write up the report. The report is not meant to pass judgement, but to verify the service is being completed properly, train our teams and find opportunities to improve our service; it’s a 360-degree look at where things stand within the account – good and bad. The report is immediately available for both the servicing Route Manager and their manager to see. We want full transparency and clear communication across our service teams.
If we see something that needs to be corrected – like a missing door sweep, device that is misplaced, or documentation issues – we note it and alert the proper person to fix the issue.
We welcome customer questions, the opportunity to educate them on their program and how they can make improvements. In many cases following an audit we are asked to perform a more in-depth risk assessment of their facility.
The bottom line is that we do these audits to protect our customer’s reputation, ensure that we are delivering the uncompromising service we promised, and that clients are always audit-ready.
People deserve to eat safer food and live and work in healthier environments. Our work on the Quality Assurance team aims to do our part to make that happen.