His cooperative has 150 growers that have to meet a range of compliance schemes, including GLOBALG.A.P. Option Two. He needs to be sure that all of the growers meet compliance standards for all schemes, so that he can protect the Crunchy Apple brand.
Bob needs to be confident that all of the growers meet all of the standards, so that they pass their audits and retain their very important retail customers.
But compliance is getting more complex:
His growers now have to meet the standards for a range of schemes and need detailed evidence that verifies the certification decision.
The standards are complex and he needs to be sure that they are being met by all growers.
And with Covid 19, just getting auditors out to growers is hard; he can’t afford to miss any opportunities.
It’s hard for Bob to feel confident that standards are being met and it’s even harder to report to his board and the growers when he has to trawl through hundreds of complex spreadsheets to find the right information.
It’s giving Bob a headache.
Meet Julie.
Julie is the Lead Inspector at the Crunchy Apple Cooperative. Julie has a solution.
Julie has been running a free trial of the QuantumLeap platform to see how it might benefit Crunchy Apples. She has created and completed several pre-audit inspections using the system, and she found some major benefits for their cooperative. She is presenting these to Bob.
“Overall, the big saving was time, because I could inspect more than one scheme at the same time and capture them easily in the cloud. I saved so much time that I was able to do two inspections in one day instead of one. I have calculated that these savings will easily cover the cost of using the platform, and we can make more savings on top of that... for example, I got the inspections done in one day, so I did not have to stay overnight. We saved the cost of a hotel room.
While onsite, the internet was patchy, but the platform works offline just as well.
I was able to create a summary report of all the corrective actions that needed attention whilst still with the client. The grower could later upload evidence of the corrective action taken, directly into the platform, to avoid double-handling.
When I was back online at the office, I used the voice recognition to enter my feedback on evidence and overall comments for the report which the auditor would want to see and review. The full report was very easy and quick to generate once I was ready.
We can also make changes to the system to make it more suited to our needs. We are going to save a lot of time as well as gaining insights across all of the growers by aggregating the data to see:
1) where we have strengths and weaknesses,
2) who we can learn from,
3) who we can give more training to, and
4) where our areas of risk are.
This will help us to clearly report to our customers and improve our profits”.
“This is what I found when I used QuantumLeap...
My Test Findings
I was able to do the audit on my tablet, because the question-set fit onto my screen. Previously, I either had to take my laptop so that I could see the spreadsheets properly, or I had to use a clipboard and transfer the information into the spreadsheet later.
It was easier to use a tablet and I completed the inspection faster than I ever have previously. I also saved time because I didn’t have to transfer information later. At the office I used my computer. I even used my smartphone to access and enter data.
I used the voice recognition feature to write up and expand on my notes for evidence and overall summary comments.
This saved me a lot of time. I recorded more detailed notes than before and much faster. Plus, they were loaded straight into the evidence or corrective action section in the report.
Many of our growers use the same contractors, so I prepared the evidence and documentation on the contractor once, and then I copied it in for the different growers.
This saved a huge amount of time as I didn’t have to repeat exactly the same write-up and documentation over and over again.
I took photos with my tablet as evidence when I did the inspection. The photos loaded straight into the platform.
This saved me a lot of time and hassle. We have always had an issue with saving images in a spreadsheet, and we had to save them separately and number them. This issue would be resolved.
I was able to use answers and evidence to complete more than one inspection type at a time where control points overlap. I only had to enter my notes once and it populated the same question in all schemes, at the same time.
This was a massive time saving for me. Using this feature we can check that we meet all scheme requirements quickly and easily. This means that we won’t have to have three spreadsheets capturing three inspections for each grower. And it wasn’t complex at all.
I was also able to attach a document file to the inspection as evidence.
Again this saved me time. I can’t currently do this with a spreadsheet. I have to just keep them together and reference them to each other.
I asked another inspector to peer review my inspection. I gave the other inspector access to login, and she could see all of the question-sets, information and evidence. The other inspector isn’t good with technology, but with a bit of training from me, she could navigate around the information quite easily. It wasn’t rocket science!
This was a quick and easy process that saved both me and my peer reviewer time. The system is intuitive and easy to use.
I shared the inspection with the grower by sending him a link to the app. He couldn’t see all of my notes, but he could see the control points that needed attention and he was able to make notes and upload images/files of the actions he took.
Both the grower and I were able to see the control point details, and what he was inputting, at the same time. It was much easier to work together and collaborate on the results instead of waiting for emails with images and documents and then linking them to the spreadsheet.
I realised that I had forgotten to take a photo when I visited one of our growers, but the farm is a two hour drive away from my office. Luckily, the grower could take the photo for me. I directed him using Zoom, and he was able to take the photo on his smartphone and upload it straight into QuantumLeap.
Because I needed to be there for this image, directing the grower using Zoom and having him take the photo saved me a 4-hour round trip.
I decided to test QuantumLeap with our auditors, so I sent them a link to the inspection. The auditors could review the full inspection online, with responses and evidence as well as the corrective actions, and it was so much easier than them visiting and running through spreadsheets and attachments in our office, all day. They could also easily share the audit with other members of their team if they needed to.
This is going to save the auditors time and we can save money. (The auditors were happy too. They said that this would enable them to do more audits. They are really busy).
I was able to create an automated report, which I forwarded to all parties. Everyone has agreed on the outcome. Everyone can see the corrective actions needed, and the grower’s team are already working to resolve them.
I have also sent you a copy, Bob. You can see the information we have captured. Every field in the platform is able to be used for our reporting, so I think that we can lift your confidence.
Improved visibility, easier and faster collaboration, ease of reporting and a lift in confidence. These would be great benefits for Crunchy Apples.
When I reassess this grower next year, I will have all of this year’s data and evidence available, and I will only need to update the changes.
This will really save time by greatly reducing the inspection write-up time, and allowing me to focus less on the administration and more on understanding the grower and their process.
Be like Julie.
Don’t dismiss the cost of a new solution without reviewing the total cost savings your organisation can make, as well as the reduced risk and extra profits you can generate.
Contact us for a demonstration and let’s discuss how this could work for you.