By Doug Gibson and Omarh Mendoza
An integral part of the success of a commodity pork production business, is a carefully designed nutritional program that achieves the operation’s objectives, with production cost optimization at its core. With recent commodity market volatility, the impact of quality management systems for feed manufacturing continues to be important in ensuring predictability of biological performance and maximum profitability. Therefore, at the foundation of a successful nutritional program, management of the components of a quality system requires close collaboration between quality control professionals, nutritionists, purchasing and procurement, feed mill management and production team members working with our animals on the farm. While the following areas do not comprise a comprehensive list for a successful mill quality management system, in general, you will find these at the foundation of a best-in-class program.
1. Feed Safety Programs
A major component of sustainability of feed production at feed mills is manufacturing a product that is safe for the pig and for the people involved in the process. Adherence to current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) and other regulatory requirements as outlined in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), for example, ensures feed produced at feed mills are manufactured safely and according to the formulas provided by the nutritionist and mitigates potential biological, chemical and physical hazards associated with milling processes and ingredients and additives used to manufacture feed.
2. Ingredient Quality Characterization
Characterization of the nutritional quality of ingredients to be used in diet formulation is pivotal to optimize diet cost and to achieve biological performance. Some of the elements for understanding ingredient quality include standardized sample collection and submission procedures, choosing a predictable laboratory analytical platform, feed mill testing capabilities (i.e. corn moisture, particle size, etc.), information systems for analytical data capture and reporting that allows for quality monitoring, among others. Thus, enabling the nutritionist to maintain accurate ingredient loading values that capture shifts in nutrient composition and variability, allowing valuation of ingredients and diet formula optimization. As an example, having the ability to characterize ingredients, such as distillers dried grains with solubles and how they fit in the feeding program can become a tool to improve feeding costs.
3. Feed Manufacturing and Delivery
The extent of the quality of the finished feed product that will allow the animals to perform as expected will require consistency in terms of the following factors: people, machine and process. On the people front, training programs for feed mill employees become critical to the success of the feed mill, with some examples including safety and regulatory, preventative maintenance, quality control and operation of machines. As it pertains to machinery, understanding specifications of equipment needed relative to milling objectives and operation is important for both cost and quality, for example, batching and mixer systems, grinding equipment, etc. Regarding process control, first and foremost is making sure the mill team understands expectations. The flow of communication on where they stand relative to those expectations is important for continuous improvement, with some examples being particle size of grain and pelleted feed quality as measured at the mill using standard instrumentation. To be able to realize the value from some of the factors described here (i.e., the final step in the process: delivering the feed at the right location), using the formula and quantity as prescribed by the feed budget will also need to be consistent and is also part of the quality management system.
4. Communication
The success of the quality management system does not rely on having a robust set of components solely, but just as important, is the communication between the teams of people and information systems that are part of the overall process. Regardless of the process or area of expertise, all must collaborate as a team to successfully navigate through headwinds the industry is currently experiencing with a common goal as defined by the operation.
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