Lesson 3 - Quality Management SAQ

*Group the actions below into QA or QC activities explaining the reasons for your selection.

Response:

a)    Quarantining a batch of lager cans due to high DO₂

This is a QC action. QC is based on sampling before release; this batch has been found not to  conform to the specification. If the quality assurance efforts of the brewery had been good enough, the beer would be in spec and there would be no need to quarantine.

b)    Developing a specification for testing beer in CCV before filtration

There is an element of QC and of QA. If we sample the CCV to ensure the beer is acceptable for filtering, this is a QC activity as it is sampling against specification. It is also a QA activity, especially if part of a standard sampling plan, because sampling is designed to prevent a quality failure later in the production process; a high turbidity in the CCV could lead to high haze in final pack.

c)    Completing an audit of the process zone in a large brewery

Auditing an area of operations is a QA activity as it checks that processes are operating according to the quality manual.

d)    Representing the QC lab at a meeting to discuss the problems with DO₂ pick-up on the canning line

This might sound like it should be QC because you are representing QC, but in fact it is QA. The meeting should generate some ideas about the root cause of the problem which will help the brewery develop a system to prevent the DO₂ pick-up from occurring. The meeting could include some quality assurance tools like the five whys or Ishikawa diagrams.