Nestl has developed a unique global programme to ensure compliance with the WHO Code across all Nestls

operations. GES Investment Services, Northern Europes leading analysis firm for socially responsible investments, published a report on The Infant Food Industry and the WHO Code. This report is the first of its kind assessing and comparing infant food companies compliance procedures with respect to the WHO Code. It concluded: Nestl has the most elaborated policies and mechanisms to address the Code, distinctly ahead of its peers. Nestl's implementation of the WHO Code includes the following: o o o o o o Nestl Policy and Instructions Training, testing and compensation on WHO Code knowledge Nestl WHO Code Management System Internal Ombudsman System Internal and External Audits Internal and External Reporting

Nestl Policy and Instructions First published in 1982, these were developed to ensure complete and correct implementation of the WHO Code by Nestl. This became necessary because the WHO Code, as a recommendation to governments, does not supply implementation instructions. This is left to national regulation, which may be absent or weaker than the WHO requirements. Training, testing and compensation on WHO Code knowledge Nestl trains personnel involved in marketing of breast-milk substitutes on the WHO Code, monitors its own practices, identifies contraventions and takes corrective action. Personnel are tested regularly on their knowledge of the WHO Code, and their performance on the tests is a criterion upon which salary increases and promotions are based. Code violations are also taken into account regarding decisions on salary increases, promotions, and if serious enough, lead to termination of employment. Nestl WHO Code Management System In all developing countries, Nestl has implemented an extensive WHO Code Management System, built along the lines of ISO quality assurance systems. The manual, outlining Nestl policies and procedures, gives detailed operational guidelines to all Nestl employees in their daily conduct of business related to Infant Food to ensure compliance at all levels with both the WHO Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and local regulations. The procedures include built-in checks to ensure that potential code violations are avoided. Internal Ombudsman System Each Nestl Market has a designated Ombudsman, outside of line management, to whom suspicions of WHO Code violations can be reported in a confidential manner. There is also a Corporate Ombudsman, who is a member of the Executive Board of the Nestl Group, to whom employees can report allegations if they are uncomfortable with reporting them to their markets ombudsman. Internal and External Audits Internal audits on WHO Code compliance are carried out in about 20 countries each year by corporate auditors. Nestl employees are informed that their actions are subject to audits and that Code violations may result in punitive measures. Audit results are communicated to top management, and where violations occur, these are reported to the Nestl CEO. In addition, Nestl commissions external audits on code compliance on an ongoing basis. Since 2004, Bureau Veritas, a major global auditing company, has been commissioned to review Nestl infant food marketing in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Learn more about the results of these external audits.

Internal and External Reporting Internal and external summary reports on Nestl's compliance with the WHO Code and with the Nestl Policy and Instructions are prepared annually. quality management system (QMS) can be expressed as the organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources needed to implement quality management. Early systems emphasized predictable outcomes of an industrial product production line, using simple statistics and random sampling. By the 20th century, labour inputs were typically the most costly inputs in most industrialized societies, so focus shifted to team cooperation and dynamics, especially the early signalling of problems via a continuous improvement cycle. In the 21st century, QMS has tended to converge with sustainability and transparency initiatives, as both investor and customer satisfaction and perceived quality is increasingly tied to these factors. Of all QMS regimes the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000series are probably the most widely implemented worldwide the ISO 19011 audit regime applies to both, and deals with quality and sustainability and their integration. Other QMS, e.g. Natural Step, focus on sustainability issues and assume that other quality problems will be reduced as result of the systematic thinking, transparency, documentation and diagnostic discipline that sustainability focus implies. See sustainability for more on this approach to quality management.
Contents
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1 Elements of a Quality Management System 2 Concept of quality - historical background 3 Quality system for medical devices 4 Quality management organizations and awards 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit]Elements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

of a Quality Management System

Organizational structure Responsibilities Methods Data Management Processes - including purchasing Resources - including natural resources and human capital Customer Satisfaction Continuous Improvement Product Quality

6.
7. 8. 9.

10.

Maintenance

11. Sustainability - including efficient resource use and responsible environmental operations 12. Transparency and independent audit

[edit]Concept

of quality - historical background

The concept of quality as we think of it now first emerged out of the Industrial Revolution. Previously goods had been made from start to finish by the same person or team of people, with handcrafting and tweaking the product to meet 'quality criteria'. Mass production brought huge teams of people together to work on specific stages of production where one person would not necessarily complete a product from start to finish. In the late 19th century pioneers such as Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford recognized the limitations of the methods being used in mass production at the time and the subsequent varying quality of output. Birland established Quality Departments to oversee the quality of production and rectifying of errors, and Ford emphasized standardization of design and component standards to ensure a standard product was produced. Management of quality was the responsibility of the Quality department and was implemented by Inspection of product output to 'catch' defects. Application of statistical control came later as a result of World War production methods, and were advanced by the work done of W. Edwards Deming, a statistician, after whom the Deming Prize for quality is named. Joseph M. Juran focused more on managing for quality. The first edition of Juran's Quality Control Handbook was published in 1951. He also developed the "Juran's trilogy," an approach to cross-functional management that is composed of three managerial processes: quality planning, quality control and quality improvement. These functions all play a vital role when evaluating quality. Quality, as a profession and the managerial process associated with the quality function, was introduced during the second-half of the 20th century, and has evolved since then. Over this period, few other disciplines have seen as many changes as the quality profession. The quality profession grew from simple control, to engineering, to systems engineering. Quality control activities were predominant in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The 1970s were an era of quality engineering and the 1990s saw quality systems as an emerging field. Like medicine, accounting, and engineering, quality has achieved status as a recognized profession[citation needed] edit]

Quality in everything we do and constant improvements are key elements for all of those who work at Nestl.
We have the confidence of our customers and consumers simply for the reason that we work actively with quality issues at all levels in our business, and quality has a high position of priority in everyones daily work. Obviously, this applies first and foremost to the quality of the products, but it also applies to the way in which we work, both internally and externally with the rest of the world. The interests of our consumers and customers always come first. Thats why product safety takes top priority.

High standards

Consumers should be able to safely enjoy our products, and our products should always comply with current legislation and regulations. In addition to this are our own standards and requirements, which are often far more stringent than those of the authorities. But we do not rest there. Our products, and the service we provide, should satisfy the expectations that our customers and consumers have of us. And preferably exceed those expectations too.

Quality by so-operation
The Nestl Quality System (NQS) affords an important ambit for our quality work, which covers the entire chain of values from the earth to the table. However, we do not rely on technology and systems alone to guarantee our quality. Quality is regarded as a common concern, something that can only be achieved when everyone cooperates.

Customers and consumers are important

Action is one of the key words in our quality policy. Careful planning, monitoring and reviews help to ensure that we can continually improve our daily work. In this context, the views that we receive directly from our consumers via our consumer forum play a vital role. This contact with customers and consumers is important, since it is only by having an open, sincere approach and conducting dialogues that the companys quality can become a common task.

Quality agreements
Quality embraces the entire chain from primary produce to the finished product used by the consumer. We therefore carry out regular reviews in our own factories and in those of our suppliers, and we have established long-term quality agreements with many of our partners. All this is part of our continuing work to make our company even better. Consistent quality, cup after cup At Nestl Professional, we have stringent systems and processes that assure the quality of our branded beverages throughout the supply chain. After all, we want your customers to be delighted, time after time.

The Nestl Quality System is our internal corporate guide to quality. It forms a key part of Nestls business principles and applies to the whole company and all business processes. It also extends to our business partners. There are seven key aspects of our quality commitment to your business: Customer-preference testing Foodservice Operator Performance Testing (FSPT) Innovation and freshness Safety and hygiene Consistency and reliability Efficiency Affordability Customer-preference testing

We constantly carry out customer-preference testing to ensure our beverages are satisfying your customers and we only release new products that are preferred over the leading competitor by 60% or more. We use sophisticated organoleptical profiling to ensure we understand exactly what customers appreciate about our products. FoodService Operator Performance Testing (FSPT) Our performance-measuring tool tests all aspects of beverage solutions acceptance, system efficiency, operational handling and food safety - in an actual business environment, to make sure they will be a success for you. Innovation and freshness Your customers value freshness and we ensure this priority is applied to all our solutions and systems. We aim to provide beverage solutions that are simple to prepare, safe, preferred, and easily served fresh to your customers. Safety and hygiene Our processing and handling of raw materials is defined in strict process guidelines which are carefully audited and controlled. We workconstantly with partners to ensure the beverage you serve your customer is not just of superior quality, but safe in every possible way. Thats why we also publish training kits on quality and safety to help ensure your staff is able to serve quality beverages, time after time. Consistency and reliability The reputation of our beverage brands is only as good as your customers last experience. Thats why we stringently test our systems to ensure product safety and reliability and, should your business experience a problem, you can take advantage of dedicated Nestl Professional service support to resolve it. Efficiency Our efficient beverage systems offer high-quality beverages with minimum waste or mess. Many of our systems offer a range of beverage options, satisfying your customers desire for choice and variety, while maximising profit for your business. Affordability We constantly strive to improve efficiency and drive down costs, so that we can pass the benefits on to you and your customers. We make our beverages affordable for you and your customers in many ways, from optimising processing conditions and geographic sourcing to the fine-tuning of our delivery systems.
Every Nestl factory is responsible for producing goods which meet the exceptional standards of food safety, hygiene and quality which are the hallmark of every Nestl product. That's where the Nestl quality team comes in. We're the champions of quality across all Nestl businesses in the UK. Our job is to ensure that the expectations of the consumer are always met by our production processes and to provide our colleagues in Production & Technical with the best practice Quality Assurance (QA) that will make this possible. It calls for a massive range of skills, froftm people management to food science and problem-solving. For you, this will mean a range of opportunities in one of the most dynamic and important teams in the Nestl business. As a Conformance Manager, you will act as the hands-on Quality Assurance expert on the factory floor, developing systems and people so that great products are made on a consistent basis. And, if the manufacturing process goes out of specification you'll be the one to go in there, identify the problem and make the call on how to get things back on track. Or, if a batch of product develops problems, you'll take responsibility for deciding the most suitable outcome. Then you'll undertake the root-cause analysis that will determine how it happened and how similar problems can be avoided in future. As a Hygiene Manager, you will call on your knowledge of microbiology to deliver exceptional hygiene across all our plant machinery and manufacturing processes. This will include training operators in cleaning

methods, designing new cleaning practices that target specific manufacturing processes and managing hygiene issues. As a Quality Specialist, you will enjoy a broad remit and varied exposure as you develop your skills or specialise in a technical area. Touching on everything from supplier liaison to consumer feedback, you will analyse the issues and develop the solutions that enable our manufacturing teams to deliver great results in packaging, consumer satisfaction and the quality/cost-effectiveness of our ingredients. If, on the other hand, you want an intense lab-based challenge, you can join us in our York-based Quality Assurance laboratory. Here you will either work as an Analytical Technician, conducting a range of analyses essential to maintaining nutritional compliance on Nestl products from across the world, or as a Microbiological Technician, managing the process of analysing and feeding back on environmental and product samples from our UK factories. There are also opportunities to develop new methods and work with our UK factories and Research and Development partners worldwide. Full training is available in all these roles, but ideally you'll have a relevant qualification and knowledge of science or engineering, laboratory work or analysis within food manufacturing. You should also possess strong people and influencing skills, as you could be responsible for coaching and training others in QA, or developing into a management role. In return, you'll benefit from joining an international QA network in which moving from factory to factory within the UK (and potentially overseas) will play a vital role in your career and skills' development. Search all Quality vacancies or register your details.

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