Add your own elements
Add your own elements (continued from last issue)
It is also possible to dovetail in additional, simple, process controls to cover things such as pruning skills, energy use or finance controls, for example.
If there is a specific, additional topic that is important to a business, but it is not part of a QA program, there is no reason why an in-house control program could not be developed to address that. Or an element from a more comprehensive QA program could be adopted.
These additional elements don’t have to be audited, but their presence helps to keep things under control.
Assisting business expansion
The nature of Australian farming is that, in general, businesses are getting bigger.
There are many examples of businesses that are expanding and investing at a significant rate. Having experienced fast growth with a number of businesses, I am aware that it can create significant new tensions and dynamics, and trouble can arise quickly if it is not dealt with effectively.
In particular, growth puts pressure on the capacity of people and systems. QA systems have the potential to grow with businesses.
New people coming into the business can be quickly trained in what is expected of them, and systems can be developed to capture new processes, or to control expanding processes more effectively.
Growth puts particular strains on line managers. Those who were comfortable with the way things were may find themselves struggling to manage more people or more complex processes.
A well-applied QA system can assist line managers to adapt to change and give each one a chance to grow with the business.
The role of the owner
The most important part of any QA system is the business owner or, in the case of a large business, the Board.
(continued next month)
See this article in Tree Fruit July 2016
