Constructing the Safety Management Systems for Food Cold Chain Logistics Based on ISO 28000 Standard

Studies in System Science (SSS) Volume 4, 2016

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Constructing the Safety Management Systems for Food Cold Chain Logistics Based on ISO 28000 Standard Huishu Piao*1, Jing Wang2 Transportation Management College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, China

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Logistics Engineering Technology Center, China Waterborne Transport Research Institute, Beijing, 100088, China hspiao1231@hotmail.com; 2wangjing@wti.ac.cn

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*1

Abstract To improve the safety of food cold chain logistics, the approach of constructing the safety management systems was studied.

Based on defining the range of food cold chain logistics systems and analyzing the current operating models of food cold chain logistics, it was clear which organization is responsible for overall safety management under different operation modes.

According to ISO 28000 standard requirements, it was studied that the approach and procedure of assessing and planning the safety risks for food cold chain logistics with QFD methodology, and it was proposed that the logic analytical framework between the safety management objectives, indexes and programs which is a visible analytical tool of constructing the safety management systems for food cold chain logistics. Finally, as verifying necessity of constructing the safety management systems for food cold chain logistics and the approach’ feasibility with investigation, the reference suggestions were proposed to assure the food cold chain logistics safety in China.

Keywords ISO28000 Standard; Food Cold Chain Logistics; Safety Management Systems; QFD Method; Safety Risk Planning

Introduction Food safety has become a hot issue all over the world, which not only comes from the procurement and production field of raw materials, but also affects the flow field, especially in the cold chain logistics. The insecurity of food cold chain logistics system not only leads to food poisoning, but also makes the large waste, especially in China, the loss rate reaches 25% ~ 30%[1]. It has become a problem to be solved in current in the food and logistics field to make sure the safety of food cold chain logistics system for the food circulation in a safe and nondestructive way.

As to the food cold chain logistics safety problems, the existing research literature has been divided into four categories: Using quantitative method and basing on the growth mechanism model of cold chain food microorganism and pathogens, study the influence of the cold chain environment temperature, humidity and time and other factors to the food cold chain safety[2-4]; using RFID technology, study how to monitor safety factors of food cold chain logistics system, and identify the cold chain food hazard factors by the establishment of traceability system[5-7]; Using the comprehensive evaluation methods, study the cold chain logistics system safety assessment model from the safety evaluation perspective[8-10]; from the system point of view, study how to ensure the safety of food cold chain logistics by establishing a safety management system[11-13].

Among them, system building not only ensures safety foundation, but also is the most effective means to bring comprehensive effect when integrate various research results effectively. However, because the logistics business covers a wide range, and involved a lot of the institutions, so system construction has become the greatest difficulties in food safety management. Although it instructs the system construction in a degree that the standards of ISO9000 quality management system and ISO22000 food safety management system related in above references, but the logistics system is still inadequate. Therefore, in 2007, the international organization for Standardization (ISO) issued a standard "ISO 28000 Specification for Security Management Systems for the Supply Chain "(Hereinafter referred to as ISO 28000)[14]. In this paper, we will study the method of constructing food cold chain logistics safety management system by combining ISO 28000 standard and the logistics operating models under the

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supply chain environment.

Introduction to ISO 28000 Standard The objective of ISO 28000 standard is to improve the security of the supply chain, that is the safety of the network made up with processes and resources from raw material procurement to bring products or services to the end customers by transportation. It may include vendors, manufacturers, logistics providers, export, distribution center, wholesalers and other entity to the end user. Although in the ISO28000 standard, meaning of the "security threats" concept is wide (including objective failure threats and risks, working threats and risks, and threats of the safety precaution and equipment failure caused by natural disasters etc), but there are great differences on the security threat concerns in different product supply chain. For the food cold chain logistics, the biggest concern is the corruption and food poisoning caused by microbial contamination, which is also the research focus.

Elements and focuses of the ISO28000 standard are shown in Table 1.

Obviously, the ISO 28000 standard elements set with a typical management mode that is made up with P (Plan: the first three elements), D (Do: fourth elements), C (Check: fifth elements), A (Action: Sixth elements) management mode.

TABLE 1 ELEMENTS AND FOCUSES OF THE ISO28000 STANDARD

Elements

Focuses 1）requirement of system documentation

1 General requirements

2） requirement of system continuous improvement 3）define the range of security management system 4）identification and control of outsourcing process

2 Security management policy

1）provide a general framework for establishing and reviewing management objectives, targets and programme* 2）ensure security management objectives 3） maintain the policy effectiveness 1）Security risk assessment

3 Security risk assessment and planning

2）Legal, statutory and other security regulatory requirements 3）Security management objectives 4）Security management targets 5）Security management programs 1）Structure, authority and responsibilities for security management 2）Competence, training and awareness

4 Implementation and operation

3）Communication 4）Documentation 5）Document and data control 6）Operational control 7）Emergency preparedness, response and security recovery 1）Security performance measurement and monitoring

5 Checking and corrective action

2）System evaluation 3）Security-related failures, incidents, non-conformances and corrective and preventive action 4）Control of records 5）Audit

6 Management review and continual improvement

1） periodic review of the security management system 2）review context

Because it needs many organizations to work together to guarantee the safety of the food cold chain logistics, therefore, only clear the main operating body, can make the PDCA management model to be effective circulation.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand the current logistics operation mode.

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Definition and Operation Mode of Food Cold Chain Logistics System It is the basic requirement of ISO 28000 standard to define the range of the system.

Define the Range of Food Cold Chain Logistics System At present, there is not a concept that is completely uniform for the food cold chain logistics yet. In the China national standard "GB/T 28577-2012 Classification and basic specification for cold chain logistics"[15], the definition of cold chain logistics is: to the freezing process as the basis, refrigeration technology as the methods, it is the logistics action to make the cold chain items be always under the required temperature environment from the production, circulating and sales to customers, in order to ensure the quality of the cold chain goods, reduce the cold chain logistics goods loss. Obviously, it covers the areas of production; and in the China national standard "GB/T 28843-2012 Food Cold Chain Logistics Traceability Management Requirements[16]", the definition of food cold chain logistics is: it is the logistics action to make pre-packaged foods under the required temperature ranging from the storage to the sales, including transportation, warehousing, loading and unloading process. Obviously, its range does not include production field. This paper applies the concept of "national standard GB/T 28843-2012", defines the food cold chain logistics system: from the storage of products manufacturing enterprises to the sales (as shown in Fig. 1).

FIG. 1 RANGE OF THE FOOD COLD CHAIN LOGISITICS SYSTEM

The Operation Mode of the Food Cold Chain Logistics For the operation mode of food cold chain logistics in China, we roughly divided it into four types: one is logistics self-supporting pattern operated by production enterprises. In this mode, the main body of constructing logistics safety management system should be production enterprises. Centralized management that makes production enterprises be the main body, not only conducive to the implementation of ISO 28000 standard elements, but also guarantee the safety of logistics system because it is easier to produce cohesion, to reduce inventory and shorten the logistics cycle. The second is the logistics outsourcing mode that third party logistics enterprises is the main body. In this mode, the main body of constructing logistics safety management system is the third party logistics enterprise. It is easy to ensure food safety by using professional technology. The third is the logistics mode that large retailers run distribution alone. In this mode, the main body of constructing the logistics safety management system is retailer. The retailer ensures the cold chain food safety by the distribution of small quantity, multi batch and multiple type of products. The fourth is the cold chain logistics enterprises operation mode of integrating the agricultural products market with the production, acquisition, processing, storage, distribution and provide market information services by relying on the wholesale market. In this mode, because it is difficult to define the authority that is responsible for the safety, so it is difficult to implement the ISO 28000 standard effectively.

Although the premise is that the node enterprises of supply chain implements the ISO28000 standard and state that they has to build a supply chain safety management system, its effectiveness is difficult to achieve the desired effect. Because the system plan that failed to co-ordinate not only performs weakness, but also is difficult to find

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out the true reason and corrected when it is wrong. This is the essence of ensuring “supply chain security” of ISO 28000 standard that is different from other management standards.

In conclusion, basing on the logistics operation mode, determining the main body of constructing logistics safety management system is the basic premise of implementing the ISO28000 standards to ensure logistics safety.

Step and Methods of Constructing Food Cold Chain Logistics Safety Management System Whether self or outsourcing, the market’s safety requirement for food cold chain logistics system is same. As long as defining the main body, the step and method of constructing food cold chain safety management system are basically same.

The Plan Stage The plan is the first function of management, and it is also the key function. According to the standard clauses, the task of this stage includes: 1) make sure the departments and responsible person; 2) identify logistics processes and logistics functions; 3) determine the safety management policy; 4) safety risk assessment and planning.

Among them, the safety risk assessment and planning is not only the key point of this stage, but also the difficult point of constructing the whole logistics safety management system. In particular, it is the biggest confusion point that to form the overall framework of safety management by combining the safety risk evaluation and safety management targets with safety management programmes in the standard clauses. In this paper, with the help of QFD (Quality Function Deployment) method[17], method and step of safety risk assessment and planning for food cold chain logistics were put forward.

1)

Introduction to QFD Method

QFD is a structured method of quality analysis. It will put the customer voice for quality into the whole process of product or service planning, to ensure that we take customer requirements for quality into account in the entire process aspect. The process of QFD implementation is accomplished by a series of graphs and matrices (as shown in Fig. 2). First of all, based on identifying customers requirements and the competitive evaluation of the requirements, define the correlation between customer requirements and product technical requirements, and reflect the correlation and importance between them in the main matrix. Then, according to the importance degree of product technical requirements to customer requirements, evaluate products technical requirements, and define objective values of the product technical requirements.

2)

The Step of Safety Risk Assessment and Planning Based on QFD

The identification of customer requirements is the starting point of QFD method. Therefore, as planning the safety management programmes for food cold chain, it is needed to identify the customer’s safety requirements for cold chain food.

FIG. 2 THE STRUCTURE DIAGRAM OF QFD PROCEDURE

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ⅰ) The development of correlation between customer requirements and cold chain food safety requirements: As consumers known, there are three kinds of safety risk for the cold chain food, they are: microbiological hazards, physical and chemical hazards[9]. Among them, physical and chemical hazards depend mainly on the safety threats in the production and processing, and the safety threats of logistics actions have a little influence on them, therefore, this paper is limited to the safety requirements of microbiological hazards.

The common sources of microbiological hazards including: Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Lester bacteria, Fungi and Viruses. In Fig. 3 (1), the customer requirements can reflect the standards relating to food safety issued by the local government, the correlated food safety requirements can reflect the limit requirements of different kinds of bacteria in the standards. By analysing the correlation and importance between the corresponding elements, make sure the limiting value of different kinds of bacteria, namely define cold chain food safety management objectives. ⅱ ) The development of correlation between the cold chain food safety requirements and the safety requirements of the cold chain logistics: In order to achieve the above cold chain food safety management objectives, we should analyze the corresponding cold chain logistics safety requirements(see Fig. 3 (2)).

Research shows that [4], the main factors affecting the main pathogenic bacteria and spoilage microorganisms’ growth, death and residual in food is the time, temperature and humidity in the cold chain logistics. And there have been many research results that reflect the dynamic changes between the colony and the time, temperature[9], the cold chain logistics safety factors correspond with the cold chain food safety management objectives are the management objectives of time, temperature, humidity and damage rate etc, namely define the cold chain logistics safety management targets. ⅲ) The development of collaborative requirements between the cold chain logistics safety requirements and the logistics units: Because the whole logistics process is made up with multiple logistic units and cold chain logistics is not reversible (i.e. if cold chain food exceeds the safety limit requirements, the measures taken in the subsequent logistics units will not remedy). Therefore, the corresponding factors of cold chain logistics safety management targets should be relative standards that ensure the effective coordination among the logistics units. Including the use of unified intelligent technology for controlling time, temperature and humidity, and the coordinated work standards and management standards (see Fig. 3 (3)), namely define cold chain logistics safety management programme.

FIG. 3 THE FORMING PROCESS OF THE SAFETY MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME FOR FOOD COLD CHAIN LOGISTICS

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â…ł) The development of each logistics unit corresponding to collaborative requirements: Because the logistics units bear the different logistics function in the whole process of cold chain logistic, so each logistics technology and standards that logistic unit relate to will be different. Therefore, the logistics unit requirements corresponding to the collaborative requirements should be the identification and definition of the logistics technologies and standards required by the different logistics units(see Fig. 3 (4)), namely the development of the logistics unit requirements. â…´) The working and safety control programme for logistics units: According to the safety management programme of cold chain logistics, define the logistics working and relative standards that the logistics unit needs. Identify the main control targets and objectives for each working, and determine the control and monitoring methods (see Fig. 3 (5)), form food cold chain logistics safety management program that is made up of all the logistic unit safety control programmes finally. The forming process is shown in Fig. 3.

The Do Stage The task of the do stage is to ensure that the safety management program that is made in the plan stages to be implemented effectively. Therefore, it is needed to establish the effective organization system for safety management, define the respective duties and authority for the managers and operational staffs of the safety management programme. And based on training, implement their respective functions and good control of documents.

The Check Stage Examination and evaluation are the indispensable work of any management. From the primary, middle to high level, inspection, audit and evaluation are the most basic functions of management. It is the main task of this stage that according to checking frequency and methods required in the program, fulfilling their duties, putting forward corrective measures to the problems and doing the records well. Among them, it is the key point of the stage to determine the suitable safety performance targets and select the scientific and reasonable method to monitor and measure.

The Action Stage It is the main task of this stage that according to the inspection and assessment results, improve the logistics safety management system constantly.

FIG. 4 THE PROCEDURE OF ESTABLISHING THE SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS OF FOOD COLD CHAIN LOGISTICS

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In a word, the procedure of establishing the safety management systems of food cold chain logistics and work points of stages is shown in Fig. 4. The clauses corresponding to symbol “●” refer to the stage points.

The Survey and the Main Problems We do the survey in a small scale to the supervisor and related enterprises using the four modes of operation above to verify the feasibility and necessity of the research method of this thesis (26 companies). The survey found that, there was not supply chain establishing a safety management system from the perspective of the supply chain planning. At the same time, it reflects the following problems: 1) safety management objective is not clear; 2) safety management standard is not unified; 3) safety target records cannot be traced; 4) safety performance target are not clear; 5) safety performance monitoring and measurement method is not clear. In a word, it is the main problems existing in present China's food cold chain logistics safety management that there was not guiding method of overall safety management system planning, of course, this can also be a way to solve China's food cold chain logistics safety problem. Using Fig. 3, it will become the basic means to guarantee China's food cold chain logistics safety that establishing and improving the food cold chain logistics nodes and functional criteria, and ensuring the effective implementation and promotion of various standards in the food cold chain logistics safety management program forming process. In addition, the beneficial results produced by implementing ISO28000 will contribute to promoting the research method of this paper that inspection reduced by 48%, asset visibility improved 50%, problem solving time shorted 31%, theft and loss reduced by 38%[18].

Conclusions and Prospect The ISO 28000 standard proposes the basic requirements for guaranteeing the safety of food cold chain logistics.

Different operation mode of food cold chain logistics will bring different pattern of safety management organization. Determining the main body and program of food cold chain logistics safety management is the basic premise to ensure the safety of food cold chain logistics. QFD method provides a visual analysis process for planning the safety management program for the food cold chain logistics. The ultimate managing points of food cold chain logistics safety management programme are the safety control program of each logistics unit, and the logistics unit safety control programs focus on the relevant standards. It will be the main task of Chinese food cold chain logistics safety management to establish and improve the standards related to the food cold chain logistics from the macroscopic structure, and to constructing the safety management system for food cold chain logistics from the microscopic structure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71271035).

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