In the food industry, quality control is a legal requirement and a guarantee of safety, reputation and operational efficiency. Thus, online forms in food quality emerge as an essential tool to capture accurate data, improve traceability, automate reports and minimize errors.
In addition, these tools make it possible to comply with regulations with greater agility and reliability, providing operational value in plants, restaurants, distribution and suppliers.
Utility of online forms in food quality
Traditional paper-based processes have limitations: scattered records, transcription errors, data loss and slow audit or correction cycles. In contrast, online forms allow you to design customized checklists with conditional logic and deploy them in the field from mobiles or tablets, even in offline mode.
Smart forms support photos, geolocation, audio and digital signatures to enrich evidence and provide accuracy and reliability to each record.
Use cases in food quality control processes
Raw material and supplier control checklist
Digital forms allow efficient management of raw materials control from the moment they are received.
Using mobile devices or tablets, personnel can verify in real time aspects such as supplier identification, documentation compliance, packaging condition, product labeling, receiving temperature or transport integrity.
In addition, incidents, rejections or comments can be recorded, and images or evidence can be attached.
This digitization improves supplier and batch traceability from the outset, and ensures compliance with the requirements established for inputs.
Control of critical control points (CCP)
The digital forms allow the key parameters of each critical control point to be recorded accurately, in real time and without transcription errors.
For example, cooking temperatures, holding times, pH levels or any other critical variable can be recorded, with automatic validations that alert if any value is outside the established limits. In case of deviations, the system can trigger a workflow to manage corrective actions and record their execution.
This improves process monitoring, facilitates auditing and reinforces risk prevention.
Hygiene and cleaning checklist
Cleaning and disinfection plans can be digitized using online forms that allow scheduling, executing and verifying each cleaning action in the plant.
Operators record the tasks performed according to the defined frequency, products used, areas sanitized and application time, while supervisors validate the records and can add observations or perform visual inspections.
This information is automatically recorded and centralized, ready to be consulted during audits or inspections. In addition, photographic evidence or visual indicators of protocol compliance can be included, improving internal control.
Temperature control
Temperature control in equipment, cold rooms, transport or thermal processes can be done manually or by integration with automatic sensors.
Online forms allow values to be captured in real time, recording who does it, when and under what conditions. Alerts can also be set up when temperatures outside the safe range are detected.
This ensures constant monitoring, facilitates the analysis of historical data and avoids deviations that could compromise product safety.
Product traceability within the manufacturing line
The digital forms allow to register the product flow from the raw material input to the final product, associating batches, equipment, shifts and responsible to each stage of the process.
This ensures that, in the event of any incident, an agile and complete traceability can be carried out in both directions (backward and forward), complying with the traceability requirements demanded by regulations such as Regulation (EC) 178/2002.
Digital traceability also allows for automated reporting and facilitates response to audits, recalls or customer complaints.
Finished product inspection
Final product control can be managed with online forms designed to record parameters such as appearance, weight, labeling, coding, package integrity or analytical values, depending on the type of product.
The online forms allow the inclusion of mandatory fields, photographic evidence or electronic signatures of inspectors, ensuring that each lot has been evaluated prior to release.
In addition, the results can be automatically linked to the lot number and the overall traceability system , improving the control of non-conforming product and reducing risks in distribution.
Sample registration and analysis
Both in process control and in final control, digital forms allow to document sampling and analytical results (microbiological, physicochemical, organoleptic) in a structured and traceable way.
Acceptance criteria can be defined, internal or external laboratories can be registered, certificates of analysis can be attached and approval or review flows can be established.
This ensures complete and centralized documentation of control results, with the possibility of analyzing trends and detecting deviations or repetitive patterns.
Record of non-conformities
When a deviation or non-compliance is detected, the digital forms allow immediate recording of the non-conformity, with details of its nature, product involved, area affected, responsible party and provisional measures applied.
Workflows can also be activated for root cause investigation, definition and follow-up of corrective actions and verification of their effectiveness. This facilitates a systematic and transparent management of nonconformities, and allows subsequent analysis to prevent their recurrence.
Regulatory compliance
Digital forms help to comply with the documentary requirements of national and international regulations, such as Regulation (EC) 852/2004, IFS Food, BRCGS or ISO 22000.
In this way, they allow you to centralize information, demonstrate compliance with procedures and ensure that all required records are complete, signed and available for inspection.
In addition, the data collected can be easily audited and used for continuous improvement of the food safety and quality management system.
Key benefits of digital forms in food quality
1. Error elimination and validation at source
Built-in validation rules prevent incomplete records, out-of-range values or inconsistent data, minimizing human error from the outset.
Increased traceability and digital evidence
Each form records who filled it in, when and where, and allows capturing photos, sound or digital signatures. This strengthens document traceability and reinforces audits with unequivocal evidence.
3. Administrative cost savings
Costs associated with paper, printing, storage and manual transcription are eliminated. Automating workflows reduces administrative time and frees personnel for higher value tasks.
4. Real-time automatic reports
Once the form is completed, the platform generates immediate reports and reports, without the need for additional manual processing. This allows for quick and timely decisions.
5. Offline operation and rich data
Offline capability ensures continuity of capture even in low coverage environments. In addition, photos or geolocation enrich the logs and provide relevant operational context.
6. Regulatory adaptability and scalability
Digital forms can be easily adapted to regulatory or process changes, without complex developments. This facilitates their use in multiple plants, shifts or production units with low maintenance costs.
FIELDEAS Forms, online forms for food quality
The digitization of quality and food safety controls is a growing need in the industry. FIELDEAS Forms allows you to digitize and automate processes, ensuring efficient and error-free management.
In fact, we are committed to a comprehensive approach to ensure that the digitization of your processes is a success:
- We design and build. We create customized forms, taking advantage of all the capabilities of mobile devices (photos, audios, videos, digital signatures, geolocation, QR code reading, NFC, etc.).
- We plan and execute. We offer an intuitive interface that works even without an Internet connection, ensuring operability in any environment.
- We verify and analyze. We integrate the information collected in the field with your business systems and Track and Trace solutions, allowing real-time analysis for better decision making.
In addition, we integrate with any existing management system, ensuring a smooth transition to full digitization.
