Case Study The University of Florida in collaboration with Produce Marketing Association/United Fresh conducted a case study for the Romaine Task Force to illustrate how RCA may be used in the produce industry. The full case study may be accessed on the United Fresh website (www. unitedfresh.org). Although this case study is on avocados, the overall approach and principles discussed may be applied to any fresh produce commodity. Some of the lessons gleaned from this case study include the necessity of a multi-disciplinary team, open-mindedness in the approach, clear communication throughout the process, and a willingness to adapt creatively since there is no universal, cookie-cutter formula for conducting RCA. Who to contact at WG to get the ball rolling? The primary contact for all RCA related services at WG will be Afreen Malik (Amalik@wga. com). Please reach out to me if you have any questions related to root cause analysis or if you’d like more information about any of the above listed RCA services.
implement RCA in your operations, whether on the farm or in a facility. WG RCA offerings fall into three categories: 1) a fresh produce specific RCA guidance, 2) RCA training and education, and 3) RCA consultation services to help you conduct root cause analysis in your operations. Produce Industry RCA Guidance The recently published fresh produce specific guidance on RCA has two parts. Part I is a How To Guide providing step-by-step guidance on how you may conduct RCA in your operations. Part II is a Decision-Making Guide to determine whether you should conduct RCA in your situation. The guidance document provides a basic introduction to the RCA concept, outlines RCA steps, commonly used tools and techniques, and provides additional resources to help you determine how you should apply RCA to your operations. RCA Training and Education WG is developing a hybrid course on RCA. The course will have a virtual component to go over the essentials of RCA in a classroom format and a hands-on, in-person, on-farm
component to really dig deep into how to conduct RCA in a real operation. We’re collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA to build this produce specific and science- based resource for our membership. An announcement will be issued when this resource is available in the fall of 2021. RCA Consultation Services The third component of WG’s offerings include execution of RCA in your operations by the Western Growers’ Science team to help you identify the root causes of your problem. The principles communicated through the first two components (RCA Guidance Document/ Training and Education) will be applied here to investigate your most common and/or stubborn failures and problems and to identify and address root causes. Clear science-based and practical solutions will be proposed with guidance on effective implementation and subsequent monitoring and verification activities to minimize or prevent recurrence. An announcement will be issued when this resource is available in the fall of 2021.
LEADERSIN AGRICULTURAL AUTOMATION SINCE2006
Learn More About Us MantisAg-Tech.com
Mantis Ag Technologies helps improve the efficiency of row-crop farming by combining sustainable industry practices with the latest visual recognition technology.
JULY | AUGUST 2021
31
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs