Supply Chain Risk Evaluation, live online tutor-led training course (two mornings)

Risk assessments throughout the food chain have become a requirement of many standards. Supply chain risk evaluation is fundamental to supply chain resilience allowing a business to be confident in the safe and consistent delivery of materials on an ongoing basis.

The supply, procurement, and distribution of raw materials, on a global scale, is highly complex and food business operators (FBOs) must be confident that raw materials comply with their requirements and specifications. As a result, the management of raw materials should be considered as an integral part of a holistic food safety plan.

Raw material risk assessment (RMRA) has a potentially vital role in the assurance of the safety of raw materials. A structured formal RMRA will help food operations to understand the potential hazards that may be reasonably expected to occur in the supply of their raw materials. The RMRA can also take into account environmental and seasonal impacts. Increasing concerns with authenticity, origin and the opportunity for fraudulent activity can also be included in a RMRA.

The course challenges you to consider your supply chain resilience:

• Not being able to source the required ingredients for their products (either at all, or at the required scale)
• Material being available but of varying or unacceptable quality
• Authenticity issues / food fraud and other malpractices
• Food safety issues
• Material(s) no longer being permitted for use within your product / at the same inclusion

Who should attend:

Procurement Managers, Technical Managers, Risk Managers, Supply Chain Auditors, Specification Technologists, Compliance Managers.

The course will be delivered live online over the course of two mornings (0900 - 1300 hours), participants will be sent log in details for a Microsoft Teams session.

• Understand the supply chain and primary production and associated practices (Field to Fork approach)
• Understanding Good Agricultural Practices
• Understand the legal requirements
• Sources of information – Horizon scanning
• Supplier confidence / traceability
• Risk assessment methodology
  – Introduction to hazards
  – Risk criteria
  – Determination of risk – safety / quality /authenticity / regulatory etc.
  – Product and process effects
  • Risk communication / risk management
• An important part of the assessment would cover the effect of the food operation’s process on any hazards present in the raw materials; this would include the development of new hazards as a result of the process.
• Exercises
• Benefits of risk assessment

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course delegates will be able to:

• Understand the intricacies of the global supply chain, including the significance of primary production practices and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) within a "Field to Fork" approach. 
• Apply structured methodologies to identify, evaluate, and manage risks associated with raw materials, considering factors such as safety, quality, authenticity, and regulatory compliance. 
• Employ risk assessment criteria and tools to determine potential hazards in the supply chain, accounting for environmental, seasonal, and process-related impacts on raw material safety quality. 
• Develop strategies to assess and improve supplier reliability and traceability, using horizon scanning and information sources to anticipate and mitigate supply chain risks. 
• Effectively communicate identified risks within the organization and develop risk management plan that ensure the resilience and safety of the supply chain, including strategies to handle disruptions and maintain material quality and availability.