QA Studio Newsletter May 2010

QA Studio: Fluid Program- Dates

When processing dairy products, there are several dates that are important in tracking and monitoring the product. In QA Studio, you have the ability to distinguish products by the date when it was processed, packaged, tested and entered into the program.

Fill Date: The date the product was packaged on the filler. This may be helpful to see the order of products packaged.
Test Date: The date the product was initially tested. Finding on Test Date may be helpful when counting plates.
Entered Date: This date corresponds to when the sample is entered into the program. This date is logged automatically in the background. The Entered Date can be very useful in finding data incase a Fill Date or other date was entered incorrectly.
Production Date: The date the order was made for the product to be produced. If you are tracking a certain batch of product it may be helpful to search on Production Dates.

In some cases, it is possible for all these dates to be different. QA Studio makes it easy to enter and track all these dates easily.

Auto-fill Test Date and Fill Date: Go to Fluid Program Menu > Fluid Defaults > Data Entry Defaults > click Auto fill Test Date and Fill Date. When a sample is added in the main Fluid Product Window, the Test Date and Fill Date will auto fill to the current date. If you select to use the Production Date field, it will auto fill to the same date as the Fill Date. All dates can be changed if needed when entering data in the main Fluid Product Window.

Auto Fill Dates

Production Date: New to QA Studio is the Production Date field. This field may be useful for matching a product with the production date (the date it was scheduled to be produced). For example; there is an order for chocolate milk for the production date of 6-18-10. The chocolate milk is processed late in the day and is packaged after midnight. The Fill Date would then be 6-19-10 but the Production Date would be 6-18-10. The Expected Code Date can be set up to either be based on the Fill Date OR the Production Date.

Production Date

Hide or Show Production Date: QA Studio allows you to use the Production Date or not. Each facility can determine if they would like to use this field. If you would like to hide the Production Date > Fluid Program Menu > Fluid Defaults > Field Management tab > check (to hide) Production Date.

Production Date Hidden

Expected Code Date: QA Studio will calculate the Expected Code Date. Select if the expected Code Date is determined by the Fill Date or the Production Date (if the field is not hidden). There are two areas that relate to the Expected Code Date. One is in the Fluid Product Specifications window on the Specs tab. The other is on the Weights tab in the Weights window.

The first and main place for the Expected Code Date > Fluid Program Menu > Fluid Product Specs > Specs tab. Highlight (select) a product > enter the number of Expected Code Days.

Select Length of Code

Length of Code Date in Weights Window: If typically all the products are a certain code date, that code should be entered on the first Specs tab in the Product Specs Window. If a certain SIZE has a different code date, that can be entered in the Weights Update Screen. Add or select the specific size from the list as seen to the right. Enter the Code Days in the Weights Update Screen. If you leave this field blank the Code Days will default to the code on the front Specs tab.

Code Date in the Weights Window

Code Date Determined from Production Date OR Fill Date: Select the Production Date or Fill Date depending on which date you would like the Expected Code Date calculated on. Only click Auto Fill Code Date IF you want QA Studio to auto fill the Code Date. If you do not select this, the QA Studio user entering the data will need to enter and confirm the correct code date. You will still have the Expected Code Date either way.

Select Expected Code Date

Find on Dates: To find samples for a certain date range > click Find when in the Fluid Product Window. Then select the Search By date and other criteria. Then click OK or press the enter key.

Find by date type

Reports: If you select a specific Search By date, such as Production Date, the data can be reported by selecting From the Current List (while in the pop up Print box). Then typically, reports are first sorted by a specific criterion such as tank, filler or product. Secondly, there is an inner sort which is typically by FILL DATE and FILL TIME.

Benefit to QA Studio User: Additional date selection allows you to view, graph and report results by Production Date.

Workshops offered by Randolph Associates, Inc.

Implementing SQF 2000 Systems
DATE: August 17-18, 2010

HACCP Workshop
DATE: September 13-15, 2010

Implementing SQF 2000 Systems
DATE: September 15-17, 2010

Dairy Technology Workshop
DATE: September 27-30, 2010

Sanitation Workshop
DATE: October 20-22, 2010

Pasteurization Workshop
DATE: December 13-16, 2010

QA Studio is committed to meeting and exceeding your needs for a dairy laboratory software program.

We would like your feedback. Please email us at support@qastudio.com