Wholesaler Ensures 3,000 Suppliers are FSMA Compliant

News & Blog

Learn how Associated Wholesale Grocers uses ReposiTrak to ensure their 3,000 suppliers are FSMA compliant.

OVERVIEW

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, serving over 3,800 locations in 30 states and from 11 full-line wholesale divisions.

CHALLENGE
With the initiation of FSMA, AWG was searching for a tool to collect additional corporate and food safety documentation, share agreements like recall covenants and automate supplier approval programs. AWG needed a way to access documentation in one place, 24/7 to ensure coverage during an FDA Inspection.

SOLUTION

Before signing up for ReposiTrak,AWG did not have a way to track compliance among suppliers and was collecting insurance and supplier agreement documents manually.

After an extensive search, AWG chose ReposiTrak for their supplier management compliance efforts.They now have real-time data access to see if suppliers are, or are not, meeting requirements. The wholesaler is now collecting 24 documents with a 60% compliance rate for over 3000 suppliers.

BEHIND THE SCENES

GETTING STARTED

AWG utilized ReposiTrak’s team of experts to determine how to get started, and identified a series of questions to help them kick off their compliance campaign.

Sample Questions

– Do we know who our suppliers are?
– Are those suppliers “active” or “inactive”?
– Do you have the right documentation from them based on their profile?
– Is the data current?

HOW REPOSITRAK WORKS

Grow and Maintain List of Suppliers

– Qualify new suppliers
– Keep track of existing ones

Utilize ReposiTrak’s Team to Ensure Compliance

– Pro-active management approach
– Scheduled follow ups to correct non-compliance issues

Receive Alerts, Customize Documents, and More

– Dual, pro-active alerts and exception-based reporting
– Customizable document review queue
– Documents delegated to appropriate reviewer
– Easy-to-use, flexible interface

Increase and Manage Document Requirements

– Collect the documents you need to ensure compliance
– Documents can be e-signed
– Everything is in one database

WHAT'S NEXT?

Moving forward, AWG will continue to increase its supplier document requirements to comply with FSMA rules, specifically the recently finalized Produce Safety rule. The company plans to automate its new vendor approval process using the ReposiTrak MarketPlace, as well as collect and review all new vendor documentation before a vendor number is issued and the first PO is cut.
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