Coordinating Quality: Many Sites, One Tool
Disclaimer: At Eurofins, client confidentiality is of the utmost importance. Names have been changed to protect our client’s business interests and privacy.
PetFood X, a large specialty pet food retailer, reached out to Eurofins upon deciding to produce their own private label brands. Eurofins played a large role in the R&D phase of product formulation for PetFood X by offering expedited analytical testing services.
This partnership allowed PetFoodX to establish a robust quality assurance program tailored to their unique needs. As products lines were added under the new private label, PetFoodX has enlisted nine co-manufacturer locations across the United States.
For PetFoodX, overseeing sample submissions for nine co-manufacturer locations was time-consuming, inefficient and less productive. The independent co-packers often requested tests inconsistently or incorrectly, which attributed to costly mistakes relating to sample registration. Product releases were sometimes delayed by incorrect test requests on behalf of partner manufacturers.
The greatest pain point in the quality program was ensuring that each co-packer was consistently requesting the numerous test codes for PetFoodX’s custom Eurofins testing regimen. Requesting testing without test codes or with incorrect test codes lead to incorrect testing being applied to samples and ultimately, longer turn-around times. With paper submittal forms, PetFoodX had no way of knowing that incorrect orders had been submitted until it was too late.
That’s when they turned to Eurofins Online. 
Eurofins Online (EOL) ordering allows users to store test codes for routine submissions. This feature has allowed PetFoodX to quickly submit sample requests using stored repeat orders. This helps eliminate the risk of selecting the wrong test code. “It’s so nice to not have to remember the specific test codes and names or preferred ways to submit to the lab,” said Barns.
With Eurofins Online, Mary Barns, Director of Quality Assurance for PetFoodX, is able to oversee orders and results from all sites in real-time, preemptively correct mistakes, and keep product releases on a consistent schedule.
Barns explained, “Since we work with multiple co-manufacturers, Eurofins Online has helped our team remain organized. It allows us to see results across all vendors, and vendors can only see their specific results.”
The ordering capabilities of Eurofins Online extend beyond the registration process. Historical data and reports are stored in the database, allowing for in-depth analysis of past and live-reported test results. According to Barns, PetFoodX has been able to identify trends by comparing testing results on different formulas stored in the results portal.
John Doe, Quality Assurance Manager for PetFoodX, explained that access to historical data and reports in Eurofins Online, “helps to see trend progression, overall [co-manufacturer] performance, and assists in root cause analysis.”
“It is one of the most straight-forward third-party lab submission systems I have ever worked with..."
The Quality Assurance team at ABC uses the system daily and they plan to continue to use it every day to improve workflow and quality. “It is one of the most straight-forward third-party lab submission systems I have ever worked with,” noted Barns. “We have previously used other outside labs, but the submission process was a lot more hard paper and was cumbersome.”
As their business expands, time and quality are of the essence. Fortunately, Eurofins Online makes the submission process fast and simple as they grow.
“There is definitely less time spent submitting orders and less time spent searching for results,” Barns concludes.