Customer Safety : Our Prime Concern
In the FMCG Cigarettes Business, all
product-related processes are not only extremely well-documented and institutionalised but
are constantly benchmarked to 'best in class' practices.
The Product Development stage involves interaction amongst experts from various diverse
disciplines who create contemporary products with exacting product specifications.
Projects are controlled and monitored using Windchill software, a proprietary trademark of
Parametric Technologies, USA. Various provisions of law relating to the manufacture and
sale of cigarettes including display of the statutory warning are not only fully complied
with but are regularly audited.
All input raw materials are selected on the basis of a formal policy for utilisation
and inclusion. Further, all inputs as well as final products are well within all standards
prescribed by statutory and international bodies. Raw materials used in manufacture are
procured after extensive validation to conform with product specifications. Further,
vendor facilities are constantly benchmarked and upgraded and quality management systems
and processes instituted.
The manufacturing facilities of the Cigarettes business are constantly evaluated to
ensure that they are state-of-the-art, thereby ensuring product quality and consistency
through online detection, multiple checks during different stages of the manufacturing
process and rejection of products and batches that do not conform to specifications. An
Internationally acclaimed Product Quality Rating System (PQRS) has been institutionalised
at all manufacturing locations. All aspects of product quality are measured at every stage
of the manufacturing process to ensure the highest standards. All manufacturing units are
also certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards. In addition, preliminary
work on obtaining certification under International Quality Rating System (IQRS) standards
has also commenced.
Post the manufacturing process, a sample analysis of the final product, with regard to
various parameters and packaging, is carried out at the ITC Research & Development
Centre in Bengaluru, which is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research (DSIR) and is one of the few laboratories to have been certified with the global
standard of ISO17025. After this analysis, the requisite feedback goes to the
manufacturing units. Once the product is in the market, the respective brand managers do a
monthly certification for compliance with various requirements including statutory
provisions.
Norms have also been established for the storage and transportation of the final
product to ensure that the product as designed is made available to the Customer.
Freshness is a cornerstone of the distribution philosophy and systems are in place to
ensure that products available to the Customer are always within the freshness norms laid
down.
With the objective of preserving customer health and safety, the Foods
business ensures adherence to the highest levels of quality standards in
manufacturing and selling its packaged branded products.
The Product design/development process is an integrated process of assessing consumer
needs for quality and designing the product accordingly.
With a view to ensuring consumer satisfaction, health and safety, the business selects
raw materials through established internal/external vendors, who are periodically
monitored for quality of supplies. There is an established vendor selection, evaluation
and rating system on parameters of quality and consistency.
The business operates on a model of outsourced manufacturing. The base premise of the
agreements with the manufacturers is adherence to quality standards, which are more
stringent than existing statutory requirements. Through systems of quality monitoring at
each location, the quality performance of each manufacturer is monitored on a daily basis
apart from quality audits conducted from time to time.
The supply chain ensures highest levels of hygiene across the material/product handling
chain. The selection of vendors, manufacturing locations and storage locations are all
based on the hygiene norms set by the business. Systems of identification and destruction
of old/damaged/defective products are strictly implemented and monitored in the entire
chain.
26 out of the 30 outsourced manufacturing locations are HACCP/ISO certified. All
manufacturing agreements require the manufacturing locations to be HACCP certified within
a stipulated time frame.
In the year 2005-06, the business conducted consumer satisfaction surveys (in different
parts of India) on 3-4 occasions. In most cases, ITC's Food products were rated better
than competition.
All the manufacturers of the Greeting, Gifting and
Stationery business use approved non-hazardous materials, especially ITC's
Elemental Chlorine Free paper as well as ink, dyes etc. Since most of the consumers of
these products are children below the age of 15, the quality control initiatives taken by
ITC at the manufacturing level strive to ensure safe products.
In the Hotels business, policies are in
place to ensure the highest standards of customer health and safety. These policies are
prominently displayed at conspicuous locations in the hotels. Customers are encouraged to
participate in various safety exercises and activities.
In the Paperboards & Specialty Papers business
products can be broadly classified into
- Value-added Paper and Boards: These are manufactured with 100% virgin pulp.
- Recycled Paperboards: These are manufactured with a certain percentage of recycled
fibre.
The samples of value-added products used for packaging food and pharmaceutical products
are tested annually by an independent reputed laboratory for compliance with US FDA
standards. All suppliers of inputs for the manufacture of these value-added products also
have to certify that the supplies are compatible with the prescribed safety norms.
Further, all units are certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 series. The Bollarum unit,
which manufactures food grade board for direct food contact, is also certified as per BRC
IoP standards.
In respect of other products (Category 2) which are manufactured with recycled pulp,
ITC ensures that the correct manufacturing practices are followed so that these products
do not cause any risk during storage, distribution or usage. All these products are
manufactured with cellulose fibres. They do not pose any contamination risk.
In the Packaging and Printing business,
products are mostly secondary packaging and are designed in consultation with customers.
In Agri business, products are sold
domestically or exported entirely as per customer specifications and requirements. The
customers are primarily industrial/bulk food/feed/juice processors, both domestic and
international. Also, if required by customers, independent surveyors check on quantity and
quality parameters and certify adherence. Products are normally in secondary packaging.
In the Leaf Tobacco business, products
are manufactured as per customer specifications. The customers for this business are large
cigarette manufacturers and international tobacco merchants who themselves lay down
guidelines which are meticulously complied with during packing at the Leaf Threshing
units. These units, including the central storages, are also governed by 'Hygiene and
Infestation Management Systems' designed to control infestation levels in product and
prevent mould. The business has complied with social responsibility system models, which
ensure 'Seed Integrity', 'Pesticide Residue level monitoring', 'Non Tobacco Related Matter
Elimination', etc. and promote product hygiene for the customer. Besides, both the
Anaparti and Chirala threshing units have been certified to ISO 9001 for Quality
Management, International Quality Rating System (IQRS) Level 7, ISO 14001 Environmental
Management and OHSAS 18001 for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. The
systems deployed are governed by internal and external audits by third party certification
agencies.
The Lifestyle Retailing business ensures
improvement in the safety of its products by following OECD Guidelines for Multinational
Enterprises.
Identification and choice of fibres and fabrics is preceded by rigorous evaluation of
the mills and their facilities as well as validation of conformity to product
specifications. These specifications are drawn out through benchmarking conducted with the
assistance of internationally accredited textile testing laboratories.
All raw materials/products are tested in ITC's in-house stateof- the-art Testing
Laboratory and only those products conforming to the standards set through Product
Protocols pass muster.
ITC's products are manufactured in state-of-the-art plants equipped with the
best-of-breed. The laid down processes are designed to deliver quality as per
internationally accepted statistical quality control norms.
ITC's products are also evaluated from the 'Consumer's View Point' by subjecting them
to an internal Product Quality Rating System (PQRS). |
