QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 

A GUIDE FOR FOOD 

AND FARM BUSINESSES 
INTRODUCTION 

This guide is designed to help food and farm businesses, food hubs, and USDA GroupGAP administrators develop a basic Quality Management System to identify and meet customer requirements, and to create systems 

for continuous improvement. While the concept of Quality Management Systems (QMS) may be foreign to many, 

most businesses have asked themselves: 

• What do our customers need from us? 

• How do we ensure that we can consistently meet those needs? 

• How do we train staff? 

• How can we become more consistent in our operating practices? 

• Who is responsible for what processes? 

• How can we do better? 

• How do we make sure that if a key staff person leaves the operation can continue to run smoothly? 

These questions, and much more, can be addressed by a QMS. 

For businesses using a Quality Management System, their QMS helps them manage operations and assists 

them in becoming a preferred supplier in their market. Though every industry has its own nuances and specifics, 

each uses tailored management systems based upon internationally-recognized best practices established by 

the International Organization of Standardization and laid out in industry-specific QMS manuals. The food and 

farming industry is a relative newcomer to Quality Management Systems; however, across the country food and 

farm operations are increasingly utilizing QMS as a management tool for food safety, production, inventory, and 

operational management. While there are many notable examples of farmer groups and food businesses utilizing QMS, there are few manuals or guidance documents written for these specific applications. That is what this 

guide aims to do. It will provide an overview of the basic components of a QMS, including application examples, 

as well as point the way for next steps. Good luck! 
3 

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 

Ask 10 people what a Quality Management System is and you’ll 

likely receive 10 different answers, but a good definition to work

with is: a documented system that describes the processes, 

roles, and procedures necessary to meet customer requirements and continuously improve. Quality Management Systems 

have been used for decades in myriad industries in countless ways, 

but all with the same ultimate goal: to meet customer requirements. Quality, by definition, refers to “the degree to which a requirement has been met.” When a system is built around managing 

quality, to meet customer requirements in an ever-improving way, 

it’s a quality management system. All QMS’s, at their most basic, 

fundamental level, share this same design; whether the organization is manufacturing vehicles, baking loaves of bread, growing fresh produce, or tending to hospital patients. 

WITHOUT A QMS, 

ORGANIZATIONS 

HAVE LITTLE CHANCE

OF SUSTAINING ANY 

IMPROVEMENTS OR 

INNOVATIONS THEY 

MIGHT REALIZE.”

Craig Cochran, 

ISO 9001:2015 in Plain English 

Since 1987, the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 9001 standard has been the proverbial North 

Star for QMS development. A 2008 study published by Harvard Business School found that “ISO adopters have

higher rates of corporate survival, sales, employment growth and wage increase than non-adopters.” What’s more, 

the same study found that the benefits achieved by implementing an ISO 9001 system were statistically higher in

smaller organizations than larger organizations, meaning that small businesses achieve proportionally higher benefits from implementing these systems than larger ones (Levine, 2010).

While this guide was inspired by ISO 9001, it was not written explicitly with compliance to ISO 9001 in mind. However, it does share 

many of the fundamental principles, such as the Plan-Do-Check-Act Q: Is my food safety plan

structure. Organizations that implement any variation of a QMS, or a QMS? 

even just utilize some of its tools, can unlock many of the same benefits. Once a basic QMS is established, adapting the QMS to meet A: While a food safety plan and 

the requirements of a program such as USDA GroupGAP, or going associated SOPs share similarities 

a step forward toward compliance with ISO 9001, becomes much with a QMS, and can be housed 

more manageable. within a QMS, a food safety plan 

itself is not a QMS. 
TERMINOLOGY 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of definitions, but is intended to clarify some of the main terms used when 

talking about Quality Management Systems: 

PROCESS - Any activity that converts an input to an output is a process. Sanitizing food contact surfaces, 

packing fresh produce, performing an internal audit, and onboarding new vendors are all examples of processes. 

QUALITY - Quality is the degree to which a requirement has been met. It does not refer to the intrinsic or 

subjective value of a good or service; it is a measurement of how well that good or service meets customer 

requirements and expectations. 

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (QMS) - A documented system that describes the processes, roles, and 

procedures necessary to meet customer requirements and continuously improve. 

RISK - The effect of uncertainty on an expected outcome. There are two components at work: uncertainty 

and what effect that uncertainty may have. A broken cooler thermometer creates uncertainty regarding cooler 

temperature, which may have the effect of spoiled product and foodborne illness. Risk, and how to evaluate and 

mitigate it, will be further explored later in this guide. 

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOP) – Established or prescribed methods to be followed routinely 

for the performance of designated operations or in designated situations. An SOP provides the step-by-step 

instructions for how to perform a certain task or activity. 

SYSTEM - An output of one process commonly becomes the input of the next. The term “system” refers to 

how the interaction and relationship of processes are described as part of a whole. Receiving product, inventory 

management, and delivery to the customer are all separate processes, but they all belong to the same overall 

system. 

4 
-

DOCUMENTATION 

Good documentation is essential for an effective QMS. It’s 

also essential for an effective business. Businesses are made 

up of dozens, if not hundreds, of moving parts maneuvered 

by employees, suppliers, and buyers. No business or organization can “describe the processes, roles, and procedures 

necessary to meet customer requirements and continuously 

improve” from memory. 

There are two primary purposes of writing things down: 

1. The first is for clarity, repeatability, and efficiency. 

Written plans and strategies can be referred to often. 

Written requirements allow processes and outcomes 

to be evaluated more efficiently and objectively. 

Written instructions allow processes to be performed 

in a consistent, repeatable manner. Documentation reduces risk, allows new trainees to get up-to-speed 

more quickly, and creates confidence that tasks are performed the same way every time. It also means 

that if an employee is out sick, leaves the business, or takes a vacation, the systems and procedures are 

in place for the operation to continue to run smoothly in their absence. 

2. The second is for creating confidence that things went as planned. Comparing what actually happened 

to the instructions and plans that were in place can inform future improvements. 

Where the first purpose refers to procedures and plans in place before an activity, the second refers to documentation of the activity after it happened. For example, a cleaning procedure instructs how to clean a piece of 

equipment, while a cleaning log shows that the cleaning actually happened. 

HOW MUCH DOCUMENTATION IS ENOUGH? 

That answer is elusive and varies widely, but ultimately is based on 

the two purposes above as well as any additional requirements from EXAMPLE: a farmer cooperative may your customers and/or regulating bodies. A better starting question have a series of procedures and blank is “what documentation do I need to ensure that my customer’s re- forms stored on a cloud-based file 

quirements are met, and so that I can keep improving?” server, such as Dropbox. Some proce 

dures are printed and used in areas, Documentation should be as usable as possible for those that have like in a delivery vehicle, where there 

to interact with it, including employees and contractors. Bloated pro- is no computer access. Blank forms are 

cedures are hard to follow and risk being ignored or misused. printed and completed by hand, and 

Documentation should also be readily available when and where then scanned and uploaded back to the 

cloud-based storage site. someone needs to use it. A written procedure does no good if it’s 

kept in a binder in an office away from the process it is supposed to 

guide, and logs are not helpful unless they are kept up to date. 

FORMATS 

Documentation can be in physical (paper) format or electronic, such as MS Office files, Google Docs, or a cloudbased wiki. Formats should be chosen based on the purposes above, with a focus on ease of use. Documentation should be available where it’s needed and used. 

5 
6 

PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT FRAMEWORK 

This guide is structured around the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of continuous improvement. Popularized by W. Edwards 

Deming, this method was incorporated into the 2015 revision of ISO 9001 and can be summarized as follows: 

PLAN 

Determine customer requirements and the desired outcomes of the system or process, and 

allocate resources accordingly. Identify risks and opportunities and address them as applicable. 

DO 

Implement and carry out the activities according to the Plan. 

CHECK 

Monitor how well the activities performed against the plan, 

and the degree to which customer requirements were met. 

ACT 

Take action to improve the system and/or processes based 

on the Check step and begin the cycle anew. 

The rest of this guide will explore how this framework can be used to 

design and implement a QMS for food and farming businesses, 

organizations, and USDA GroupGAP programs. 

ACT Plan

Check Do
PLAN 

Building a quality management system begins with 

planning. This section will delve into defining customer 

requirements, understanding the context the organization operates in, leadership commitment, and evaluating risks and opportunities. This is an important step, 

because it’s the foundation the rest of the QMS rests on. 

Once the planning phase is complete, the work is performed according to the plan, the completed product or 

service is checked against the plan, and improvements 

and adjustments are implemented into ongoing plan 

revisions. 

LEADERSHIP 

It’s easy for a QMS to exist in a vacuum, as a task that is 

part of someone’s job description rather than a method 

embraced by the entire organization. A QMS cannot 

be effective without commitment, involvement, and 

accountability from leadership, as well as all employees 

that will implement the QMS. The organization’s leadership should own the QMS or assign responsibility for 

ownership to an individual with the authority to manage 

it for the organization. One way to ensure leadership 

engagement and focus on QMS activities is through a 

management review-- a structured review of QMS performance and planning discussed further on page 13. 

QUALITY POLICY & OBJECTIVES 

Another foundational component of QMS effectiveness 

is development of a quality policy and objectives. A 

quality policy is simply a statement of intent regarding 

the organization’s commitment to meeting customer requirements. It’s the “mission statement” of the QMS and 

should support the organization’s overall strategy, as well 

as contribute to developing quality as part of the company culture. Quality objectives take that statement one 

step further and lay out 3-5 measurable goals relevant to 

quality. Quality objectives answer the question “What do 

we want this QMS to accomplish?” The rest of the QMS 

is designed to work toward accomplishing these goals. 

The quality policy and objectives should align with the 

previous work of identifying customers, interested parties, and organizational context, as well as overall goals 

and operations of the organization. 

USDA GROUPGAP FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM 

USDA GroupGAP is a food safety certification 

program designed to help farmers of all sizes 

meet federal regulations and wholesale buyer 

food safety requirements. Through this program, 

individual farms can certify their practices together 

as part of a centrally managed group. In GroupGAP, a food hub, support organization, or central 

business entity coordinates a group of producers 

and establishes best practices for complying with 

a food safety standard (e.g. GAP/GHP, Harmonized GAP, or Harmonized Plus). The group’s 

practices are managed through a centralized QMS 

that is audited by the USDA. Using the QMS, both 

the local group and the USDA audit farms in the 

group every year, multiple times per year. 

USDA conducts 

additional farm 

audits at random 

USDA reviews 

every audit by 

the local group 

USDA audits 

the local 

group and 

their QMS 

USDA 

Farmers write 

and implement 

a food safety 

plan for their 

operation 

The local 

group QMS 

audits every farm, 

multiple times, 

every year 

EXAMPLE - QUALITY OBJECTIVES 

(GROUPGAP) 

1. Successful USDA GroupGAP 

Certification for all members.

2. Access to relevant technical 

assistance and food safety training 

for all members. 

3. Documentation of successes and 

lessons learned to serve as a resource 

for other groups wishing to implement 

USDA GroupGAP. 

7 
THE CUSTOMER 

If the purpose of a QMS is fundamentally to identify and meet customer requirements, then one of the earliest 

steps in developing a QMS is to define and document who those customers are. For some organizations, especially non-profits, the term “customer” might be better stated as “beneficiary;” essentially this is referring to 

those on the receiving end of what good or service the organization provides. 

Once the customer(s) have been identified, the next step is to determine what their requirements are. Finally, the 

products and/or services the organization provides are lined up against those requirements. If new requirements 

are identified through this process, they should be flagged so that new products and/or services can be developed to meet them. 

EXAMPLE: FOOD HUB 

CUSTOMER REQUIREMENT PRODUCT/SERVICE 

Locally-Sourcing Restaurant Fresh produce sourced from

within 100 miles

All product is sourced from within a 100- mile radius; produce is at peak freshness

Individual Consumers Convenient access to local produce Webstore, CSA delivery

Grocery Stores Single source for a variety of local produce Aggregation from multiple farms, single

invoice, online ordering platform

INTERESTED PARTIES 

The process above isn’t limited to just customers, but rather to all “interested parties.” These may be regulatory 

bodies, shareholders, collaborators, etc. – essentially anyone who has an impact on the organization or an effect 

on its ability to meet customer requirements. Interested party needs and expectations should be identified, as 

well as how the organization meets or complies with them. 

EXAMPLE: GROUPGAP 

INTERESTED PARTY REQUIREMENT REQUIREMENTS MET THROUGH: 

USDA GroupGAP program requirements QMS complies with program requirements

Institutional Purchasers Robust food safety program GroupGAP is a USDA program, their standards

are used throughout the industry

Grocery Stores Single source for a variety of local

produce 

Aggregation from multiple farms, single

invoice, online ordering platform

8 
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT 

The two processes above can be seen as successive concentric circles, the first being the direct customers or beneficiaries the organization serves, and the second being the indirect interested parties that the organization engages with. 

A further step out would include taking stock of the context 

the organization operates in. This could include geographic 

location, the current for/non-profit environment, industry

trends, etc. One common tool used to determine this operational context is a Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/ 

Threats (SWOT) analysis, though there are many other ways 

to examine the organization’s surrounding environment. The 

point is to evaluate and discover anything external to the 

organization that may affect its ability 

to meet customer and other interested 

party requirements, and then to determine appropriate action, as necessary. Interested Parties 

Conte 

at ng 

xtyou areoper

i 

Customers 

CHARTING THE COURSE 

Evaluating the organization’s context and environment 

EXAMPLE: SWOT (FOOD HUB) 

STRENGTHS 

• Current customer base is

very loyal.

• Positive, personal relationships with producers.

• Excellent customer service.

WEAKNESSES 

• Rural geography, low

population density.

• Missing expertise in key

areas.

• Only a small fraction of

farmers has GAP certification, and several wholesale buyers, including

local college, require GAP

certification for produce.

OPPORTUNITIES 

• Increasing popularity

of local food.

• Local college has

expressed interest

in purchasing larger

volumes.

THREATS 

• National broadline

distributors offer lower

price point.

• The value of local food

is largely disregarded

or misunderstood by a

majority of purchasers.

likely uncovered some potential risks, both to the organization itself and to its ability to meet customer requirements. As stated earlier, risk is “the effect of uncertainty on an expected outcome.” Planning should also include 

strategies to mitigate identified risks, as well as ongoing methods to identify new risks. Risks can be evaluated 

based on severity (how bad the effect would be if it happened) and probability (how likely it is to happen). Some 

risks, after evaluation, may have such a low severity or probability that efforts to mitigate them would prove fruitless, but the evaluation is still an important step. Risk-based thinking is one of the core tenets of ISO 9001:2015. 

EXAMPLE: GROUPGAP 

RISK SEVERITY PROBABILITY MITIGATION 

Product spoilage due

to malfunctioning

refrigerated truck 

High - Consumers could become

sick, customer frustration, financial

loss due to disposal of product

Low - trucks are all newer and

maintained on a regular basis. None

Product spoilage due

to malfunctioning

storage cooler 

High - Consumers could become

sick, customer frustration, financial

loss due to disposal of product

Medium - Coolers are older,

power occasionally goes out

during summer thunderstorms.

Hired [COMPANY] to perform regular

cooler maintenance, developed policy

to inspect product after thunderstorms.

Grocery Stores Single source for a

variety of local produce

Single source for a

variety of local produce

Aggregation from multiple farms, single

invoice, online ordering platform

Planning is an ongoing process, as organizations and the context they operate in are constantly changing. Therefore, planning activities should also include a process for responding to and incorporating change. This process 

should include addressing these questions: 

• Who is authorized to make what kinds of changes? 

• Who approves changes? 

• How is documentation updated? 

• How are those affected by this change notified?

• What kinds of events or information trigger changes? 

9 
DO 

This section covers implementing the planning activities discussed above. Now that the organization knows its 

customers and interested parties, is committed across the organization to meeting its customers’ requirements, 

and has set a Quality Policy and Objectives... how does that get put into practice? 

SUPPORT 

One of the initial steps in converting plans into action is to ensure resources are adequately allocated to carry out 

those plans. This includes raw materials, equipment, financial resources, infrastructure, working environment, and 

most importantly the people involved in providing the product or service to the customer. If adequate resources 

are unavailable, the organization could develop a plan to acquire the needed resources or adjust plans to accommodate the shortcoming. 

The organization should determine what specific roles are involved throughout the process of implementing the 

plans and procedures, what those in the roles are responsible for, what training requirements or other qualifications must be met for each role, and any applicable evaluation criteria. While people usually wear several hats 

in a small business, it is necessary to define what those hats are, and what is supposed to happen when each of 

those hats is worn. 

A training program can include on-the-job training, such as shadowing another employee for a set period, and/ 

or external training, such as an online or in-person course offered by another organization. Training should also 

include any additional training requirements mandated by customers or interested parties, such as USDA GroupGAP auditor training. Keeping detailed documentation on staff roles and responsibilities is necessary to ensure 

that each individual has met the requirements of the particular role(s) they’re filling.

EXAMPLE: FOOD HUB 

ROLE REQUIRED TRAINING DOCUMENTATION PERSONNEL IN ROLE 

Warehouse Team 

• General Warehouse Practices

• Food Safety 

• Forklift Operation

• Signed food safety

commitment form

• Passed Forklift 101 test

• [NAME A]

• [NAME B]

Truck Driver 

• General Warehouse Practices

• Food Safety 

• Truck Operation

• Signed food safety

commitment

• Driver’s License

• Commercial Driver’s License

• [NAME A]

• [NAME C]

Food Safety

Coordinator 

• Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)

Preventive Controls Rule Course

• University Extension Food Safety Program

• Record of attendance for

both classes • [NAME D]

GroupGAP Internal

QMS Auditor 

• ISO 9001 Internal Auditor Course

• Shadow audits

• Certificate/record of

attendance

• Record of audit attendance

• [NAME E]

GroupGAP Internal

Producer Auditor 

• FSMA Produce Safety Rule Course

• USDA Auditor Training – Harmonized

Produce GAP 

• Shadow audits

• Certificates/records of

attendance

• Record of audit attendance

• [NAME F]

As the organization evolves over time and its people gain experience, a collective pool of knowledge and experience begins to accumulate. This can become an incredibly valuable asset, if managed properly. How are lessons 

10
learned from successes and failures documented for future reference? What is the history of the organization, 

and how does that affect decision-making today? The people within an organization bring with them a diverse 

set of knowledge and skills, from the wisdom of the seasoned employee to the fresh ideas of the intern; how are 

they given voice? This will look vastly different from organization to organization, but it is important to develop a 

process to capture the knowledge and experience the organization gains through operation, and that is brought 

to it through the people within. 

OPERATIONS 

Earlier, a process was defined as “any activity that converts an input into an output.” There are many processes 

within an organization that contribute toward providing the product or service to the customer, but some may 

be more critical, technical, or sensitive to risk than others. For these processes, documented work instructions or 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) may be needed to ensure that the process is performed correctly and reliably each time. Documented procedures also help ensure efficiency in training and may be a result of accumulated organizational knowledge. Further, some documented procedures may be required by third party agencies 

or certifiers.

Often, the outcome of one process becomes the input of the next, and these relationships can be shown with lines 

and arrows. Once the entirety of the organization’s processes is laid out, it becomes easier to see which ones play a 

more critical part than others, or where risk needs to be reduced through the development of procedures to ensure 

requirements are met. One way to determine whether or not a process needs a procedure is to first map out all

the inter-connected processes. This could be done visually, either drawn on a piece of paper or whiteboard or on a 

computer, or it could be done as a bulleted list, or even a group of sticky notes on a blank wall. 

EXAMPLE PROCESS MAP 

Orders 

placed 

Pick list 

generated 

Product picked

and staged 

Product loaded 

onto trucks 

Product delivered 

to customer 

OUTSOURCING 

Few organizations handle everything in-house. 

For activities that are outsourced, it is the 

responsibility of the organization to ensure that 

the outsourcing does not have a negative effect 

on meeting customer and QMS requirements. 

This can be done by documenting specifically in 

your QMS which processes are outsourced, as 

well as clear expectations for the product 

or service being outsourced, including a 

process for ensuring those expectations 

have been met. 

EXAMPLE OUTSOURCING SOP 

[GROUPGAP GROUP] outsources Internal QMS Auditing services

INTERNAL QMS AUDITOR QUALIFICATIONS: 

• ISO 9001 Internal auditor course

• Previously shadowed a USDA GroupGAP QMS audit

DOCUMENTATION NEEDED: 

• Certificate from ISO 9001 auditor course

• Record of attendance

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Audit [GROUPGAP GROUP]’s QMS according to USDA

GroupGAP program requirements.

• Submit final report to Group Administrator

11
DESIGNING SOMETHING NEW 

Organizations, their customers, and the contexts they inhabit evolve and change over time. A new opportunity 

may arise or customer requirements may shift, which may prompt the organization to provide a new product or 

service. Designing a new product or service should begin back in the Plan phase. How does this fit in with the 

organization’s Quality Policy and Objectives? Are the new customer requirements documented? Does this affect 

the context of the organization? Does the organization have the resources or have a plan to acquire the resources necessary to provide the product or service? Does this new offering require any new roles and/or training requirements? These and other applicable questions should be addressed as part of the design and development 

process. 

EXAMPLE DESIGN PROCESS STORY – FOOD HUB 

Plan 

developed

and presented

to leadership. 

Will the new process

introduce any new

risks? How are they

addressed?

Customer requests 

new diced product 

(food hub already 

offers other diced 

products). 

New dicing 

process

begins. 

Once plan is

approved, 

equipment

specified and

ordered. 

Equipment

tested. 

SOPs 

developed

for new 

dicing 

process, 

employees

trained. 

Does this align with and

support existing Quality

Policy and Objectives?

If not, should the request be turned down,

or should the Quality

Policy and Objectives

be updated?

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG 

The organization should not only have a process in place for normal operations, but also for what happens when 

things go wrong. If a product or service fails to meet customer or QMS requirements, then what? Does production need to stop until the cause is identified? How is the issue corrected? What happens to out-of-specification 

product? This will be revisited later in the Act section. 

12
CHECK 

Customers have been identified and their requirements defined. The organization developed a plan to fulfill 

those requirements, and then put that plan in motion. The question now is: how did it go? How well did the 

organization adhere to its plan, and how well did it fulfill customer expectations? This section will explore various 

ways to gather the supporting data to answer these questions. 

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION 

Arguably the most important source of information is customer feedback. This feedback could come from a variety of sources, such as complaints, reviews, social media comments, customer surveys, focus groups, and casual 

conversations. Feedback from other stakeholders should be considered as well. The organization should have a 

process for collecting this information and compiling it for review and/or corrective action as appropriate. 

13
Another way to check the organization’s performance is to perform an internal audit of its QMS. This exercise is 

a requirement of most third-party certification standards. An internal audit, usually performed by someone within 

the organization, looks at each component of the QMS and evaluates (1) did the organization adhere to its plan, 

procedures, and other applicable requirements, and (2) are there gaps, inconsistencies, and inefficiencies in 

those plans and procedures? 

If the organization is seeking to certify to a third-party standard, such as ISO 9001:2015 or USDA GroupGAP, 

compliance to those requirements is evaluated through internal audits as well as external audits from an authorized body. In some cases, an organization’s customer may ask to perform an audit, to verify that their requirements are being met and to ensure that the organization will be able to meet them in the future. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important to evaluating the health of any organization. While metrics like 

sales growth and labor costs may be important from a business standpoint, and employee engagement and 

turnover may be important from an organizational culture standpoint, metrics such as customer complaints and 

erroneous deliveries can be important indicators of QMS performance. The organization should determine 

which metrics are relevant to its Quality Policy, Objectives, plans, and procedures. 

When things don’t go as planned, or when errors and mistakes happen, how are they detected? Risks were identified and evaluated based on severity and probability as described in the Plan section above. Detection measures are also a valuable component of a risk mitigation strategy. Monitoring and Detection of risks can confirm 

or correct risk estimates from the Planning stage and will inform process and SOP updates over time. 

EXAMPLE: FOOD HUB 

RISK SEVERITY PROBABILITY DETECTION MITIGATION 

Product spoilage

due to malfunctioning refrigerated

truck 

High - Consumers could

become sick, customer

frustration, financial loss

due to disposal of product

Low - trucks are all

newer and maintained

on a regular basis.

Installed temperature

monitor in each truck,

developed policy for

truck drivers to check

temperatures at delivery.

None

Product spoilage

due to malfunctioning storage cooler 

High - Consumers could

become sick, customer

frustration, financial loss

due to disposal of product

Medium - Coolers are

older, power occasionally goes out during

summer thunder- storms.

Installed temperature

monitoring system that

alerts warehouse manager if thresholds exceeded

or if there’s a power

outage.

Hired [COMPANY] to

perform regular cooler

maintenance, developed policy to inspect

product after thunder- storms.

MANAGEMENT REVIEW 

So far, this section has explored various methods of gathering data on the organization’s performance. Once 

compiled, this data may be used to inform future plans. Management review is an exercise in which an organization’s leadership meets and reviews customer feedback, KPI’s, audit results, corrective actions (see next section), 

etc. on a routine basis - monthly, quarterly, annually, or whatever frequency is appropriate for the current state of 

the business. This allows leadership to have a comprehensive, high-level view of the organization’s performance 

and to be able to adjust existing plans and/or develop new plans accordingly. 

14
ACT 

The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is an iterative process. The output of the previous section becomes the input into 

the next. The Act section bridges the results from the data gathering and evaluation of the Check phase into the 

next round of planning. The organization acts on what it has learned from the previous cycle and the process 

begins anew. 

CORRECTIVE ACTION 

Customer complaints, errors, mistakes, and unforeseen speed bumps are unavoidable. When these are discovered, they should be remediated in a way that reduces the likelihood of their recurrence. They should also be 

documented, to serve as a reference to aid future corrective action and decision making. This should include 

recording: 

1. Description of the occurrence - What happened and when? How was it discovered? 

2. Root cause - Why did this happen? What were the circumstances that led to it happening? 

3. Correction - How was it immediately fixed?

4. Corrective Action - What was done to address the root cause, to ensure it doesn’t happen again? 

EXAMPLE TABLE 

DESCRIPTION ROOT CAUSE CORRECTION CORRECTIVE ACTION 

Customer didn’t receive

product. Error was detected

when driver returned with

product still in truck.

Driver misplaced

delivery sheet

Product was delivered the

next morning, customer was

credited the order amount on

updated invoice.

Delivery sheets updated to

show “Page X of Y” so drivers

can notice missing pages.

The corrective action process may uncover new risks that may need mitigating action, as well. 

EXAMPLE TABLE: REVISIT RISK TABLE AND ADD NEW 

RISK SEVERITY PROBABILITY DETECTION MITIGATION 

Product 

spoilage due to

malfunctioning

refrigerated

truck 

High - Consumers could

become sick, customer

frustration, financial loss due

to disposal of product

Low - trucks are all newer and maintained on a

regular basis.

Installed temperature monitor

in each truck, developed

policy for truck drivers to check

temperatures at delivery.

None

Product 

spoilage due to

malfunctioning

storage cooler 

High - Consumers could

become sick, customer

frustration, financial loss due

to disposal of product

Medium - Coolers are

older, power occasionally goes out during

summer thunderstorms.

Installed temperature moni- toring system that alerts ware- house manager if thresholds

exceeded or if there’s a power

outage.

Hired [COMPANY] to

perform regular cooler

maintenance, developed

policy to inspect product

after thunderstorms.

Customers 

don’t receive 

product,

delivery

incorrect 

Medium - Customer

frustration, loss of business

Medium - The delivery

process is manual and

prone to human error.

Page numbers on delivery

sheets alert drivers if any

sheets are missing.

Exploring feasibility of

a software platform that

will generate routes

and schedule deliveries,

removing the need for

physical sheets.

15
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 

As the organization checks its performance, reflects on what it has learned, adjusts course as necessary, and begins the process again, this will lead to continuous improvement over time. Each management review becomes 

more informed than the last, and its outputs more targeted with better impacts. Each iteration of the Plan-DoCheck-Act cycle becomes more refined, which ultimately leads to greater satisfaction from those the organization 

exists to serve - the goal of a Quality Management System. 

CONCLUSION 

Quality Management Systems are a powerful tool for businesses large and small and have application for a 

variety of food and farm businesses. Their strength lies in their adaptability to a wide variety of scenarios and 

applications, but that strength also means they can be hard to conceptualize. This guide is designed to provide 

a basic understanding of the core elements of a QMS, and how an organization can utilize one to further their 

work. Implementing a QMS can be an important step towards achieving the organization’s goals, satisfying its 

customers, and instilling confidence in its products and services.

APPENDIX A - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 See below for a list of additional resources in support of developing a quality management system: 

• The Small Business Owner’s Simplified Guide to ISO 9001 and Business Improvement – BSI Group 

(https://www.bsigroup.com/LocalFiles/en-GB/small-business/UK-SB-BSI-ISO-9001-Whitepaper-UK-EN.pdf) 

• USDA GroupGAP: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/groupgap 

• ISO 9001:2015: https://www.iso.org/standard/62085.html 

• Food Systems Leadership Network (https://foodsystemsleadershipnetwork.org/) – Food Safety and 

Quality Community of Practice 

APPENDIX B – PROJECT BACKGROUND 

This Quality Management System Guide for Farm and Food Businesses was made possible through a Cooperative Agreement between the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Marketing Services and the 

Wallace Center at Winrock International. The goal of this project was to create a resource to help food and farm 

businesses, food hubs, and GroupGAP and other food safety certification administrators understand the benefits 

of a Quality Management System and how to implement a QMS. The guide was drafted by Phil Britton, of Fresh 

Systems, LLC with assistance from Steve Warshawer and Elizabeth Atwell of the Wallace Center. Special thanks to 

Lindsay Gilmour, Evan Smith, and Joe Colyn for their review and feedback on the guide and to members of the 

Food Safety and Quality Community of Practice for their input throughout the research process. 

16
17
wallacecenter.org