Ideagen work with Thatchers Cider to reach new standards of quality management
Sep 20, 16
Thatchers Cider, the fourth generation cider maker, is to work with Ideagen to take the management of quality within its production areas to new levels.
Thatchers, which is based in Sandford, Somerset, and distributes its ciders to both the on and off trades throughout the UK, prides itself in producing the highest quality cider.
It is now looking to enhance its quality system with a new tool to link disparate areas of quality management within the business, making it easier for staff and auditors to access the right information at the right time.
The cider maker will implement Q-Pulse, Ideagen’s leading quality management software used by over 2,500 organisations globally, using the software to form the basis of its quality management system. With Q-Pulse, Thatchers will electronically manage its suppliers, assets and document control and will use the software to help with its crucial BRC Food Safety certification and other compliance needs.
Mark Lynam, Laboratory Manager at Thatchers Cider, said: “We are looking forward to working with Ideagen and its quality management software product, Q-Pulse.
“Q-Pulse will allow us to embrace even higher levels of quality around the business particularly through supplier and asset management and document control.
“Throughout the company we pride ourselves in achieving the very highest standards in all that we do. When we checked the market, we soon realised that working with Ideagen and its Q-Pulse software would help us develop even further the management of quality, health and safety, environmental and other business areas.
“Although Q-Pulse is marketed as a quality management tool, we will be adopting the product as a complete business management software solution. It will become our central and only system for management of these areas.”
Within its home at Myrtle Farm, in the heart of the Somerset countryside, Thatchers crafts and packages its ciders, which includes a range of single varietal, premium, draught and traditional ciders such as Thatchers Gold, Thatchers Katy, Thatchers Vintage and Thatchers Haze.
The company will implement Q-Pulse in two stages, with document control, supplier management and asset care within the labs being of most importance for its Quality team. The second stage will involve the software being rolled out across the entire production team.
One of the areas Q-Pulse will help Thatchers Cider’s efforts will be in continually achieving BRC certification. Mark added: “We are audited annually and Q-Pulse will provide the infrastructure to our quality system, making it easier for our auditors during BRC and other assessments.”
Rob Shillaker, Ideagen’s Head of Client Management, said: “We are delighted to be working with Thatchers; a long and established company providing many premium brands.
"With some of the most recognisable ciders in the country, renowned for their taste and quality, we are really looking forward to helping them maintain and enhance those quality levels and further improve efficiency in a competitive and increasingly regulated industry."