L – R: Jussara Felden, QSE Manager & Celine Murray, Quality Assistant
Saica Group, a European leader in sustainable packaging solutions, is proud to announce that its Dublin facility has become the first Saica site in the UK & Eire to be awarded the BRCGS (Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standards) AA certificate under the new BRCGS v7 standard.
Saica Pack Dublin has been awarded the highest possible certification within the BRCGS framework: the AA grade, with the grading scale ranging from D (uncertified) to AA for this global standard. This top-tier rating reflects the site’s exceptional performance in areas such as manufacturing practices, quality control, hygiene protocols, and overall food safety. Earning this top status with the most stringent requirements underscores Saica’s commitment to operational excellence and builds greater trust amongst customers and partners.
The process for Saica Pack Dublin began in November 2024 with reviews conducted, documentation completed and a pre-audit assessment in advance of the full audit which all took place with tight deadlines.
The pre-audit assessment’s purpose was to evaluate compliance with BRCGS standards. The assessment focused on factory floor standards, product and process control, and personnel practices to identify any potential gaps prior to the audit.
Overseen by the quality and management departments, measures were established to realise the necessary criteria to meet requirements. To help achieve this a continuous improvement Plan was put in place where audits were conducted by a cross functional team including the department managers in addition to quality and senior management.
The objective of these joint audits being to enhance collaboration, identify issues, communicate these and implement permanent effective solutions. This equated to deeper inspections to identify any potential shortfalls that could be addressed and actioned accordingly.
All audit outcomes and scores were conveyed to all employees via the Quality Notice Board where non-conformance issues were raised and tracked with the root causes identified for corrective actions to be implemented.
It resulted in consistent compliance and alignment with the standard prior to the formal audit. Furthermore, the formal audit did not identify any non-conformances whatsoever.
Saica Pack UK & Ireland country manager, Simon Banks says, “We’re proud to have maintained the AA rating—a reflection of the commitment across all departments which was a true team effort and testament to the collaborative culture that we enjoy at Saica Group. Retention of the AA standard as it constantly evolves demonstrates to all our stakeholders our exemplary standards of safety, regulatory compliance and product quality”
Saica Dublin believes that this was possible due to close team collaboration with effective communication to achieve this continuous improvement. It reinforced a positive and proactive culture amongst employees with ownership and accountability. This approach aligned all staff from management to shop floor working towards this shared goal.