Quality and Audit programme (QAP) - latest news
EDANA Quality and Audit Programme (QAP) is operational
5 July 2022
In April, EDANA announced that its Quality and Audit Programme (QAP) was open for registration. EDANA can confirm that QAP is also operational: the first onsite audit was conducted 28-30 June in France.
The objective of the programme is to provide the absorbent hygiene products industry, as well as the wet wipes industry, with a harmonised quality and hygiene standard. This is done by listing the requirements industry needs to meet to ensure that finished consumer products are safe and meet consumer expectations.
The entire hygiene industry will benefit from having a harmonised quality standard that is fully transparent and available on the EDANA website. Converters benefit from access to the results of professionally conducted audits, which help them manage their supplier base. Suppliers benefit from independent and objective audits, conducted at their request, against a single standard.
The intention is to also implement it in other regions such as the Americas and Asia Pacific. The EDANA QAP working group’s vision is that this programme will be the leading standard in the industry.
More information is available at https://www.edana.org/quality-audit-programme where converters and suppliers can sign up for participation. Organisations can also register to participate in a training course to get familiar with the standard.
EDANA Board approved QAP
2 December 2021
In the board meeting on Dec 2, 2021 the Board decided to approve the QAP. The QAP WG has been mandated to prepare the launch of this tool to be used between suppliers and converters in the hygiene industry. The QAP WG is making an effort to streamline the communication to adequately inform what the programme is about and how to participate, but is also working together with BSI to streamline the operational procedures about joining the programme and using it, both for suppliers and converters.
2nd Round of pilot audits has been concluded
10 November 2021
The EDANA Quality and Audit Programme (QAP) is about to be finalised after the successful completion of the second round of pilot audits. The last audit took place during the week of INDEX, at a film plant, where another auditor became qualified. The QAP Working group, with the support of senior industry leaders, is preparing the launch of the programme.
Successful second round of pilot audits run for the EDANA Quality and Audit Programme
3 August 2021
The EDANA Quality and Audit Programme (QAP) is further progressing with a second round of pilot audits now well underway.
The project, initially devised in late 2017, was crystallised at a workshop in March 2018 where unanimous member support for initiative was shown.
In spring 2019 the EDANA standard was released for the pilot audit and a cooperation was established with BSI, a global and leading organisation active in the field of standardisation and auditing.
The first round of pilot audits took place in the 2nd half of 2019 and the initiative was made public in October of that year when Dominiek Tytgat of Ontex and EDANA’s Director of Scientific and Technical Affairs, Marines Lagemaat presented the project at OUTLOOK.
Regular operational improvements were made to the programme throughout 2020, in particular relating to auditor selection, training and qualification. A number of pilots were postponed due to the pandemic.
In 2021 the QAP Working Group (WG) agreed to continue the programme, conducting the pilot audits online, following the example of many other auditing bodies.
In May this year the first pilot audit of the second round was held at a nonwoven production site of a leading manufacturer in Europe.
Further pilots were held in June and July with a 4th one running from the 16th to the 18th of August.
These audits demonstrated the value of the improvements made since launch, boosting the team’s confidence in the process!
The QAP WG anticipated this when publishing a short presentation on the EDANA website that is used by stakeholders to convince suppliers to participate.
Following this second round of pilots, a decision to ‘go live’ with the programme will be made by the working group in the autumn.
For further information on the QAP project please contact EDANA’s Director of Scientific and Technical Affairs, Marines Lagemaat Marines.Lagemaat@edana.org