Welcometothe2018PlantManagersTrainingCourseonWeights&Measures.
Introductions
This courseisinresponsetoextraordinarytrainingNISTisconductingfollowingtheCouncil's3-yearefforttorevisethetestprotocolsformulch&soilproductspackagedbyvolume.
NISTwilltake2fulldaystoconductthistraining,andwehavelessthan2hours;so,buckle-up.
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ThisclassisoncheckingnetcontentsofpackagedgoodsasdescribedinNISTHandbook133.
YouwereaskedtodownloadacopyofHB133priortothismeeting.ThesectionnumbersofmyslidecorrespondtthesectionnumbersofHB1332018edition.
**ThepurposeofHB133istoassureuniformityinlaws
**Uniformtestproceduresbetweenstatesandindustry
**Andstandardizedtest equipment.
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•W&MisallaboutValuecomparison&Faircompetition
•**Thatrequiresanaccuratestatementofcontentsandquantity
•**HB133assurestherulesarebasedonreasonablelawsandaccurate,scientifictestprocedures.
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•1.1.a.WheretoTest:
•**Attheplant:•Most varietyandquantityofproduct•Bestpictureofoverallmanufacturingprocess
•**Distribution&Wholesale•Goodvarietyofproductsandreasonablequantitytoevaluatemanufacturingprocess•But morelimitedthanplantinspection
•**Retail•Goodvarietybutminimalquantities.•Mayhavetocombineproductionlots(allowed)•Easiestbutleasteffectivereviewofmanufacturingprocess.
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**The legal basis for quantity statements is the Uniform Packaging andLabeling Regulation (UPLR) in HB 130.
Requires accurate information on product identity & quantity
**Section 6.3. on Net Quantity. – states A declaration of net quantity of thecommodity in the package SHALL appear on the principal display panel of a… package.
**6.15. defines the Character of the Declaration: (which is an Average. –
3 PARTS:
1. Net quantity is based on the average volume of a lot or shipment.
2. The average shall not be less than the stated quantity.
3. No single package shall exceed the Maximum allowable variation
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**HB133recognizespackage fillwillvarybagtobag
**Itassumesasmanypackageswillbeovertheaverageasunder.
BELLshapeddistribution.
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Howmucharebagsallowed tovary?
**TheMaximumAllowableVariationisthemostasinglepackagecanvaryfromthestatedquantityorMAV.
MorethanthatisanUnreasonableMinusErrororUME.
**ThenumberofUMEsiscontrolledbythesamplingprocedure,
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Sohowmuchisthat?
**Mulch&soilbyvolume= 5%MAVoflabeledquantity
UsuallystatedinCuInso:
1cuft =1728cuinx5%or86.4cuin2cuft =3456cuinx5%=172.8cuin3cuft =5184cuinx5%=259.2Cuin.
THIsisnotatolerance.Itisapackagevarience
YoumayhaveasmanyMAVsunderasyouhaveoversolongastheaveragefillisatorabovethelabeledquantity.
Thenumberofpackagesallowedunderfilled belowtheMAVis1per12packagesintheinspectionlot.
1or122for244for48.
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**12.1.1. Variations from Declared Net Quantity
shall be permitted but not to such extent that the average of the quantities in thepackages … or a lot ...
is below the quantity stated, and
no unreasonable shortage in any package shall be permitted
even though overages in other packages in the same shipment, compensate for suchshortage….
...In the inspection LOT
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Thereare3typesof“Lots”
**Production-DeterminedbyMfgr
-Uniquenumberwithmanufacturingintegrity
**InspectionLot-SelectedbyInspectorfromProductionlotathisdiscretionfromavailablepackages
-Canbe 1bagtoalloronepallettoallpallets.
-MUSTBEIDENTICALPACKAGES TOBEANINSPECTIONLOT.
**Sample“Lot”
-Thenumberofbagsrandomlyselectedfromtheinspectionlottotest
-Samplelotpass/faildeterminesfateofinspectionlotonly.
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Here isoneormoreproductionlotsatpointofpack.
Manufacturerdetermineshowmanyidenticalpackagesareineachproductionlot.
Inspectordetermineshowmanypackageshewillsegregatefromthe(available)productionlotashisinspectionlot.
Thesizeoftheinspectionlotdeterminesthenumberofrandombagsthatmustbetested.
InspectionLot:
1– 250 12Samplelotbagstotest251-3,200 24SampleLotbagstotest
>3,200 48samplelotbagstotest
Theinspectorshouldnotcombineproductionlotsatmanufacturingtoselecthisinspectionlot,butnothingsayshecanorcannot.
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Howevertheinspectordetermineswhathisinspectionlotis,youmustprovidehimpeopleandequipment toaccessthosebagsorpallets.
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Hereisaretailapplication
Duetothemorelimitedsupplyofidentical productsonhandatretail, theinspectorcancombinedifferentproductionlotsofidenticalproductstoselecthisinspectionlot.
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**Again,identicallylabeledandcodedproductsatthemanufacturingsiteformtheproductionlotfromwhichaninspectorchooseshisinspectionlot.
**Fromtheinspectionlot,randompackagesareselectedtoformthesamplelot.
**Onlythesamplelotistestedanditspass/failimpactsjust theinspectionlot,nottheproductionlot.
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YES
**The Supreme Court has determined that states can use statistical sampling in lieu of100% destructive testing
**However, the sample must apply valid statistical sampling techniques to be used.
This is where many state inspections fail to maintain standards.
They don’t use statistically valid random sampling.
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WHYUSERANDOMSAMPLING?
**Toensurethatthesamplerepresentstheentireinspectionlot.
**Meanseverypackageinthelothasanequalchanceofselection.
**Eliminatesbiasandsloppiness.
**Usedwheretestingisdestructive,thecostof100%inspectionishighandrequiresalotoflabor
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**Whatdoesitmeanthepackagesareidentical?
**Thesamplepackagesshouldbefromthesamepackager.
-Sameproductandnetquantity.-UPCNumberonLabel.-Samelotcode
**Rememberthatmixinglotcodesisspecificallypermittedatretail butneitherallowednordisallowedatmanufacturing.
However,NISTsaysitcannotseeagoodreasonwhyaninspectorwouldcombineproductionlotsattheplantsitesoyoushouldinquireabouthisreasonshouldhecombinelots.
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**“Grabbing” conveniently available packages.
**Cherry-picking samples for short fill.
**Intimidating a store or warehouse manager with a mess to get him to acceptalternative sampling.
All of these practices have been reported to be used by various states in the past.
**Alternative Sampling is allowed…
If an inspector and the party that is ultimately responsible for the packing anddeclaration of volume agree to an alternative method
YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR STATISTICAL PROTECTION!!
Remember, the court said valid statistical samples and you agree to give that up with analternative plan. KNOWWHAT YOU ARE DOING!!
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Inspectorshavebroadpowersindeterminingtheinspectionlot.
Youmaywanttoassistinrecommendationsmakingsureheunderstandswhatproductionlotsareavailable.
**Onceyouagreetoastatisticalsampleoralternativeplan,youcannotchangeyourmindoncetheprocessbegins.
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Ifaninspectordoesnothaveyourpermissionforanalternativesampling, theresultsarenotvalid.
Canastoremanageragreetoalternativetesting?
Whentheinspectorcallsyourplant,whoknowswhattosay??
Haveyoutrainedpeopleforthiscall??
Hehastomakethecall,heisn’tgoingtowaitaroundforyouranswer.
**Anaudittestcannotbethebasisforastopsaleorotherleagel action.
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**TheinspectormustFIRST determineifyouareunderthelimitforUnreasonableMinuserrors.IfyouexceedtheUMEallowance,theinspectorcanstopthetestinprogressandfailtheinspectionlot.
**IfyouhavenotexceededtheMAV/UME
Theinspectormustdetermineifyouraveragefillisatorabovethestatedquantity.
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Asample"fails"ifeitherrequirementisnotmet.
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**Table2-1showshowmanyrandomsamplestocollectfortestingfromtheinspectionlot.
**Aninspectionlotof220packagesrequiresasamplelotof12randomlyselectedpackages.
RandomsamplecollectionproceduresareintheappendicesofHB133.
**Mostproductsareallowedonly1MAVviolationfor48packagestested.
**Mulch&Soilpackagedbyvolumeareallowed1MAVviolationofevery12randomsamplebagstested.
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**IndividualPackageErrorUsedtodeterminetheaveragefillrequirement
**MaximumAllowableVariation(MAV)
Used to determine if an UnreasonableMinus Error. Was exceeded.
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Under a Category A Plan statistical calculations are within 97% accuracy.
However,astandarddeviationerror canimpacttheoutcomeofyourinspection.
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**Sample Correction Factor-An adjustment for unexpected error in thesampleing process.-ONLY APPLIES IF NO UME VIOLATIONS OCCUR.
**Sample Error Limit (SEL) –is a value that defines the uncertainty betweenthe average error of the sample and thepredicted average error of the Inspection Lot.
SEL=SampleStandardDeviationxSampleCorrectionFactor
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You won'thavetodothesecalculationsbutyoushouldknowtheyexistandyoumayrequestthemifyoufailanaveragefilltest:
Hereare12testswithanaveragefillofMINUS13cuin.
Witharangeof+3to-4,theaverageerroris-1.08
Thestandarddeviationofthesampleis2.46.
Table2-1showsforasampleof12,thecorrectionfactoris0.635timesthestandarddeviationof2.46foratotalof1.56whichislargerthantheaverageerrorofthesampleandthesamplepasses eventhoughitisanegativeerror.
Confusing,butitcouldbeahelpfultoolifyouarecloseonyouraveragefillcalculation.
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Sowehavebeenthroughthebasicstepsofaninspection:
Identify&define theinspectionlot
Selectasamplingplan
UseittoselectarandomorALTERNATIVEsamplelot
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Testthesamplelot
ApplytheMAVlimits
Applytheaveragefillrequirement.
Thatdeterminesthepass/failfortheInspectionLotOnly.
Howmanytimescananinspectorgobacktothesameproductionlotforadditionalinspectionlotselections?
Asmanyashewantsuntilthelotisexpired.
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Whataretheinspector'sresponsibilitiesduringandinspection?
BusinessHours•NoWarrantNeeded•NoOpportunitytoDecline
Credentials-Inspectors oftencarrybadges,consideredlawenforcementinmanystates
-Canseizeproperty,issuefines,arrest,jail
-Insomerespects,morepowerthanstatetrooper
Reviewcause
-Routine,complaint,follow-uptopreviousinspection
-Whoshouldtheyreporttoinyourbusiness-Whatifhe/sheisn’tthere
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**Wants accesstofacility&Equipment&Logs
Inyourbestinteresttocooperate
Don’tangertherefereebeforethegamestarts
**He shouldn’trecordwithoutpermission
Youshouldifinspectoragrees.
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**Heshouldfollowhousesafety&healthrules
**Cleanupmess
**Tellyoutheresults.
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Shouldbeprofessional
Thatmeansnoarguments
Nohigh-fivesinparkinglots
Nothreatsofretaliationforimpropertesting
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**Theinspectionlot
-Anypart ofaproductionlotofidenticalpackages
-Asbigasentireproductionlotoranypartofit.-Solelydeterminedbyinspector
**Selectingsamples
-Trulyrandom?Ifnot,wasitalternative-Wasalternativedeterminedbythe“Responsibleperson”?
-Whoisresponsible?PackerorLabelownerorretailer?
-Wasthetestprotocolfollowed?
correctcontainer
correctprocedure
correctreadingnotouchingproductorrocking,shaking,droppingthemeasure.
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Consequences:
OffSale(butsomestateswillallowyoutorelabelbins)
Stop &Remove— Just whatitsays.Youpay3loadsforthepriceofone(ship,remove,reship)
Civilpenaltiesmeaningfines
Criminalpenaltiesforwillfulactsordeception(redirectingstoppedloadselsewhere
Arrest
Abunchofbadcustomerimpacts:SalesdisruptionMediacoverageLossofreputationContractviolation
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ThisisAmericaandyouhavetherightofdueprocess&Appeal
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Thestateshouldhaveaprocessforyoutobeheardonappealofthetest results.
Thisisoneofthosethingsyouhadbetterberightifyouaregoingtocomplain.
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•ThewholefunctionofHB133issoeveryonefollowsuniformprocedures
•Werepropercontainersused&verified?•WereproperproceduresfollowedperHandbook133?•Wasanalternativeselectionmethodauthorizedbythepacker?
•Providewritten….Welldocumentedinspectionreports.•Aremeasurementsinhalf-inchincrements?•Arethecubicover/undervolumesevenlydivisibleby72?•WastheSELverified?
•Provide“notice”tothepacker.•Wasthemanufacturernotifiedorjusttheretailer?•Howlongdoesittaketheretailertoinformthemanufacturer?
•Provideanopportunitytodisputethefindings.•Wastheappealsprocessexplained?•Wastheprocessopenandfairorthreateningandretaliatory?
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DueprocessIn statestheviewtheirmeission asregulatory,orequiresadequatenoticeandameaningfulopportunitytobeheard.
Afairhearingismorelikelyinstatesthatviewtheirmissionasregulatorythanastatethatviewsitsmissionmoreintermsofprotectingconsumersfrombusinesses.
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Ifyoucandemonstratetothestatethatyourcompanyfollowsgoodmanufacturingpractices,youmaymitigatesomedamagesinafailedinspection;
Sowhatdotheyconsidergoodmanufacturingpractices?
**DoyouhaveaFormal,writtenQCProgram
-Adequatetestingfacilities,standardsandequipment
-TrainedQCPersonnel
-Canyoudemonstrate youfollowastatisticalprocessesinQCpractices
- Doyouhavedocumentedproceduresandtestrecords
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**- theywant toseetheinvolvement ofqualified&Trainedsupervisors
-Recordsofequipmentmaintenance&Control
-Traceabilityofmeasuresandstandardsusedintesting
-ProperTarecontrol(Whichdoesn’tapplytomostmulchfacilities)
Butwhenindoubt,yourbestdefenseisto
**KNOW &FOLLOWTHERULES.
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