General Specification - Incoming Materials

SCOPE

All incoming shipments of packaging, ingredients, or raw materials shall meet the criteria in the applicable Mold-Rite Plastics, LLC's (Buyer) specification AND the criteria listed below unless a written variance is approved by Buyer. It is the responsibility of the supplier to maintain up-to-date specifications.

GENERAL

 

CERTIFICATES

If required, a Certificate of Analysis or Certificate of Conformance (Certificate) shall accompany or precede each shipment. The Certificate must include the manufacturing location, batch number, date of manufacture, and product expiration date unless otherwise agreed in writing by Buyer.

The Certificate should be addressed to the receiving plant's Quality Department, unless otherwise specified.

 

FOREIGN MATERIAL/ ADULTERATION

All shipments shall be free of foreign material, infestation, moisture damage and rodent contamination in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices. Suppliers must disclose any potential allergens. Suppliers must have effective monitoring, detection, and control systems in place to assure finished package materials are free from contamination in accordance with good manufacturing practices. Where appropriate, metal detection systems must be used, adjusted to the maximum feasible sensitivity consistent with the appropriate technology, and routinely checked to ensure operating to this sensitivity. Materials shall impart no foreign odors and/or flavors to product. Shipments shall be free of dust, material fragments, and/or other contaminants.

 

REGULATORY

Each material must comply with all applicable national (FDA/USDA/EU), state, country and provincial regulations. In the event that other applicable country regulations do not exist, the regulations of the United States will be in force.

 

Recycled content materials shall be free of poisonous and harmful components and the sourcing of material shall be in accordance with 21CFR 176.260 (in U.S.).

 

All materials shall meet the provisions for heavy metals set forth in the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) Heavy Metals Model Guidelines and Legislation, Prop 65 or other applicable national, state, country or provisional regulations.

 

Any material that may pose a health or safety hazard to workers, safety information must be provided to the receiving location. A Safety Data Sheet, as defined by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, (or a letter stating that an S.D.S. is not required) must be available to the receiving plant.

 

FUNCTIONALITY

Upon receipt, materials must meet the requirement of functionality for the intended use. Any processing or component change initiated by the supplier must be approved by the Buyer in writing before the change is implemented (timeline to be agreed upon with site buyer/quality group).

 

CONTAINERS CONDITION AND INTEGRITY

Containers shall be appropriate to the material contained therein. They shall be of such material and construction that the materials integrity and functionality as defined by the individual material specification is maintained and that the material is usable upon receipt. All containers must be clean and sealed in a manner that reduces the risk of contamination and tampering with no open or repaired holes or gaps. No staples should be used, unless otherwise agreed to in writing by Buyer. Exposed material or evidence of leaking material is unacceptable.

 

LABELING

 

The following information shall be legibly printed and readily visible on each container (sleeve, box, pallet, etc.) and shall be visible on at least two adjacent sides of the unit load upon receipt, where applicable.

  1. Buyer's individual material number. The number must be at least one inch in height and clearly designated, unless otherwise specified.
  2. Buyer's Purchase Order
  3. Supplier's lot number preceded by the designation "Lot", unless otherwise agreed to in
  4. Date of An expiration date must be included, where applicable.
  5. Supplier's name and address of manufacturing location
  6. Buyer's material description
  7. Supplier's product/material description and/or generic name, if
  8. Net weight OR count per
  9. Other information as required (i.e., color chip or melt index, )

UNIT LOADS

 

PALLETS

 

All pallets shall meet the following criteria, unless otherwise specified and agreed to in writing by Buyer. If pallets do not meet the required criteria, the shipment will be refused. Buyer's personnel labor and all costs incurred will be charged to the supplier.

  1. Unless otherwise specified, materials shipped to US locations must use standard, Grade A 40" x 48", four-way, hardwood or plastic pallets (not chemically treated). In Canada, pallets must be either CPC (Canadian Pallet Council) returnable pallets for Canadian manufactured products or disposable hardwood pallets for products imported from the U.S.
  2. All deck boards, stringers and runners should be free of contaminants, such as dirt, grease, mildew, rot, unacceptable moisture levels, fungal growth and evidence of insect, bird and rodent activity. 
  3. Pallets must be in good Boards should not be broken, cracked, loose or missing. There shall be no protruding objects, such as nails or splinters.

 

STRETCH WRAP

Pallets must be stretch-wrapped in transparent stretch wrap material to keep the loads secure during transit and prevent product contamination unless otherwise agreed to in writing by Buyer.

 

SHIPMENT

 

NUMBER OF LOTS

 

Each shipment shall ideally represent one lot of material. If a shipment contains more than one lot, the bill-of-lading shall indicate the number of lots represented in the shipment. Pallets containing more than one lot shall be marked with a placard stating the contents, supplier's lot designation, manufacture date, and weight or count in each lot and be physically separated.

To ensure Buyer receives material in rotation, all materials shall be shipped in chronological order by date of manufacturing, unless a variance is approved in writing by Buyer.

 

TRANSIT VEHICLE CONDITION

 

It is the supplier's responsibility to ensure that each transit vehicle, including those arranged by Buyer, is in clean and sound condition. The interior floor, walls and ceiling must be free of filth, infestation, water and off­ odors. Under no circumstances is a vehicle that has previously hauled potentially unsafe materials including, but not limited to, raw meat, raw poultry, garbage, asbestos, hazardous chemicals, toxic, infectious or medical waste suitable for hauling materials to Buyer (Buyer reserves right of refusal if conditions are not met). All LTL deliveries containing raw materials must arrive pad locked and all full loads containing raw materials must arrive sealed unless otherwise agreed to in writing by Buyer.

 

MIXED MATERIALS

No pallet shall contain a mixture of materials unless specifically agreed to in writing by Buyer.

 

OTHER

BILLS-OF LADING AND INVOICES

 

Bills-of-Lading and/or Packing Slip shall use the Buyers individual material code number to identify the material ordered and shipped. It shall also include the Buyers Purchase Order number and the Buyers release order number (if applicable).

Invoices must be correctly addressed to the accounts payable department as noted on the Purchase Order. Invoices must reference the Buyers vendor number (if applicable), the bill-of-lading number(s), the individual material code number(s), and the Buyers Purchase Order number.

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Terms and conditions are listed on the back of each Purchase Order or at http://info.mrpcap.com/master_purchase_agreement. These terms are legally binding as part of each Purchase Order. No other terms or conditions will be accepted unless otherwise agreed to in writing by Buyer or one of its affiliates.

 

The Supplier shall be liable for any and all costs or damages associated with Buyer's use, storage, or transport of materials supplied which are not in compliance with these general specifications of the individual material specification. Buyer reserves the right to reject any material found not to be in compliance.

 

INSPECTION

Each plant which supplies a material to Buyer is subject to inspection by authorized Buyer personnel.

 

CORRECTIVE ACTION

The Supplier is responsible for responding to any corrective action(s) issued by the Buyer within the first two business days indicating the receipt of the request. Formal reply with root cause and identified corrective action to eliminate recurrence shall be supplied within fourteen business days to the Buyer.

 

NOTIFICATION OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

The Supplier is required to ensure immediate notification to the Buyer of any, and all, significant events including, but are not limited to:

  1. Systematic product quality defect or process control deviation that could lead to a voluntary or involuntary recall or withdrawal of product.
  2. Discovery of potentially defective or adulterated ingredients or packaging materials associated with product in distribution.
  3. Non-routine regulatory agency investigations, testing, sampling, reporting, or other contact or action with the potential to affect material produced for Mold-Rite. Mold-Rite Plastics does not need to be notified of routine inspections, unless the inspection reveals that material produced may not be in compliance with applicable law.
  4. Inadvertent release from Hold of any material produced for Mold-Rite Plastics.
  5. Event that leads the Supplier to suspect that a non-conformance exists in product already shipped to Company.
  6. Product tampering or threat of tampering.
  7. Event or substance that could threaten product security. 
  8. Notification by law enforcement or other authority of a potential product security
  9. Identification of an unlabeled allergen in material produced for Company. 
  10. Inability to deliver materials that meet Company Specifications. 
  11. In the event of a positive pathogen result, even if the specific lot is not sent to Company. 

 

RECORDS MANAGEMENT

MATERIAL SHIPMENT

The supplier shall maintain records of all material shipments to Buyer's facilities for a minimum of 3 years and retains shall be kept where appropriate or required by purchase specification. The record will contain at a minimum:

  1. Date material was shipped to Buyer facility. 
  2. Buyer facility destination of shipment.
  3. Net weight or total count of shipment. 
  4. Buyer specification number.
  5. Lot codes by quantity for shipment.
  6. Carrier name. 

 

RECORDS MAINTENANCE

Records are to be maintained for a minimum of three years and allow 100% traceability through supplier's manufacturing and distribution network within four hours of request.

 

EMERGENCY/FOOD DEFENSE CONTACT

The name(s) and number(s) of individuals who can be reached 24 hours a day, including weekends, in the event of an emergency shall be made available to your Buyer purchasing contact and/or listed below.

 

Position/Role

Name

Phone

Email Address

Quality

 

 

 

Customer Service

 

 

 

Account Manager

 

 

 

24hr Plant Contact