The future of remote auditing and emerging technologies  - Andy Kerridge 

12:00 Welcome 

12:05 The future of remote auditing and emerging technologies 

Andy Kerridge, Food Safety and Quality Consultant at Wyvern Food Solutions Ltd

12:50 Comfort break

13:00 Q&A 

13:30 Finish

Highfield's 2021 food safety conference will be held virtually over 3 days in a series of live webinar broadcasts, bringing together some of the world’s leading food safety experts and organisations.

As the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that maintaining consumer trust in food safety is going to be an essential part of the food industry's recovery and growth in the months and years to come. 

Supported by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and RHE Global, this year's virtual conference is aimed at professionals working in food retail, food manufacturing, food service and catering, as well as food safety tutors and environmental health officers.

The future of remote auditing and emerging technologies

Andy was initially a strong supporter of the adoption of many of the changes seen as people and companies adapted to new ways of working forced upon us by the pandemic and was frustrated by the lack of flexibility being shown by standard owners and the like. The pandemic and the resulting changes also highlighted limitations caused by so many companies still using paper systems which faced difficulties not just conducting remote audits, but also with staff working from home and the lack of portability of the paper-based data.  

During his presentation, Andy will highlight some of the opportunities which were missed with the switch to remote auditing, and how more could be achieved, or in a better way. 

Changes in other areas such as robotics and AI will also be covered during the presentation. These are fast moving areas which larger companies may be aware of, though smaller companies may not be aware or may be hesitant to take the first steps.

Lastly, changes to the auditing world prompts us to raise the question - Is the audit industry (as that is what it has become) achieving what it was set out to do? And have we seen a reduction in recalls?

Andy Kerridge, Food Safety and Quality Consultant at Wyvern Food Solutions Ltd

Andy has over 30 years’ experience in food safety and quality, initially in manufacturing, and then in foodservice. He set up Wyvern Food Solutions, a food safety consultancy, about 9 years ago, and he now helps companies with their quality and safety management systems, auditing, specifications, food fraud/VACCP, and other activities. His clients range from global blue-chip manufacturers through to university spin-offs. He usually works with a number of clients at a time, and his work usually can take him anywhere in the world, with the majority being in Europe and the Middle East.

The pandemic led to increased adoption of technology to try to overcome some of the limitations caused by inability to travel and do physical visits. Andy’s work with his clients experienced this in several different ways.  In addition, Andy is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and he ran a series of webinars last year for the IFST on the opportunities for technology in the food industry covering such topics as robotics and AI.  Andy has had an interest in the application of technology for some years and has an involvement in Primority Ltd, a food safety management software company.  

Attendees on this webinar will receive a CPD certificate worth 2 CPD points. 

Plus, every conference attendee will receive a FREE place on Highfield's Training solutions for a changing world webinar 14:30 - 16:00 on Thursday 10 June! 

To find out more about the conference go to highfieldconference.com or email us at events@highfield.co.uk