Aspirations: What an effective

program should look like

Brandon Prochaska – CDR Sensory Coordinator

cdr.wisc.edu
 Topics
• Defining and aligning customer requirements
• Catching defects early if not predictively
• Evaluating beyond flavor/texture
• Feedback from ultimate consumer

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 Basic Model

Spec
Customer Expects Manufactured Product
Tolerance

Attribute A

Low
High

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 Scenario 1

Attribute A Customer Expects

Manufactured Product
Low
High

Did I do well?

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 Scenario 2

Spec too wide

Attribute A Customer Expects

Manufactured Product
Low
High

Did I do well?

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 Scenario 3

Attribute A Customer Expects

Manufactured Product
Low
High

Did I do well?

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 Evaluation
• Did we achieve what we set out to do? [Did we hit our
spec?]
• Was the spec correct to begin with [Right range? Right
characteristic?]
– Too narrow (unnecessary internal rejection)
– Not aligned (unnecessary rejections internally and/or at
customer)
– Too wide (Rejections at customer)
– Wrong characteristic - we can’t even predict if they will accept it
• Every mis-step an opportunity to learn
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 “Easy” traps
• Easy to measure (usually less • More difficult to measure
meaningful to customers) (usually more meaningful to
– pH customers)
– Fat – “flavor”
– Salt – Machineability
– Consistency [lack of variability]
– Melt characteristics

Can you use these predict these?

If not, what value are they
bringing?

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 Case Study
• Example – The customer wants cheese that will slice well
after aging, and that melts well when applied to hot
sandwiches at the final customer.
– How do we define “slice well”?, “melt well”?
– When and how often should we grade.
– How can we measure the performance of young cheese to
predict performance of aged cheese?
– Does flavor matter here even if omitted? How bad is too bad for
the flavor?
– Opportunity to educate customer on challenges producers face
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 Indicators of future poor quality?
• Know what the indicators of poor quality
for your plant are. Trend data and trace
back when there are issues to find what
these are if unknown.
• Most telling attributes are moisture, salt
(for aged cheese), pH, and fat content
(texture).
• Processing parameters also important.
Times, temperatures, etc.
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 Evaluating functionality
• Machineability
– Fines / Waste
– Rework
– Downtime
– Consider costs even
if converter is your
internal customer
– Age is key!

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 Evaluating functionality
• Melting (Test every semi-load!)
– Completeness
– Baking / blistering
– Viscosity and flow
• Stretching
– Thickness of strands
– Length of stretch
– Cohesiveness
– Force to stretch
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 Feedback loop
• Complaints or issues further down supply chain. Are you
aware? Did your operations contribute or was it other
issues?
• If we are seeing issues after 9 months of aging, are the
cheesemakers aware of what’s happening.

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 Thank You to Our Supporters
Wisconsin and US Dairy Farm Families | Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin

National Dairy Council | CDR Industry Team | WCMA