WSDA — When Four Eyes Are Not Enough
The Washington State Department of Agriculture’s (WSDA) Organic Food Program is responsible for the certification of 89% of the certified organic producers in Washington. The WSDA decided to invest in a high-performance and scalable software solution from Intact to keep up with the increasing demand for organic certifications in the state. It’s customized Intact Platform system went live in May 2016.
Increasing Demand in Organic — Increasing Requirements for Certification
In 1998, the WSDA Organic Food Program launched a database that helped facilitate cooperation among employees and increase the efficiency and transparency of its certifications. The enormous organic sector boom in the US led to a drastic increase in the number of producers requiring certification, pushing the existing database to its limits.
Intact’s software solutions have provided WSDA with a flexible and modular system that facilitates smooth and efficient processes and handles large amounts of data with ease.
Successful Launch of the New Audit Management Software
After a successful launch in May 2016, the WSDA Organic Food Program switched its entire certification workflow to the Intact Platform. The system handles all tasks ranging from order management to audit and certification process handling and the issuing of certificates. The WSDA is able to have an entirely paperless system, reducing administrative work and eliminating frequent sources of error. All data is available in electronic form, facilitating the exploration and analysis of complex data sets with just a few clicks of the mouse.
When Four Eyes Are Not Enough
One unique requirement of the WSDA was the implementation of a “six eyes principle” in the certification workflow. In a conventional workflow, a certification officer reviews the results of an audit or an inspection and issues a favorable or unfavorable decision. The WSDA needed the possibility to have the findings of the certification officer reviewed by an additional independent quality assurance controller before concluding the certification process.