The Association of Food, Beverage and Consumer Products Companies

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All Workshops will be held at the GMA Conference Center
1350 I Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
(unless otherwise indicated)

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Thermal Process Development Workshop
April 21-24, 2008
Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown

Building on the over-20-year history of this popular workshop, GMA has answered the request for more! More hands-on activities with different packages and product types and more examples have been added to this expanded workshop. Working teams will spend four days examining in detail the design of thermal processes for retorted products to improve skills and understanding of basic thermal process establishment and evaluation techniques; identify critical decision–making steps essential to thermal process establishment; study different methods of process calculation; and review the basic principles of retort system operation.

Topics Will Include:

* Retort Operating Procedures
* Critical Factor Identification
* Heat Penetration Test Design
* Practical Thermobacteriology
* Heat Penetration Data Collection and Analysis
* General Method and Ball Formula Calculation Methods
* Process Schedule Establishment
* Process Establishment Case Studies

Who Should Attend:

Personnel working in the following canning disciplines:

* Thermal Processing
* Quality Control/Assurance
* Product Development
* Process Engineering
* Pilot Plant Operations
* Inspection or Auditing

Hotel Reservations:

GMA is holding a block of rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, where all conference programs will take place. To reserve a room, please phone the hotel directly:



The GMA room rate is $180 plus tax. When calling the hotel for reservations, please refer to the “Grocery Manufacturers Association” to receive the group rate. The deadline to make reservations is March 31, 2008. After that date, reservations will be accepted on a room and group rate availability basis.

Transportation from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL):
* Distance from airport to hotel: 10 miles
* Subway: $8 each way Taxi fare: $27 each way

Driving directions:
* Exit Airport
* Take I-95 North to I-676 West (Central Philadelphia)
* Exit at Broad Street (Route 611), stay in left lane
* Take your first left onto Vine Street
* Proceed on Vine Street to 12th Street
* Turn right on 12th Street to Market Street, right onto Market Street to City Hall
* Hotel will be on your right immediately after first traffic light

Parking: Valet parking: $40/day
Off-site parking: contact hotel for details

Conference Registration and Information:

Registration Contact Information: Melodi Jenkins, (202) 639-5928
Click here for Registration Form

Workshop Information or Questions: Chris Balestrini, (202) 639-5975
Click here for Tentative Agenda

All attendees will receive the workshop notebook and handout materials as well as a certificate of participation.

SPACE IS LIMITED TO 40 ATTENDEES - EARLY REGISTRATION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!

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Managing the Safety and Quality of Foreign Ingredients: Applying Six Sigma to Supply Chain Management
Workshop and Webinar
May 13, 2008, 10:00 am

Six Sigma is a set of methodologies for process improvement focusing on reducing waste, improving performance, improving productivity and delivering greater value to the customer. Using a transactional Six Sigma approach, consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers have the potential to reduce process variation and control the centering of processes, and ultimately enhance consumer confidence, protect brand value and minimize costly recalls and liability claims.

GMA will offer an in-person workshop and online webinar to introduce CPG industry professionals to Six Sigma methodologies and Lean Principles, in addition to sharing cost-effective, real world quality management best practices. Workshop and webinar participants will discuss quality management issues, study the Six Sigma system and work through Six Sigma case studies from the CPG industry. This presentation will provide clearer insight into Lean Principles and transactional Six Sigma as it applies to supplier management and ingredient import/export and discuss the best approaches to this ever-evolving challenge facing CPG manufacturers.

Following this first component, in-person workshop participants will go on to apply Six Sigma learnings in breakout group activities that will address key aspects of managing the safety and quality of foreign ingredients using the GMA Supply Chain Ingredient Management Handbook. Attendees will identify and address issues with their company’s supplier management plan using Six Sigma tools developed in the workshop.

Topics Will Include:

• Six Sigma Foundations and Management
• Six Sigma Model - DMAIC
• Six Sigma Tools and Methods
• Six Sigma Case Studies
• Quality Management Solutions in the Context of the GMA Supply Chain Ingredient Management Handbook

Who Should Attend:

• Food industry professionals who have some prior training or experience working with quality control, quality assurance and quality management
• Managers, supervisors and personnel of food processing companies or manufacturing companies with responsibility for establishing and validating quality management
• Purchasing and food safety professionals
• Food brokers and those procuring foreign ingredients
• 2007 GMA Food Suppliers Best Practices Workshop participants

About Six Sigma:

The tools used in Six Sigma are very much the same as those used in other quality initiatives. However, its methodology sets it apart. By applying Lean Principles and Six Sigma methodologies, a sense of urgency is created, opportunities for improvement are identified, data is gathered, and changes are implemented. The collection of data makes it simpler to measure changes and results can easily be demonstrated. Unlike other quality programs, Six Sigma practitioners (called Black Belts and Green Belts, depending on certification level) are regular employees that work in all areas of the corporation, not in the quality department alone.

The top-down, high performance Six Sigma management system is designed to help organizations:

• Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts
• Mobilize teams to attack high impact projects
• Accelerate improved business results
• Govern efforts to ensure improvements are sustained

Cost:

GMA will offer this one-day workshop on Tuesday, May 13,2008. Cost for the webinar only is $200 for GMA members and $250 for non-members. Cost for the in-person workshop is $300 for GMA members and $350 for non-members. In-person workshop attendees will receive lunch, the workshop notebook, presentations and handout materials as well as a certificate of participation.

Conference Registration and Information:

Registration Contact Information:
Melodi Jenkins, (202) 639-5928

Click here for Registration Form

Workshop Information or Questions:
Shannon Cole, (202) 639-5979
Jeff Barach, (202) 639-5955

Click here for Program and Agenda

In-person workshop space is limited to 30 attendees. EARLY REGISTRATION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!

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HACCP Train-the-Trainer
June 17-19, 2008

The HACCP Train the Trainer workshop is a 3-day workshop designed to prepare and qualify candidates as an International HACCP Alliance Lead Instructor. In addition to providing a greater understanding of the 7 HACCP principles, the workshop covers adult learning styles and delivery techniques to more effectively present HACCP course material. Hands-on working group exercises facilitate the learning process. The workshop emphasizes areas of HACCP that students have found to be confusing or complicated.

Topics Include:

• Adult learning styles and techniques
• International HACCP Alliance Accreditation Process
• The relationship between HACCP and food safety
• Prerequisite programs
• Identifying and controlling biological, chemical and physical hazards
• Conducting a hazard analysis
• Determining the critical control points
• Establishing critical limits, monitoring procedures and corrective actions
• Establishing verification and validation procedures
• Establishing recordkeeping and documentation procedures
• Regulatory aspects of HACCP
• Organizing and managing HACCP programs

Who Should Attend:

• Food industry professionals who have some prior training or experience working with HACCP. Managers, supervisors and personnel of food processing companies with responsibility for establishing, verifying, and reassessing HACCP programs.
• Regulatory agency officials and academis instructors with a specialty in food processing operations.
• Food safety professionals who wish to teach HACCP to others.
• Food safety professionals who wish to become an International HACCP Alliance Lead Instructor.

Included in the Registration Fee:
Text: HACCP - A Systematic Approach to Food Safety, 4th edition (2006).
References: Rules of HACCP, Workshop Notebook.
Documentation: GMA and International HACCP Alliance Certificate of Participation.

How to Sign-Up:
To register for the HACCP Train-the-Trainer course, click here to download the registration form. For a tentative agenda on this course, click here.

GMA Contacts: Jenny Scott (202) 639-5985 or Yuhuan Chen (202) 639-5974
International HACCP Alliance Contacts: Kerri Harris or Tiffany Mooney (979) 862-3643

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Online HACCP Follow-up Workshop
Date to be Determined

This course complements the online HACCP training by providing hands-on experience with the development of a "mock" HACCP plan to facilitate understanding of the online material and how to apply it to actual products. This 1-day certificate workshop is a follow-up to the online course that is prerequisite to the workshop. The online course plus this 1-day follow-up workshop are designed to meet the educational requirements cited in the FDA regulations requiring HACCP for seafood (21 CFR 123) and juice (21 CFR 120) and the USDA FSIS regulation on Pathogen Reduction and HACCP (9 CFR 417).

This workshop is accredited by the International HACCP Alliance. Experienced instructors guide the working groups through the development process and a critique of the plans, providing insight into regulatory perspectives on HACCP application to different product categories. Participants also learn from the experience of other participants in the working groups. GMA training has an outstanding reputation with industry and regulators and contains up-to-date information of importance to the industry, including many regulatory nuances not found anywhere else.

Included in the Registration Fee:
Text: HACCP: A Systematic Approach to Food Safety (4th Edition)
Reference Materials: Rules of HACCP: A Compilation of HACCP-Related regulations in the United States
Documentation: Certificate of Participation

Who Should Attend:
Those who have taken GMA's online HACCP training who want a certificate to demonstrate completion of a course of instruction in application of the HACCP principles in order to demonstrate compliance with the training requirement of the regulations. (Generally, these are managers, supervisors and personnel of food processing companies with responsibility for food safety, quality assurance, quality control, and sanitation and for establishing HACCP programs.)

How to Sign-Up:
This workshop will be held according to demand. Please contact Melodi Jenkins at (202) 639-5928 and provide your name and contact information for further notice on when the workshop will be held. When there is sufficient interest, a date will be identified based on a time most suitable for interested participants.

For a tentative agenda on this course, click here. For more information on the workshop, contact Yuhuan Chen at (202) 639-5974 or Jenny Scott at (202) 639-5985.

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Watch for more information on the events below...

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Food Defense Workshop
Date TBD

Applying current programs/guidance documents, understanding current and pending legislation and regulations to ensure compliance. Information regarding new legislative activities include the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. New food defense initiative to be covered will include, but will not be limited to, Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism (SPPA)'s Vulnerability/risk assessments conducted by federal and state government agencies and private sector volunteers to provide government and industry with a more complete sector-wide perspective of food and agriculture defense, assist in identifying potential mitigation measures and identification/prioritization of research needs. Current and proposed regulations will be discussed, including the registration of food facilities, establishment and maintenance of records, administrative detention, prior notice of imported food shipments (FDA/CBP). Food defense assessment programs to be discussed will include CARVER, Shock evaluation and ALERT. This section will also involve a working group exercise on food defense assessment. Certain USDA initiatives will also be touched upon during this workshop. Those topics will include FSIS - Meat and Poultry Defense Directives, AMS - Government Purchase Defense Evaluation, APHIS "animal and plant disease" import inspection, also to be discussed is the potential for additional USDA regulations- what and why.

GMA Contacts: Allen Matthys (202) 639-5960

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Regulatory Requirements for Recalls
Date TBD
From your desktop via webinar!

GMA Contacts: Jenny Scott (202) 639-5985 and Lloyd Hontz (202) 639-5924

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Need more information or have questions about these and other Food Safety Workshops? Please contact:
Jenny Scott
Vice President of Food Safety Programs
(202) 639-5985