2018 ACS BOK DOMAIN 2 OPERATIONS – BULLET POINTS, TERMS AND USEFUL LINKS

Updated May 10, 2018 to Comply with new ACS Body of Knowledge. This includes many points covered in the Expanded Body of Knowledge as well. When preparing for the ACS CCP Exam®, use the Exam Blueprint as your guide to what the exam will cover. (This presentation is created for basic knowledge and continued education of the cheese industry.)

2018 Bullet Points:

The ACS Body of Knowledge is always your “first stop” in determining your course of study.
Operations in a facility are determined by the function of the facility. Know your sectors and their operations:
- Production Sectors
  - Raw Materials Sector
  - Product Production Sector
- Market Sectors
  - Wholesale Distribution
  - Retail Market
  - Foodservice
Sanitary Design is the first concern:
- Traffic between sanitary and unsanitary environments must be controlled:
- Transition stations:
  - Washing stations, Footwear exchange, Protective clothing
Facility Planning
- Significant Water Supply
- Located on site with adequate drainage
- Follow All Building Codes
- Appropriate building materials
- Delivery truck access and adequate parking
- Environmental impact
Facility Zones
- Two zones
  - Non food handling
    - Refrigerated storage (temp <41F)
    - Frozen Storage
    - Dry Storage
    - Offices, retail counters, restrooms, break rooms, lockers
    - Trash and refuse
    - Loading docks
  - Food Handling
    - Kitchen where food is prepped
    - make rooms
    - milk transfer starage
    - ripening rooms
    - aging caves
Climate Controlled Concepts to address
- Temperature
- Dew Point
- Relative Humidity
- Air Speed or Airflow
- Air exchange
  - O2 levels
  - Ammonia evacuation
  - CO2 Balancing
Equipment to know:
- Technology
  - Robots
  - Computers and IT systems
  - Cameras
- Climate Control Tools
- Air Handlers and Sock Systems
  - Static, radiant or ventilated cooling
  - Humidifiers
  - Dehumidifiers
  - Sensors
- Milk Processing and Storage
  - Bulk Tanks
  - Pasteurizers
  - Bactofuges
  - Separators
  - Clarifiers
  - Churns
  - Vats
  - Thermometers
  - Temp logs
  - Defrost Cycles
- Cheese Making and Aging
  - Tools to Analyze Milk Composition
    - PH Meters
    - Salt analyzers
    - Moisture analyzers
    - Fat content analyzers
    - Molds/forms/hoops
    - Presses
    - Horizontal, Vertical, prepress tables
    - Tables
    - Prepress, draining, curd maturation, rotating drum drainer, draining belts, finishing tables
    - Vats
    - Square body traveling agitator, double O enclosed, circular open top, enclosed cradle, open top semi spherical, continuous coagulator, tipping vats, deep copper conical
    - Curd Mill
    - Peg, rotary, chip, plunger/drawer style
    - Pasta Filata Systems
    - Cooker (waterless/steam/hotwater)
    - Stretcher
    - Molder
    - Curd cutting tools
    - Harp, Lira, Spino, Spanarola, plates, knives
    - Salting and Brining tools
    - Finished Product storage, preparation, and sale
    - Forklifts/Carts/
    - Refrigerated Display Cases
    - Cutters/cutting boards/Slicers
    - Scales
    - Wrapping film/paper, vacuum sealers, containers
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- Develop and Maintain SOPs
  - Written
  - organized for easy review
  - Stored for easy accessibility for all staff
  - Train staff to understand SOPs
Best Practices
- Review ACS Best Practices Guide for Cheesemakers
Cleaning and Sanitation Protocols
- Standards of Hygiene
  - Clean Often and record times
  - Cleaning Chart with designations of when and whom
  - Daily cleaning protocols should be established
  - End of shift Cleaning
  - Spot cleaning
  - Color coding systems
  - Equipment cleaning
Miscellaneous Operations Procedures and Protocols
- Personnel
  - Policies
  - Personal hygiene policies and practices (Included in GMPs)
  - Fitness for work
  - Protective clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  - OSHA regulations
  - Fair labor practices in U.S. and abroad
  - Ergonomics
- Visitors
  - Visitor policies, sign in-log
  - Contractor policies, sign in log
Crisis Management/Disaster planning/Recalls/Withdrawals
- Traceability: one step forward, one step backward
- ▪ Procedures for isolation of affected product
- ▪ Documentation
- ▪ Wording of recall notice to be posted
- ▪ Product disposition
- ▪ Sanitation procedures
- ▪ Financial credit
- ▪ Responding to consumer questions
- ▪ Handling of media
- ▪ Internal/ External Communications
- ▪ PR/ Communication planning
- Contact List
  - Legal Counsel
  - First Aid
  - Natural Disasters
- Flood
- ▪ Fire
- ▪ Power/ server outages
- ▪ Other natural disaster

The complete tutorial of Domain 2: Operations was created by Allin Tallmadge ACS CCP and is solely owned by him and used with permission. Copyright Allin Tallmadge 2018.

In addition to being an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability.

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