Quality Assurance (QAS-India) - Quilon was born in 1994 to help and
assist the buyers, to remove their anxieties and hardships. Subsequent
to the globalization of economy and introduction of free trade, the
statutory governance of quality issues was done away within India in the
nineties. Mr. P.R.Prasannakumarji (Babu) who had about three decades of
QC experience in the Govt. organizations founded QAS in July 1994 in
Quilon, often hailed as the Mecca of cashew nuts.
Export trade in food and agricultural products has always been plagued
with problems of quality, quantity, price, hygiene, packing delayed
deliveries etc.. The buyer sitting thousands of kilometers away was most
often unable to control many of these factors.
The growth of QAS was phenomenal. Branches were opened in Madras,
Calicut in 1995. Within a couple of years QAS opened its own food
quality analysis lab (QASL) at Quilon and branch offices in Mangalore,
Pune, Kuzhithurai and Cochin. A team of dedicated officers with many
years of QC experience in governmental organization and in the industry
joined QAS to make it the unquestionable leader among the Quality
assessment institutions in India. By 2000 the consultancy services wing
of QAS – the Quality Assurance Consultants (QASCN) – commenced
operations. As the managements systems of ISO, GMP, HACCP etc became
essential adoptions for improvement in export trade, the services of the
consultancy division are being utilized by a number of food processing
and drug manufacturing units in South India.
Currently Quality Assurance (QAS) and Quality Assurance Laboratories (QASL)
carry out pre-shipment inspections of processed cashew nuts consignments
purchased by more than 100 international buyers. About 2500 containers
per annum are inspected and certified by the QAS inspection teams spread
across the country. Raw cashew nut consignments imported from African
countries are also surveyed and assessed at the request of Indian cashew
processors.
Quality Assurance Consultants (QASCN) has prepared and helped more than
a dozen food and drug processing units to obtain the coveted ISO
certification.
For the development of the trade and industry, custom designed in-house
training programmes, classroom study sessions, practical training on
modern lab equipments etc are routinely arranged and conducted by
Quality Assurance group of institutions. Apart from this the export
fraternity in India and abroad frequently utilizes the services of QAS
to solve and settle their quality related disputes amicably.
The academic wing of Quality Assurance Laboratories gives guidance and
training for the Graduate & Post Graduate students of various South
Indian Universities in food related subjects, microbiology, applied
chemistry and food technology. They also provide facilities for preparation of projects
for fulfillment of the academic curriculum.
