Idealliance has announced the release of the new global packaging supply chain printer facility audit certification called BrandQ Certified Supply Chain Facility.

Earning and retaining credentials is a must for anyone providing printing and packaging that serves the consumer packaged goods market. This elite status demonstrates to brands and brand owners that a packaging and printing facility meets the highest quality standards. The BrandQ Certified Supply Chain Facility Certification is effective, efficient, and aligns the supply chain.

This certification was designed to be clear, concise, and affordable, and to enable communication so that brand owners know what to ask for, what to evaluate, how to evaluate it, as well as validation. The certification is designed with a low cost of entry in contrast to existing programs that are cumbersome, put a stranglehold on printers, and do not provide an efficient nor effective way for brands to assess the supply chain.

BrandQ Certified Supply Chain assesses key aspects such as process capability, performance, process control, color management, ISO Standards, proof and press alignment, spot color rendering, pre-media capabilities, G7 calibration, and includes detailed reports and analysis. In addition to enabling brand communication, BrandQ provides a snapshot of the suppliers and how they meet brand needs.

In addition to a capability audit, BrandQ, serves as a centralized communication tool, providing a direct channel of communication between the brand owner and the supply chain. BrandQ Certified Supply Chain Facilities are qualified to handle the most demanding jobs in the world. BrandQ assures a high level of quality and performance, and helps the supplier work to retain this distinction.Idealliance Vice President, Global Print Technologies and Workflows Tim Baechle explains, “The global packaging supply chain is like the Wild West. There are some crazy things that happen globally in the supply chain, especially with growing brands. Often problems have existed so long, and problems exist that they simply do not know how to solve them, so they simply plan on a monetary loss every year which is often significant—yet avoidable with corrective action. BrandQ pivots on education, communication, and validation.”

Baechle continues, “We live in an industry where it seems like everyone wants to be a pre-media company, which is extremely hard to do and especially hard to do well. If BrandQ were a software platform, it would be described as an open source platform. Anything can be connected to it and accessible to it, such as software, regulatory information, and color data—because it provides companies an alignment—a swim lane, if you will, which then allows them to take control of clear communication and expectations. What starts with BrandQ can easily be handed off to a brand owner, a pre-media company, or an internal champion that takes the reins, because, as with all of our programs, it is made to serve the industry, collaborate and benefit the greater good of the industry.”

BrandQ™ was built for brands and the packaging supply chain after an incredible amount of global collaboration with brands, print service providers, pre-media companies and support tool providers all over the world. The BrandQ programs connect the supply chain through various methods of training, certification and auditing. Since launching the program in the 4th Quarter of 2017, the demand for the program has reached incredible heights globally and some of the largest brands in the world are taking part.

BrandQ Certification Training for anyone working in the packaging supply chain has been held in the United States and the schedule for 2018 continues to grow with training scheduled in Korea, Singapore, China, Sri Lanka, United States, Pakistan, and more. Upcoming trainings are being scheduled for South America, South Africa, Australia, India, and Europe.

BrandQ Certified Supply Chain Facility was also designed with the G7 Master Qualified Facility program integrated, so facilities could go through both programs simultaneously, if desired, as both credentials are the most sought-after certifications in the world. As a global non-profit, Idealliance wanted to bring the world what they have been asking for, both at an incredibly low price point so anyone in the world could participate, also allowing them, once aligned, to have a choice to continue the process or hand off to a partner company to handle on their behalf.

Global collaboration within the industry is a central focus at Idealliance and it is this collaboration that allows the organization to work globally and harmoniously with people, organizations, and companies around the globe. It is about bringing the future to the present and helping people and companies build transformative and sustainable businesses. Unique to the BrandQ program, there also is BrandQ Central Global Registry, a highly secure and password protected communication repository, which allows brands to write their specifications, store them in the registry and share them with their supply chain. These are the same specifications that the BrandQ program is validated from through the auditing process.