Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Faculty of Science
UDAF 2306 Industrial Training
Final Report

Name: Chai Cheng Kai

Student ID: 15ADB02852

Course: Bachelor of Science (Hons) Food Science

Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd

Department: Quality Assurance

Name of Company Supervisor: Ms. Lim Chee Wee

Title of Supervisor: Head of Department

Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour

Period of Industrial Training: 1st October 2017 – 31st December 2017

Contents
Introduction 2

Work-based Learning Experience 4

Knowledge and Skills Applied and Gained 9

Biweekly Report 1 10
Biweekly Report 2 14
Biweekly Report 3 18
Biweekly Report 4 22
Biweekly Report 5 25
Biweekly Report 6 29

Conclusion 32

Reference 33

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Introduction
Formerly known as Acidchem International Sdn Bhd, IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
has been one of the various wholly-owned subsidiaries of IOI Oleochemical Industries
Berhad, which in turn is a subsidiary of IOI Corporation Berhad (IOI Oleochemicals,
2015). Founded in 1983, IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd, together with the other two
subsidiaries of IOI Oleochemical Industries, were the pioneers in the palm-based
oleochemical industry around the globe (Bloomberg, n.d.). As their inaugural
manufacturing facility became operational, these subsidiaries made IOI Oleochemical
Industries Berhad the only oleochemical plant that engaged in the exclusive
manufacturing of palm-based oleochemicals back in the days when their inaugural
manufacturing facility first became operational. Today, IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd has
been having a vital niche in maintaining the status of Oleochemical Division of IOI
Corporation as the foremost manufacturer of vegetable oil-based fatty acids, with an
approximate production capacity of 710,000 metric ton (MT) per annum (IOI
Oleochemical, n.d.).

The core business of IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd is the manufacturing and
marketing of fatty acids, glycerine, as well as soap noodles, each of which being
versatile and useful in various applications such as the manufacturing of food additives,
pharmaceutical products, soaps, detergents, and so on (IOI Group, n.d.). Located in Prai,
Penang, the production facility of IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd has an annual production
capacity of 370,000 MT for fatty acids, 40,000 MT for glycerine, and 75,000 MT for
soap noodles. This production facility offers a complete range of premium quality
Palmac® Fatty Acids and Glycerine, and Palmsabun® Soap Noodles that are Kosher
for Passover, Halal, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and RSPO-certified
compliant and are exported to more than 65 nations around the world (IOI
Oleochemical, n.d).

During the period of 1st October 2017 to 31st December 2017, I had been
undergoing my industrial training in the Quality Assurance department of IOI

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Acidchem Sdn Bhd, which is a department primarily responsible in ensuring that the
requirements on the quality of products from the customers of the company have been
met (Riley, 2009). The Quality Assurance department covers both Quality Assurance
as well as Quality System. For Quality Assurance, the frameworks include handling
customer complaints, executing vendor audits, as well as validation and verification on
the various aspects of the product manufacturing process. On the other hand, Quality
System refers to a system that has been being employed by an organization for the
management of the quality of their products or services (Bennett, n.d.). The main tasks
that revolve around Quality System will be document controlling, as well as executing
internal audits on the production line for the sake of ensuring that the standard
requirements as stated in quality system has been met. In these three months of
industrial training, I had learnt the roles, responsibility and importance of Quality
Assurance and Quality System in ensuring and maintaining the consistent and desired
quality of the products by engaging and taking part in various related tasks which are
easy or difficult, but nevertheless important.

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Work-based Learning Experience
The three months of industrial training which I has completed in the Quality
Assurance department of the company has been nothing but a fruitful experience, with
my engagement in diverse duties associated to both the Quality Assurance, as well as
the Quality System section of the department. With the aim of enhancing my conception
on the primary responsibilities of the Quality Assurance department, my company
supervisor had been permitting and encouraging my involvement in the major functions
of the department, with one of them being the process validation exercise. As one of
the fundamental chores handled by the department, process validation is the process of
establishing scientific evidence on the capability of a process to have quality product
delivered, via the collection and assessment of data from the stage of process design to
commercial manufacturing (Food and Drug Administration, 2011). In other words,
process validation is undoubtedly significant in ensuring the ability of a process to
deliver a consistent and desirable outcome in terms of mass production, and it is
executed by acquiring and interpreting data that are good indicators of process
efficiency and product quality. As constant supplement of the quality product to the
customers has been a foremost mission of IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd, process validation
has been a necessary exercise that has been regularly executed on any processes that
require clear definition so that the product quality will not be compromised. With that,
I was able to assist my colleagues on the process validation of numerous operations,
such as the product changeover cleaning process at Plant 3000 of IOI Esterchem Sdn
Bhd, as well as the similar process taking place in Plant 39, both of which had me in
charge of compiling the results for the Quality Control tests conducted on the product
samples, plant equipment and/or the process chemicals. With the completion of these
tasks, I acquired a constructive experience through my participation in these exercises,
and had learnt about the principles and importance of process validation.

Another principal task of the Quality Assurance department which I had taken
part in is the verification exercise. As its name implies, verification exercise is an
essential duty required to be done by a Quality Assurance executive/engineer to
corroborate the implementation of the proposed corrective action at the workstation of

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interest in response to the unacceptable discovery on the particular workstation earlier.
It is mandatory whenever a corrective action has been proposed and implemented by a
particular workstation to prevent the recurrence of any non-conformities as discovered
and recorded by the Customer Satisfactory Team (CST) of the company in the Proactive
Detection Report. Throughout the three months of my industrial training, I had teamed
up with my colleague for the verification on the corrective action taken at the
Drumming stations in response of the proactive detection by the Customer Satisfactory
Team at these workstations. We had this task completed by having an on-site
observation on the stations, reviewing the related records, and interviewing the
personnel in charge, all of which intended to evaluate if the corrective action had been
properly implemented, and check if there is any recurrence of the non-conformities
reported previously. With my direct inclusion in the execution of the verification
exercise, I acquired a comprehensive overview on the fundamentals of the verification
exercise, as well as its methods of conduction.

Apart from that, I had also been given several assignments that revolve around
change control, one of the prime responsibilities of the Quality Assurance department.
With an established and implemented formal method, change control has been crucial
to have the changes in the product realization cycle properly controlled and recorded.
It has been imperative in ensuring the consistency of the various aspects of the product
and the process influenced by the change, as well as assessing the potential impacts,
including those on the environment, that are caused by the changes implemented in the
product realization cycle. In the course of my industrial training, I had been given the
responsibility to carry out the follow-up action, which has been the pivotal part of the
change control that serves to evaluate and determine the applicability of the changes
implemented, on some of the major changes applied in certain parts of the production
line, including the realization of the indoor loading of product into intermediate bulk
containers (IBCs) in the Packing/Drumming station at the Acidchem 2 site of the
company, as well as trial production of Isopropyl Laurate (IPL) product at Acidchem
Ester Plant 1 (AEP1). The follow-up action for these changes comprised of obtaining
and reviewing all of the relevant records and/or results to assess the overall influence
of the implemented changes on the process, as well as the products. By accomplishing
these tasks, I obtained a clear-cut understanding on the formal change control method

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as well as its importance in maintaining the consistency of the various aspects that could
be affected by the changes.

On the other hand, I had also taken part in the internal audit which had been
conducted and administered by the Quality Assurance department during the first
month of my industrial training. Conventionally carried out at planned intervals,
internal audit is intended to yield information that indicates the compliance of the
quality management system of the company on the requirements defined by both the
organization itself as well as the globally recognized standards that are relevant to the
nature of the company. In addition, internal audit is also vital in determining whether
the implementation and the maintenance of the quality management system have been
done effectively. The internal audit that I had participated during my industrial training
was conducted specifically to determine the conformity of the quality management
system of the company on the requirements of ISO 9001: 2015. For my part, I was in
charge of performing the internal audit on the utilities of the company along with my
colleague. We had this completed by reviewing the relevant documents and records,
observing the activities categorized under the utility section, and interviewing the
personnel involved or were responsible for these activities in order to obtain
information and objective evidence that support the findings. Based on these
information and evidence, the verification of the compliance of the utility section with
ISO 9001: 2015, or a decision on the presence of one or more non-conformities in the
utility section, was then made and recorded in the internal audit report. Through my
involvement in this internal audit, I gained a valuable experience as an auditor who is
the pivotal party of the internal audit and is elemental in directing its flow.

Other than taking on the chief duties of the Quality Assurance department, I had
also been given tasks that aimed to equip me with the knowledge that is both necessary
and closely related to the functioning of the Quality Assurance department. During the
first two weeks of my industrial training, I had been required to find out more and report
my findings about some of the terms and features that are frequently encountered in
food industry and are of striking importance, which are Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathies (TSEs), Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), and foods

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identified as allergens by distinctive food regulations. Soon after I accomplished that
assignment, I was then asked to find out more about the diverse food safety standards,
certification schemes and organization that are recognized worldwide among the parties
in the food supply chain and are relevant to the nature of the company. With these tasks,
I was able to acquire the background knowledge that is cardinal and foundational to the
operation of the Quality Assurance department.

Furthermore, I had also been engaging in a number of assignments that had

indirectly enhanced my understanding on various subjects relevant to the functions of
the Quality Assurance department. The second month of my industrial training had seen
my involvement in the creation of Customer Complaint Corrective Action Report
(CCCAR) storyboards which were to be displayed at various workstations for the sake
of educating the workstation personnel as well as the contract workers on the rightful
practice that should be followed for the effective prevention of undesirable outcomes
that had previously induced customer dissatisfaction. Being involved in this task
allowed me to have a look on a great number of Customer Complaint Corrective Action
Reports and hence, improving my comprehension of the principle and importance of
these Customer Complaint Corrective Action Reports on assuring the consistent
delivery of quality products by the organization to the customers.

In addition, my engagement in the creation of a new internal audit checklist

had also indirectly enabled my acquirement of the knowledge regarding the standards
and systems that govern the operation of each and every division of the organization
and lay the foundation of the Quality Assurance department. In order to develop a new
checklist that would be more simplified and user-friendly for the auditors, and could
smooth out the internal audit process for them to a better extent, my task required me
to integrate all the current checklists into one, and incorporate more audit questions into
the checklist from the reference audit checklists that were developed by various
renowned international instruments. By doing these, not only that I had my
comprehension on the clauses enacted in each of the standards further improved, I had
also acquired a simple yet handy overview of the requirements set by these standards
as well.

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 Other tasks that had been given to me throughout the period of my industrial
training include filling in the softcopy of customer questionnaires, updating the
information of various types of materials used in the manufacturing and packaging of
the company’s products into the database, checking and confirming the conformity of
the relevant process chemicals and packaging materials to the specific regulations
required, housekeeping the files and documents in the office, preparing presentation
slides for my colleague, performing on-site checking at specific sites for the verification
on the implementation of the corrective action, and various minor tasks.

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Knowledge

and

Skills

Applied

and

Gained

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Biweekly Report 1

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 1st October 2017 – 14th October 2017

On my first two weeks of industrial training, I had been given several tasks that
served to help me in getting a more comprehensive overview on my department, namely
the Quality Assurance department, its main responsibilities as well as the Quality
Systems that dictate the various operations of my department. The first task I had
completed is to fill in the softcopy of a customer questionnaire based on the filled
hardcopy of the same questionnaire given by my company supervisor. This task had
been given so that I understand what is a customer questionnaire and the objectives that
it serves. The particular customer questionnaire that I was asked to fill in is known as
Abbott Established Pharmaceuticals Division (EPD) Supplier & Third Party
Manufacture (TPM) Quality System Questionnaire. By transferring the data from the
filled hardcopy, I got to know the importance of a customer questionnaire as a means
of assessment on my company, which has been serving as a supplier to Abbott
Established Pharmaceuticals Division (EPD). Other than that, I had also got an
overview on the basic and specific requirements that are essential in assuring
compliance of my company’s Quality Systems with appropriate standard.

Other than that, I had also been assigned to the task of update the information
of the process chemicals, packaging materials and product contact materials used for
the manufacturing and packaging of the company’s products into the database. In this
task, I had to update the information as well as related documentation of all the process
chemicals as well as packaging materials into the company database. For a given
material, the information and documentation that I had to key in include the approved
material specifications of the material, material information questionnaire,
certifications received by the material, declarations on the material, safety data sheet of
the material, process flow chart of the material, as well as other related data sheets and

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other related information. By completing this task, I obtained an overview on the
process chemicals, packaging materials and product contact materials used in the
production and packaging of the company’s products, as well as the importance of their
related information and documentation in assuring the quality, compatibility and
traceability of the materials.

I had also been given a task to find out more about Transmissible Spongiform
Encephalopathies (TSEs), Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), and foods
identified as allergens by EU Food Information for Consumer Regulation (EU FIC),
Food Allergen Labelling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA), as well as
Malaysian food laws, and submit my findings to my company supervisor within 5 days
after the assignment of this task. This task was assigned to me while I came across these
terms when I was filling the softcopy of Abbott Established Pharmaceuticals Division
(EPD) Supplier & Third Party Manufacture (TPM) Quality System Questionnaire as a
follow-up task so that I could learn more about these terms and the importance of the
requirements related to them.

In this period of industrial training, I had also completed my pre-audit

preparation as I was selected as one of the auditors that will be taking part in the internal
audit on the utilities of IOI Oleochemical Industries Bhd. in the upcoming week. As
this internal audit will be carried out for the sake of determining if the utilities of the
company meet the requirements of ISO 9001: 2015, I began my preparation by
familiarizing myself with the clauses and sub-clauses of this International Standard that
will be audited towards the utilities of the company. Once that had been completed, I
proceeded by referring to the work instructions as well as the operation manuals of the
utilities available in the company, namely the high and medium pressure boilers,
thermal oil heater, deionized (DI) water plant, air compressor, and cogeneration plant.
From there, I created my own internal audit notes which will be serving as a framework
for the upcoming audit. I had this done by listing down the clauses, sub-clauses as well
as the items to be audited. At the same time, I had also been viewing the internal audit
reports written on the internal audits that were previously done in order to obtain a
comprehensive overview on internal audits before I take part in one.

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 Other minor tasks that had been given to me this fortnight include creating a
planner for the year of 2018, which will be applicable on the Quality Assurance
department, and rearranging the hardcopy of the documents stored in the archive of the
department.

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Biweekly Report 2

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 15th October 2017 – 28th October 2017

My third week of industrial training began with a task that required me to find
out more and write a report about the various food safety standards, certification scheme
and organization that are recognized globally among the parties in the food supply chain,
and are relevant to IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd since its finished products can be further
processed to human foods or animal feed. These include FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act (FSMA), Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), British Retail
Consortium (BRC), Food Safety System Certification 22000 (FSSC 22000), ISO 22000,
and finally, Kosher. Given by my company supervisor, this task helped me in
understanding these features in the food supply chain, as well as comprehending their
importance in assuring the safety of the company’s finished products that are to be
further processed to foods or feed.

Next, I was asked to check and confirm the conformity of the relevant process
chemicals to the Food Chemical Codex specifications. To have this task completed, I
had to review all the latest issue of Certificate of Conformity (COC) and Certificate of
Analysis (COA) available for each of the applicable process chemicals. By cross-
checking these certificates with the Food Chemical Codes specifications required on
each of these process chemicals, I would then decide whether each of the process
chemicals are compliant to the specifications required. This task was essential in
ensuring that the safety of the company’s finished products, that are applicable for
further processing to foods, is not compromised due to the use of process chemicals
that do not meet the specifications of the recognized standards. It is also significant for
making sure that the certificates being provided by the supplier and/or manufacturer for
a particular process chemical is up-to-date and remain effective in certifying the
compliance of the process chemical to the Food Chemical Codex specifications.

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 After I had completed this task, I was asked to proceed with the packaging
materials, in which I had to check if each type of packaging material has been declared
or certified to be compliant to the specific regulations required. Similar to the previous
task, this was done by cross-checking the relevant documents available for each type of
packaging materials with the list of regulatory requirements specified in the Material
Description part of the Food/Feed Safety Manual issued by the company. By doing this,
the competency of the packaging materials to be used for their intended purpose could
then be assured.

During the third week of my industrial training, I had also taken part in the
internal audit on the utilities of IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd. This internal audit was carried
out mainly to determine if the utilities of the company meet the requirements of ISO
9001: 2015. Other than that, it was also critical in determining the effectiveness of the
implementation and maintenance of the utilities, as well as their conformity to planned
arrangement and the requirements stated in the organization’s system. In this internal
audit, my main task as an auditor was to obtain information and objective evidence that
support my findings. This was enabled by reviewing the relevant documents, observing
the activities carried out in the utility section, as well as interviewing the personnel
involved or responsible for these activities. From the obtained information and
objective evidence, the verification of the compliance of the utility section with ISO
9001: 2015, or the decision that a nonconformity, which is the non-fulfilment of a
requirement, was present in the utility section, could then be made. Subsequently, after
the internal audit had been conducted, an internal audit report, which comprises of
conclusions made on the internal audit carried out, as well as the record of the audit
findings and verification results, was written. This report would be used for
communication and follow-up of the internal audit that had been conducted.

Other minor tasks that had been given to me this fortnight includes performing
cross-checking on the particulars of each team participated in the Continual
Improvement project as written in the Continual Improvement project alignment list
with the documented details and presentation slides of each team as the reference,
rearranging the hardcopy of the documents stored in the archive of the department, and
amending the documented information of the materials in the database according to the

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instructions and guidelines given by my colleague. I had also been helping out in
updating the document distribution list in the database by checking if each and every
Plant Operating Manual as documented in the database has been distributed to the
designed personnel.

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Biweekly Report 3

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 29th October 2017 – 11st November 2017

The third fortnight of my industrial training marked the beginning of my

involvement in various primary and regular commissions of the Quality Assurance
department. First and foremost, I had been aiding my colleague in the process validation
on the product changeover cleaning process at Plant 3000 of IOI Esterchem Sdn Bhd.
As Plant 3000 has the competence and the responsibility of the production of two
different fatty ester products, process validation on the product changeover cleaning
performed at this plant is undoubtedly essential in assuring the efficiency of the process
so that the replacement of the manufacture of one fatty ester product by another can
take place smoothly without having the quality of the replacing product compromised
due to the contamination of the product by the residue of both the process chemicals as
well as the replaced product. I gave my colleague a helping hand in this process
validation by being in charge of the compilation of the numerous Quality Control tests
that had been conducted on the samples of the rinsed water utilized for the cleaning
process and the product. With the completion of this task, I had acquired a profound
comprehension of the fundamental concept of process validation and its significance in
ensuring the capability of a particular operation in achieving its intended purpose and
delivering excellent outcome consistently.

I had also teamed up with my colleague to conduct the verification on the

corrective action that had been implemented at the Drumming stations in response to
the undesirable discovery on these stations earlier. Being a part of this verification
exercise enabled me to grasp the necessity of verification in driving the total elimination
of the root causes of a given nonconformity, and the efficacious prevention on its
recurrence. Prior to the conduction of the verification, I first reviewed all of the relevant
Proactive Detection Reports to gain the necessary background information on the

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implemented corrective action to be verified, as each report contains the detailed
description of the detection on the Drumming stations as well as the corrective action
that had been proposed and taken to prevent the recurrence of these nonconformities.
Once that had been done, I then followed my colleague to the Drumming stations to
have an on-site observation on the stations to verify on the implementation of the
corrective action. At the Drumming stations, we had also interviewed the personnel in
charge and reviewed the related records for the same objective. Subsequently, I reported
the findings, which comprise of the description of what my colleague and I had
observed at the Drumming stations, and the records and/or photos taken as evidence, in
the Corrective Action Verification part of the Proactive Detection Reports. This would
serve as a conclusion of the verification done on the implementation of these corrective
actions.

Other than that, I had been given the responsibility to execute the follow-up
action on the changes enacted on the product loading process operating at the
Packing/Drumming station at the Acidchem 2 site of the company. With the proposal
and implementation of the indoor loading of the product into intermediate bulk
containers (IBCs), the follow-up action that I had been assigned to perform has been a
crucial element of the formal change control method which has been put into practice
for the sake of controlling and recording the changes in the product realization cycle.
The follow-up action allocated to me was intended for verifying if the recently installed
and implemented weight printer, which functions by producing a record on the weight
of every individual, loaded IBC in each batch, had been functioning well and reliably
since the commencement of its application. I had this done by reviewing the completed
Packing/Loading/Drumming Order of products together with the attached IBC weight
record chits that were printed. By accomplishing this task, I obtained a comprehensive
overview of how vital change control is in ensuring all of the relevant aspects, including
the safety of the product and process, as well as assessing the potential impacts resulted
from the changes implemented in the cycle of product realization.

Other minor tasks that had been given to me this fortnight include helping out
in disposing the samples of investigation, which comprise of product and packaging
material previously sent to the Quality Assurance department as a part of customers’
complaints and are no longer noteworthy, assisting in the transfer of the old documents

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which had been previously sorted to the store room where they will be kept in long term,
updating the records of disposal based on the documents that were subjected to be
scrapped, and assisting in the compilation of the report for Plant 39 product changeover
cleaning validation.

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Biweekly Report 4

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 12nd November 2017 – 25th November 2017

The fourth fortnight of my industrial training commenced with my engagement

in the task of creating Customer Complaint Corrective Action Report (CCCAR)
storyboards together with my colleague. Intended to be displayed at multiple
workstations where the root causes of one or more customer complaints had originated
from, such as Drumming and Packing stations as well as the warehouses, these
Customer Complaint Corrective Action Report storyboards were to be composed and
created with the intention of raising the awareness of the respective personnel on the
correct practice that is mandatory and significant for preventing the recurrence of the
undesirable outcome that had previously induced customer dissatisfaction. Before I
began to work on the storyboards, I had to go through all of the relevant Customer
Complaint Corrective Action Reports in order to catch a glimpse of the complaints
issued by the customers, and apprehend the corrective actions that had been proposed
and taken for the sake of avoiding the recurrence of such situations. By viewing these
reports, I had also procured a coherent overview of what are these Customer Complaint
Corrective Action Reports about, and their importance and influence on the
improvement and enhancement of the consistency in the quality of the product as
manufactured and supplied by IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd to its customers.

Once I had that done, I then started to assist my colleague in the production of
the storyboards. A typical storyboard would be consisting of two components, which
are the customer complaint issued as well as the corrective action executed, each of
which required to be presented by a simple yet unambiguous graphic illustration. For
my part, I was primarily responsible for composing the customer complaint section of
the storyboards. This had been accomplished by adding the reference photos provided
by the customers along with the complaints into that part, such that each of these photos

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had been captioned briefly but precisely and some necessary labelling had been done
to maximize the simplicity of the figures. On the other hand, I had also been following
my colleague to the related workstations for capturing photos of the correct practice
that was either demonstrated by the personnel or observed to be implemented at the
particular area. These photos would then be incorporated in the corrective action section
of the storyboards. With that, the storyboards would now be complete.

Apart from that, I had also been assigned by my colleague to follow up on the
second trial production of Isopropyl Laurate (IPL) that took place at the Acidchem Ester
Plant 1 (AEP1) of the company. As the conduction of the Isopropyl Laurate trial
production may be interfering with the chief operation of the plant, namely the
manufacturing of Isopropyl Myristate (IPM), the follow-up action that I was
responsible to perform has been a critical component of the formal change control
method established and implemented for the objective of assuring the consistency of
the various aspects of both the product and the process after the execution of the change,
and evaluating the potential influence that could be induced by the change applied in
the product realization cycle. Intended to gauge the efficiency, effectiveness, as well as
the reliability of the trial production, and to assess its impact on the major operation,
the follow-up action I had carried out was obtaining and reviewing the details and the
results of the second Isopropyl Laurate trial production, including the yield and
efficiency of the trial production that could be critical indicators of the efficacy of the
operation. Other than that, I had also helped in collecting the results of the Quality
Control tests conducted on the Isopropyl Laurate product, as well as the first batch of
Isopropyl Myristate product generated after the trial production. With these information,
the consistency of the product quality could then be determined, thus fulfilling the goal
of the follow-up action.

Other minor tasks that had been given to me this fortnight include tabulating the
data acquired for change control on the amended process of Medium Chain
Triglycerides (MCT) generation realized at Plant 3000 of IOI Esterchem Sdn Bhd, as
well as amending and updating the documented information of the materials in the
database according to the instructions and guidelines given by my colleague.

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Biweekly Report 5

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 26th November 2017 – 9th December 2017

The fifth fortnight of my industrial training had seen my continual involvement

in various vital chores that the Quality Assurance department is responsible for. First
and foremost, I had been assigned to complete the task of designing and developing a
new internal audit checklist based on the checklists that are currently in place. Intended
to smooth out the internal audits that are to be conducted at a planned interval for the
auditors, this new internal audit checklist has been necessary due to the application of
the Integrated Management Systems on IOI Oleochemical Industries Berhad based on
the nature of the organization. Being a manufacturer of palm-based oleochemicals that
are capable to be utilized as additives in the processing and/or production of foods,
feeds and pharmaceuticals, the organization has been governed by this quality policy
that comprises of a great number of food and pharmaceutical standards, namely ISO
9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, FSSC 22000, MS 1480, ISO 22716, and GMP+B2.
As a result, it has become a challenging mission for the internal auditors to cover all
these standards on a single audit. Hence, the internal audit checklist would come into
play in facilitating the auditors on the process, as it provides multiple audit questions
that cover similar clauses of different standards at once. For my assignment, I held the
responsibility for the creation of the new internal audit checklist that was required to be
more user-friendly and simplified. This had been done by integrating all of the current
checklists into one. Other than that, it was also my duty to identify and incorporate more
audit questions into the checklist. I had this completed by referring to several audit
checklists that had been developed by renowned international instruments, which are
the European Federation for Cosmetic Ingredients (EFfSI), as well as the
Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation
Scheme (PIC/S). By completing this task, I had obtained a simple yet handy overview
of the clauses enacted in each of the standards. On top of that, by going through the

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audit questions that had been developed and included in the previous internal audit
checklists, I had also acquired a better understanding on the requirements set by these
standards.

On the other hand, I had also been in charge of compiling and finalizing the
validation report for Plant 39 product changeover cleaning procedure. This task had
been given to me following the conduction of the final round of Plant 39 product
changeover cleaning operation that was to be performed for validation purpose. With
the completion of this validation exercise, the preparation of a validation report which
cross-references the corresponding validation protocol has been mandatory, as this
report summarizes the results obtained for the validation procedure and draws the
appropriate conclusions, including any recommendations of changes for the correction
of deficiencies based on any deviations observed. Hence, in order to get that done, I
was required to obtain multiple relevant records and test results, each of which being
an essential indicator of the effectiveness of the cleaning procedure conducted and is
compulsory for inclusion into the validation report, from numerous persons in charge.
These consist of the record of the time taken for each step of the cleaning procedure
conducted, which I would have to collect from Mr. Nai Boonma Sararaks, the senior
plant manager of the organization, as well as the results of the bacteriological
examination and Quality Control tests conducted on the cleaned equipment and rinsing
products respectively, which were generated and documented by the Quality Control
department. Once the collection of these documents had been accomplished, I then
proceeded by creating a table for each of the results that I possessed and adding these
tables into the report. With that, the validation report would then be complete. By
engaging in this duty, not only that I had my understanding on the validation exercise
profoundly enhanced, my soft skills had also experienced a substantial improvement as
well, owing to the communication that I had made necessarily for the collection of the
documents.

Other minor tasks that had been given to me this fortnight include amending
and updating Customer Complaint Corrective Action Report storyboards according to
the comments and suggestions given by my colleague, collecting the documents
required for the customer audit that took place during this fortnight, and helping out on

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the organization of Functional Leaders and Continual Improvement Projects Award
Ceremony.

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Biweekly Report 6

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Name: Chai Cheng Kai
Name of Company: IOI Acidchem Sdn Bhd
Department: Quality Assurance
Name of Company Supervisor: Ms Lim Chee Wee
Title of Supervisor: Head of Department
Name of University Supervisor: Dr Ali Yassoralipour
Report Period: 10th December 2017 – 23rd December 2017

On the sixth and final, full fortnight of my industrial training, I had been
assigned to a number of minor tasks that had nevertheless allowed me to obtain a
satisfactory and constructive work-based learning experience. First and foremost, I had
been helping my colleague on the preparation of her upcoming presentation about the
findings that had been reported from the previous vendor audits conducted against
Palmco Bulking Installation (PBI), a sister company of IOI Oleochemical Industries
Berhad which also happens to be the vendor that provides the service of bulk storage
for the products of my company. For that, I gave my colleague a helping hand by
creating the power point slides that would serve as an essential visual aid for her
presentation. In order to have that completed, I had to first have a grasp of all the
findings that would have to be included in the power point slides, which constitute the
Nonconformities (NCs) as well as the Opportunities for Improvement (OFIs) detected
from the vendor audits. This was enabled by reviewing the vendor audit checklist and
the vendor audit corrective action request document, both of which contain a detailed
description of each of the nonconformities and opportunities for improvement issued,
and were written following the completion of each of the audits. Subsequently, I began
my creation of the power point slides by computing a tabulation of the findings for each
vendor audit conducted. I had this done by summarizing and compiling the description
of the findings as in the vendor audit corrective action request document, and
incorporating the relevant photos that were taken as the evidence of the findings
observed, from the vendor audit checklist. By engaging in this duty, I was able to have
a better understanding on the methods applicable for conducting an audit. By reviewing
the relevant documents, I had also learnt about the difference between Nonconformities
and Opportunities for Improvement.

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 During this fortnight, I had also teamed up with my colleague to perform an on-
site checking on the control items and their respective specifications established and
applied to Alcohol Ester Plant (AEP) 1 and 2. This exercise had been necessary to verify
if the correction on the deviations of the control range set for each control item in the
Distributed Control System (DCS) of the plants from those stated in the Process Quality
Plan (PQP) for the plants, which was one of the findings reported from a customer audit
conducted not long ago, had been executed accordingly and appropriately. Before the
conduction of the on-site verification, I first made an appointment with Mr. Wong Bee
Hin, the assistant manager of the Alcohol Ester Site (AES) plants, so that this activity
would be acknowledged and allowed whereas Mr. Wong himself would be available at
the site during the inspection. After the appointment had been made, my colleague and
I then paid a visit to the Alcohol Ester Plant control room to examine if the deviating
specifications had been reset to be identical to the ranges specified in the Process
Quality Plan, or had been amended to a different, yet similar range with justifications.
With this task, not only that my soft skills had once again been trained and put into use,
I had also experienced and understood the responsibility of Quality Assurance
personnel in ensuring the complete elimination of any findings detected on each
division of the organization.

Other tasks include facilitating the Recertification and Upgrading Audit that
was conducted by SIRIM QAS International against the organization during this period,
and executing the follow-up action on the third Isopropyl Laurate (IPL) trial production.

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Conclusion
Undoubtedly, my industrial training in the Quality Assurance department of IOI
Acidchem Sdn Bhd has been an unparalleled and fruitful experience, with my personal
knowledge and development being benefited and enhanced substantially. Owing to my
exposure to miscellaneous food standards, each of which being a pivotal part of the
quality policy governing the operation of the organization as a manufacturer of
oleochemicals applicable as food ingredients, I was able to have a grasp of these
regulatory requirements that are acknowledged and applied on most of the food
manufacturers in the state. As a food science student, this opportunity to learn more
about the standards has been genuinely valuable to me as these regulations are of
paramount importance in assuring the generation and distribution of safe foods to the
people by the food supply chain. On top of that, by engaging in the primary tasks and
responsibilities of the Quality Assurance department, not only that I have had my
interest in the Quality Assurance aspect of food quality and safety management ignited,
I have also got to know what to expect in my potential career as a Quality Assurance
engineer or a Quality System executive, thus allowing me to prepare myself mentally.
Apart from that, through my involvement in the major duties of the department, my
personal development had also been enabled to a significant extent, as I got to identify
my personal shortcomings, such as my low tolerance for ambiguity and vagueness,
clearly while executing my tasks. On the other hand, the various assignments that were
given to me had also been intended to have my soft skills and work attitude improved
essentially. With that, my personal development has been fairly constructive along my
training in the company.

In a nutshell, the three months of industrial training that I had completed was
nothing but an amazing journey. Not only had the training provided me with the
knowledge that is both on and off the books, it had also equipped me with the righteous
work ethic and behaviour that are vital for me to be successful in my career, thus
empowering me to be ready for my future, as the courageous advocate Malcolm X once
said, “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today”.

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Reference
Bennett, J., (n.d.). What is a Quality System?. [online] Available at:
<http://www.iso9001consultant.com.au/FAQs-quality-systems-management.html>
[Accessed 7 October 2017].

Bloomberg, (n.d.). Ioi Acidchem Sdn Bhd. [online] Available at:

<https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/6062914Z:MK-ioi-acidchem-sdn-
bhd> [Accessed 7 October 2017].

Food and Drug Administration, 2011. Process Validation: General Principles and
Practices. [online] Available at:
<https://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/guidances/ucm070336.pdf> [Accessed 11
November 2017].

IOI Oleochemical, (n.d.). Company. [online] Available at:

<http://www.ioioleo.com/company-oleochemical.html> [Accessed 7 October 2017].

IOI Oleochemicals, 2015. Acidchem Shines in the Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award.
Available at:
<http://www.ioigroup.com/Content/NEWS/NewsroomDetails?intNewsID=761>
[Accessed 7 October 2017].

Riley, J., 2009. Q&A – What is involved in quality assurance. [online] Available at:
<https://www.tutor2u.net/business/blog/qa-what-is-involved-in-quality-assurance>
[Accessed 7 October 2017].

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