Organic farming is a holistic system of farm design and management that seeks to create a healthy ecosystem with sustained profitability. It provides weed and pest control through mutually dependent diverse life forms, recycling of plant and animal residue, crop selection and rotation, water management, tillage and cultivation. Pest and disease management is also attained by balanced host predator. Soil fertility is maintained and enhanced by optimising soil biological activity as a means to provide a balanced nutrient supply for plant and animal life as well as to conserve soil resources.
Is your organisation (Farm) concerned of:
• Value Addition
• Diversification to Reduce the Economic Risk
• Accessing Better Markets
• Minimizing External Inputs
• Optimizing Recycling
• Reducing Expenses
KOSHER CERTIFICATION
It is a set of biblical dietary guidelines followed by people of the Jewish faith, Muslims and other Christian groups such as Seventh Day Adventists.
It is interesting, that statistics show that the majority of kosher consumers are not Jewish! As a mater of fact not even any religious group at all! The majority of kosher consumers are regular, ordinary people that perceive kosher to be “cleaner”, “better” & “healthier”! Which certainly may be the case, but isn’t what kosher means!
Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. The opposite of Halal is Haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and Haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life. However, we will use these terms only in relation to food products, meat products, cosmetics, personal care products, food ingredients, and food contact materials. While many things are clearly Halal or clearly Haram, there are some things which are not clear. These items are considered questionable or suspect and more information is needed to categorize them as Halal or Haram. Such items are often referred to as Mashbooh, which means doubtful or questionable.The benefits of Halal certification are clear: knowing a product is Halal certified means they don’t have to bother checking all the ingredients. They can purchase the product with the assurance it does not contain anything that is haram or doubtful.
TQM – Total Quality Management 
TQM is a management philosophy that works to integrate all key functions in an organisation to focus on meeting customer needs and the organization’s own objectives. The basic objective of TQM is “Do the right things, right the first time, every time”.
An organization is a collection of processes. Through the TQM one strives to continuously improve each of these processes by incorporating the knowledge and experiences of all the participants. TQM has now moved beyond the realm of manufacturing and is now widely recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector organizations. It is today considered the very foundation for basic improvement activities like:
| • | Fulfilling customer requirements | • | Constantly challenging quantified goals and benchmarking |
| • | Reducing product and service costs | • | Reducing development cycle times |
| • | Ensuring commitment by senior management and all employees | • | Just In Time/Demand Flow Manufacturing |
| • | Improving employee involvement and empowerment | • | Line Management ownership |
| • | Setting up small improvement teams | • | Focusing on process improvements |
| • | Recognition of achievements |
Thus TQM needs to be practiced across all processes like Manufacturing, Marketing, Engineering, R&D, Sales, Purchasing, HR, etc.
Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process, by constantly striving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit, applicable from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications.
The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC process (defines, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement and also used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement. Both Six Sigma processes are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts and Six Sigma Black Belts, and are overseen by Six Sigma Master Black Belts.
General Electric, one of the most successful companies implementing Six Sigma, has estimated benefits on the order of $10 billion during the first five years of implementation. GE first began Six Sigma in 1995 after Motorola and Allied Signal blazed the Six Sigma trail. Since then, thousands of companies around the world have discovered the far reaching benefits of Six Sigma.
5S is an abbreviation from the Japanese words Seiri, Seiton, Seison, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. They are simple but effective methods to organize the workplace as you can see from the English translations, i.e., housekeeping, workplace organization, cleanup, keep clean and discipline.
Each is defined as follows:
| • | Housekeeping – Separate the needed items from unneeded items. Keep only what is immediately necessary on the shop floor |
| • | Workplace Organization -Organize the workplace so that needed items can be easily and quickly accessed. A place for everything and everything in its place |
| • | Cleanup – Sweeping, washing, and cleaning everything around working area immediately |
| • | Cleanliness – Keep everything clean for a constant state of readiness |
| • | Discipline – Everyone understands, obeys, and practices the rules when in the plant |
The 5S Philosophy focuses on effective work place organization and standardized work procedures. It simplifies the work environment, reduces waste and non-value activity while improving quality efficiency and safety.