3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) introduced new certification services this month that will help dairy processors find quality replacement parts for plant equipment and possibly gain a marketing advantage for their products. Both services have been available since September 1.

The Replacement Part Qualification Certificate Program uses 3-A's existing standards to determine whether specific dairy equipment replacement parts qualify for 3-A certification. Parts manufacturers will be required pay a fee for the voluntary certification process, but there is no cost to processors.

"The replacement part program will provide processors with another level of assurance that the parts they're buying comply with 3-A standards and are likely acceptable by dairy regulatory agencies," said Allen Sayler, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs. "No one else is offering this type of service."

The second service, the 3-A Process Certification program, is designed to evaluate a company's manufacturing processes against 3-A's best practices. If the process conforms to the best practices, the processor will receive a certification that can be used in sales and marketing efforts. Processors will be required to pay a fee for this service and certificate.

"The primary benefit of this program is that it can identify and reward dairy operations that meet industry and regulatory best practices. The 3-A Process Certification can be used to differentiate dairy plants that want to seek new retail and wholesale customers, or maintain existing customers," Sayler said.

More information and a list of certified conformance evaluators is available at 3-A's website, www.3-A.org.

IDFA is one of the five founding members of the 3-A program and represents dairy equipment users through its 3-A User Task Force. For more information, contact Sayler at asayler@idfa.org or (202) 220-3544.