Incoming Chemical QA

Access Business Group

Mail Code 26-2C

7575 Fulton Street East

Ada, Michigan 49355

November, 2006

Dear ABG Chemical Supplier,

Thank you for your continued diligence insending, faxing or e-mailing your Certificates of Analysis (CoAs) to our Incoming Chemicals QA (ICQA) lab. Beginning in the fall of 2005, our lab piloted a newe-mail accountfor electronic submission of CoAs with a few select suppliers. Through the use of this system, we noted increased efficiencies in the inspection and approvalprocess of incoming raw materials. It also provided a more reliable backup to the hard copy of the CoA sent with the shipments. Due to the success of this pilot, and as we gradually move towards a paperless lab environment, we are now taking the step of transitioning this CoAsubmission process to the balance of our chemical suppliers.

The following process is being rolled out to our entire supply base over the next several months. We strongly believe that these changes will serve to simplify and clarify things both for ABG and our suppliers, as well as to increase the reliability of CoA receipt:

  1. The Incoming Chemical QA e-mail address for CoAs is:
  2. Please include the following information In the subject line of the e-mail, with the exact syntax as follows:

Manufacturer Name- ABG Item # - Supplier Lot # ,Supplier Lot # , Supplier Lot #, etc…

(Example: Quality Chemical Co. – R9999 – Lot # ABC9876543, Lot # XYZ1234567)

  1. The manufacturer name is important so that we can quickly sort through the dozens of CoAs that we receive daily.
  2. Please DO NOT list the ABG P.O. Number, Material Trade Name or any other information in the subject line.
  3. For suppliers who are distributors,please also include your name (IN CAPS)after the approved manufacturername (in lowercase) listed on our specification as follows:
  4. Manufacturer Name / DISTRIBUTOR - ABG Item # - Supplier Lot # ,Supplier Lot # ,etc…

(Example: Acme Chemicals / AMERICAN DISTRIBUTORS – R8877 – Lot # ABC9871234)

  1. If you are unsure of the ABG Item# for each material that we source from you, either contact one of the ABG Incoming QA scientists (see below)or your ABG Chemical Buyer.
  2. If you are sending a shipment with multiple lots of the same material, please list each of the lot #s on the subject line, separated by a comma.

NOTE: For those suppliers who send raw materials directly to ABG on behalf of our contract manufacturing customers (e.g. Unilever, J&J, Schering Plough, Alberto Culver..), please format the subject line as follows: Manufacturer Name c/o CONTRACT CUSTOMER – ABG Item # (VR) - Supplier Lot # , etc…

(Example: Alpine Ingredients c/o UNILEVER – VR5978 – Lot # 2006THV90, Lot # 2006FGR87)

  1. If you are unable to perform steps 1 and 2, pleaseinform us of such and Fax the CoA to ABB ICQA at (616) 787-8981.
  2. Please also send the appropriate CoA(s) along with each shipment.
  3. Please discontinue using the Fax # listed for Incoming QA on the ABG supplier portal- (616) 682-4065
  4. Please do NOT include the material trade name in the subject line.
  5. Please do NOT include the P.O. # in the subject line.
  6. Please send only 1 e-mail per shipment / per item (i.e. If three lots of the same material are sent under the same P.O., please attach all three CoAs to the same e-mail, making sure that each individual lot # is listed in the subject line as shown above.)
  7. If possible, please indicate the material trade name and the ABG P.O. # for the shipment in the body of the e-mail.
  8. The preferred CoA format is Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). However, we understand that many systems do not allow CoAs to be translated into this format. Therefore, alternate formats such as Microsoft Word (.doc), Microsoft Excel (.xls), TIFF (.tif), JPEG (.jpg) or several other scanned formats can be accepted. We will inform you if a particular format cannot be viewed at ABG.
  9. If possible, the CoA itself should have reference in it somewhere to the ABG Item # (RXXXX, VRXXX,RE, RN, RS, XF, XN…)

If you have any questions or comments concerning this updated request for transmitting CoAs, please contact the ICQA Scientist that sent you this letter:

Renee Baird - (616) 787-1066

Gregor Stasik – (616) 787-5682

Ken St. John - (616) 787-5104

Jerry Visscher – (616) 787-1230

Thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter.

Access Business Group

Incoming Chemical Quality Assurance Laboratory