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QS Connection

1. What is QS?

QS is a German quality assurance system used primarily in the food sector. It covers production, processing, and trade stages, focusing on traceability, food safety, and supply chain compliance.

QS provides real-time compliance and scope information for certified organisations.

2. What can you do with QS?

By connecting QS to Simvia, you can:

  • View the daily delivery status of QS-certified organisations
  • View the daily delivery status for QS production scopes and social compliance schemes, such as FIAS or Regionalfenster
  • Access QS scope information
  • Monitor QS compliance in your Compliance Overview
  • Review detailed QS information on the organisation’s Connections page

In addition, the QS connection generates database extract documents. These extracts are used within your Requirement Rules, meaning QS data can automatically support your compliance checks and requirement validation.

This ensures both real-time status visibility and structured document-based compliance management.

3. How the QS connection works

QS does not require a setup per individual account.

Central integration model

Simvia uses one central QS account to retrieve certification data. This account is used to pull in all relevant certificate information from the QS database.

Individual organisations do not need to:

  • Create their own QS connection
  • Configure API access
  • Set up credentials in Company settings

The data is synchronised centrally and made available within the platform where applicable.

Step 2 – Add the QS identifier to organisations

To retrieve QS data, each organisation must have a valid:

  • QS Location ID, or

To add it:

  1. Open the organisation
  2. Go to Unique identifiers
  3. Enter the QS Location ID
  4. Save

You must add the identifier for:

  • All existing organisations you want QS data for
  • All newly created organisations

Without a valid QS identifier, no data can be retrieved.

4. Where to find the identifier

The required identifier is the:

QS Location ID (or QS number)

You can find this:

  • On QS documentation
  • In the QS system
  • Directly from the certified organisation

5. How to retrieve data for an organisation

After:

  • The QS connection is activated, and
  • A valid QS identifier is added to the organisation

Simvia will automatically retrieve available QS data.

Automatic updates

QS data is automatically updated three times per day:

  • 02:00
  • 06:00
  • 14:00

This ensures up-to-date delivery status and scope information.

Manual refresh options

You can also trigger a manual refresh:

  • Go to the organisation’s detail view
  • Open the Connections tab
  • Navigate to the QS tab

Entering this page will automatically refetch the latest data from QS.

Additionally, you can press the Refresh button on the same page to manually request the latest QS data at any time.

No further setup is required once the connection and identifier are in place.

6. What data is retrieved

When available, Simvia retrieves the following QS data:

QS Production Scopes

One or multiple QS production scopes per organisation.

Each production scope may include:

  • FIAS → Yes / No
  • Regionalfenster (Regio) → Yes / No
  • Products linked to the scope
  • Additional information (may vary per organisation)

Possible Additional Information

Depending on the organisation and QS records, additional attributes may include:

  • FB – Family business
  • INACTIVE – Excluded from delivering pigs into the QS system until sampling has been completed and registered in the Salmonella database
  • PREFAT – Pig farming (pre-fattening only), not authorised for QS slaughter pigs
  • UNOCCUPIED – Poultry farms currently without livestock (no delivery authorisation in QS system)
  • FREI – Free-range production (integrated production system)
  • QM-MILCH – Certification system for milk (may include additional indicators such as ++/HF3 or +++/HF4)
  • THKG – Identification numbers for livestock facilities under TierHaltKennzG (separated by “|” within the location number)
  • HKZ-D – Approved participation in Herkunftskennzeichen Deutschland (Origin Label Germany)
  • MILK – Locations authorised only for milk delivery under QM-Milch (not authorised for slaughter cows)
  • ITW – Participation in Initiative Tierwohl, including:
    • IDENTITY:FATTENING (traceability from fattening stage)
    • IDENTITY:BIRTH (traceability from birth stage — eligible for higher premium if exclusively sourcing ITW piglets)

In addition, Simvia retrieves:

  • Daily delivery status
  • Participation status

QS data is shown both as structured compliance information and as database extract documents that can be used in Requirement Rules.

7. How to access and use the data

QS data can be reviewed in:

  • The Compliance Overview, showing delivery status
  • The organisation’s Connections page, displaying detailed scope and status information

You can use this data to:

  • Monitor active QS participation
  • Verify delivery approval status
  • Include QS compliance in your overall supplier monitoring

8. Important to know

  • Both steps are required:
    • QS connection must be active
    • QS identifier must be added per organisation
  • Data is refreshed daily at 00:00
  • No certificates are generated — only status and scope information
  • You must add the identifier for every organisation you want data for
  • Remember to add it for new organisations

If QS data is missing or unclear, verify the QS Location ID or consult the QS system directly.