Quality Behind the Seal

At half past six on a Thursday morning, a quality control analyst at a small bottled water plant in East Java dips a pH meter probe into a bottle of buffer solution. The display should settle on 7.00, but it creeps up to 7.12 and stays there, while the filling line behind the glass wall is already humming. She has a decision to make before the first cup of the day leaves the sealer, and nobody is standing over her shoulder to make it for her.

Her plant is one of hundreds that spent this year preparing for the same date, 18 October 2026, when the adjustment period for the mandatory national standard on bottled drinking water ended. The certificate on the office wall now has to match the newer rules, and the next surveillance visit will look at how her line actually runs. The pH reading in her hand looks trivial, yet it sits at the very start of every number the auditor will read.

A pH meter that drifts behaves like a tailor's tape that has stretched in the heat, because every measurement it gives looks neat and consistent while being slightly wrong. Charts drawn from those readings stay calm, the records stay complete, and the error travels quietly into every batch report signed that week.

A Week Past Deadline

Law 20 of 2014 on Standardisation and Conformity Assessment allows the government to make an Indonesian National Standard (SNI) mandatory for reasons that include safety, health and environmental protection. The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) did exactly that for bottled drinking water, known locally as AMDK, through Minister of Industry Regulation (Permenperin) 62 of 2024.

Media reports say the regulation was promulgated on 18 October 2024 and took effect on 18 April 2025 after a six-month transition. It covers five product categories, namely mineral water (SNI 3553:2023), demineralised water (SNI 6241:2023), natural mineral water (SNI 6242:2023), drinking water from atmospheric condensation (SNI 7812:2021) and high-pH drinking water (SNI 8982:2021). Producers whose SPPT SNI, the product certificate that grants the right to use the SNI mark, was issued under the older rules had 18 months to bring it into line, a window that closed on 18 October 2026.

A product certification body, known as an LSPro, issues the SPPT SNI after assessing the production process and testing samples, and keeps it alive through periodic surveillance. An auditor will therefore want evidence that the plant controls its process every day, which one good laboratory report cannot show.

Who Is Affected

The industry is larger and more scattered than most people imagine. At an AMDATARA event in Surabaya in September 2026, the association's chairman Karyanto Wibowo said it records 707 AMDK companies nationwide with a combined capacity of 47 billion litres a year, as reported by ANTARA. East Java alone hosts 208 of them, and Jatim Times reported that small and medium firms make up around 87 percent of the industry in that province.

What Jakarta Said

In June 2026, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita asked AMDK producers to adjust quickly by upgrading their production technology, their quality control systems and their compliance with standardisation rules, as reported by ANTARA and Kompas. The ministry promised technical assistance, wider use of SIINas, the national industrial information system, and closer work with regional industry associations.

In late August, Emmy Suryandari, head of Kemenperin's Agency for Industrial Standardisation and Services Policy (BSKJI), said its regional technical units were ready to help companies with the rules, certification and SIINas reporting, according to Koran Jakarta. Its testing centre in Ambon offered consultation, laboratory testing and certification support to producers in Maluku.

Industry welcomed the standard while pointing at practical obstacles that QC teams feel every day. Karyanto told Bisnis.com in June that access to certification bodies and testing laboratories was still uneven, and that many companies still needed to prepare their people to face audits. In September he told Kontan that the hardest parts were administrative and technical, especially for multi-site companies, because the SNI barcode is tied to a production location while one brand may be filled in several plants with identical packaging.

On a visit to Surabaya on 10 September 2026, Chusnunia Chalim, deputy chair of House Commission VII, said medium-sized manufacturers struggle with SNI certification because testing laboratories are far away, adding time and cost, as reported by ANTARA East Java.

What BPOM Found

The pressure on quality control has a second source, the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), which oversees the safety of these same products. At a hearing with House Commission VII on 22 June 2026, BPOM head Taruna Ikrar reported that around 39 percent of AMDK production facilities inspected in 2025 did not fully meet requirements, mainly on hygiene, sanitation and quality control. BPOM also reported that around 35 percent of product samples did not meet test standards, and Taruna singled out bromate as a priority parameter because long-term exposure carries a cancer risk. Bisnis.com reported that BPOM wants the share of non-compliant facilities pushed below 10 percent.

Bromate shows how a laboratory result traces back to a setting on the floor. The World Health Organization (2022) explains that bromate forms mainly when water containing bromide is disinfected with ozone, so the operator who checks ozone dose each shift is quietly controlling a health parameter.

Two Studies, One Lesson

Indonesian researchers have been measuring AMDK processes for years, and two recent studies speak directly to the analyst at her bench. Kurnia, Fatah and Anggraini (2026) studied 200 ml cup production at a cup water producer and found that leaking cups made up 96 percent of all defects. Their capability analysis showed a Cp of 1.25 and a Cpk of 0.67, and their Taguchi experiment pointed to the temperature of the first sealer as the most influential factor.

Cp compares the width of the specification with the natural spread of the process, while Cpk also asks whether the process sits in the middle of that window (Montgomery, 2019). A Cp of 1.25 with a Cpk of 0.67 describes a truck on a road wide enough for it, driving so close to one edge that its mirror keeps brushing the kerb.

Sari, Harsyiah and Baskara (2025) applied multivariate control charts called MCUSUM and MEWMA to quality data from another AMDK producer. They concluded that the process was statistically out of control, and that pH contributed most to the out-of-control signals. It is the same reading that began drifting on the analyst's meter in the opening minutes of this morning's shift.

Back at the Bench

The analyst with the drifting meter does not need another regulation to know what comes next, and most of the steps below cost more discipline than money.

Trust Instruments First

• Verify the pH meter, conductivity meter, ozone analyser and sealer thermometer at the start of each shift against buffers or references with known values.
• Send instruments for periodic calibration to a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by the National Accreditation Committee (KAN), and file the certificates with the equipment records.
• Write down what the team must do when a check fails, including which batches made since the last good check need to be held and reviewed.

Chart What Matters

Plot a short list of critical parameters, such as pH, ozone dose, sealer temperature, fill volume and leak tests, on control charts every shift. A chart earns its place on the wall only when the team agrees beforehand on a reaction plan for each kind of signal. Small and steady shifts are exactly what CUSUM charts, including the MCUSUM used by Sari and colleagues, tend to catch earlier than a daily average.

Centre the Sealer

A Cpk far below Cp means the spread is acceptable but the process is aimed at the wrong point. Work with maintenance to find the sealer temperature, dwell time and pressure that sit in the middle of the good range, and lock those settings into the work instruction. Recalculate capability with fresh data after each change, so the team can see whether the truck has moved back to the middle of the road.

Close the CAPA Loop

Corrective and preventive action, or CAPA, often stops at reworking the batch and retraining the operator. Ask why the drift happened, why the check did not catch it sooner and why a similar finding appeared last quarter, and record the answers. Close each CAPA only after data from the following weeks shows that the problem has actually stayed away.

One Batch, One Trail

Make sure every batch code points to one site, one line, one shift and the QC records behind it, which also eases the multi-site barcode concern raised by AMDATARA. Run a mock recall twice a year and time how long the team needs to locate every carton from a single batch. Keep retained samples long enough to answer questions from BPOM or an auditor months later.

Where We Can Help

An ISO Gap Assessment and Internal Audit can rehearse a surveillance visit by tracing a finished batch back through calibration records, control charts and CAPA files. Integrated ISO Management Systems bring quality, safety and environmental requirements into one working system. Technical Guidelines and SOP Development turns sealer settings, ozone checks and reaction plans into work instructions that operators can actually follow.

For CAPA, Incident Investigation and RCA trains teams to dig into root causes with methods that work just as well for quality deviations. HSE Digitalization can move paper checklists and calibration logs onto tablets, with dashboards that flag an overdue check before an auditor does. Nusa Safety does not issue certificates, including the SPPT SNI, and does not hold a PJK3 licence, so certified training programmes are delivered together with licensed PJK3 partners. To talk through a specific plant or line, please contact us whenever it suits you.

The Morning Check

The deadline has passed, and BPOM has said publicly that it wants far fewer facilities failing its inspections. Neither institution will stand beside the analyst at half past six, so the daily habits of a QC team end up carrying most of the weight.

Back in the laboratory, she sets the drifting probe aside, recalibrates the meter with fresh buffers and logs the failed check with the time beside it. She asks the shift leader to hold the first pallet until a second reading confirms the pH, and she opens a short CAPA note for the probe. The cups keep moving through the sealer, and this time every number written beside them can be trusted.

This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice, so please consult a qualified lawyer about how specific regulations apply to your organisation.

References

1. ANTARA. (2026, June). Kemenperin pacu kesiapan industri AMDK penuhi SNI wajib. ANTARA News. https://www.antaranews.com/berita/5611641/kemenperin-pacu-kesiapan-industri-amdk-penuhi-sni-wajib
2. ANTARA Jawa Timur. (2026, September). AMDATARA: Jatim tentukan arah industri AMDK. ANTARA News. https://jatim.antaranews.com/berita/1099523/amdatara-jatim-tentukan-arah-industri-amdk
3. ANTARA Jawa Timur. (2026, September). DPR dorong kemudahan sertifikasi SNI industri UMKM. ANTARA News. https://jatim.antaranews.com/berita/1097559/dpr-dorong-kemudahan-sertifikasi-sni-industri-umkm
4. Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan. (2026, June). BPOM dan BPKN bahas pengawasan AMDK dalam RDP bersama Komisi VII DPR. https://www.pom.go.id/berita/bpom-dan-bpkn-bahas-pengawasan-amdk-dalam-rdp-bersama-komisi-vii-dpr
5. Badan Standardisasi Nasional. (2023). SNI 3553:2023 Air mineral. BSN.
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7. Bisnis.com. (2026, June 22). BPOM sebut 39% sarana produksi AMDK tak memenuhi syarat. https://ekonomi.bisnis.com/read/20260622/12/1982476/bpom-sebut-39-sarana-produksi-amdk-tak-memenuhi-syarat
8. International Organization for Standardization. (2017). ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. ISO.
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12. Kontan. (2026, September 3). Industri AMDK soroti tantangan untuk penuhi ketentuan SNI wajib. https://industri.kontan.co.id/news/industri-amdk-soroti-tantangan-untuk-penuhi-ketentuan-sni-wajib
13. Koran Jakarta. (2026, August 26). SNI wajib AMDK berlaku, Kemenperin fasilitasi sertifikasi di Maluku. https://koran-jakarta.com/2026-08-26/sni-wajib-amdk-berlaku-kemenperin-fasilitasi-sertifikasi-di-maluku
14. Kurnia, A. G., Fatah, K. M. A., & Anggraini, M. (2026). Analisis pengendalian kualitas produksi air minum dalam kemasan 200 ml (AMDK) cup menggunakan metode statistical quality control dan Taguchi. Jurnal Rekayasa, Teknologi, dan Sains, 10(2). https://ejurnalmalahayati.ac.id/index.php/teknologi/article/view/27578
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