Traceability is a vital factor in any manufacturing environment. Not only does it instil confidence in the consumer who knows and understands where their products come from, but it also helps identify root causes when something goes awry – like a Salmonella contamination in dog food…
Traceability is the ability to follow the journey that a product has undergone: from individual ingredients’ origins, to the final arrival at the stage before it is sold. It’s essential to ensure compliance, consumer protection and brand reputation. However, the most well-known use for traceability in manufacturing is product recalls. And with good reason! A 2020 blog article by Syspro cites that the average cost of product recall claims is over US $1 million.
Industries that readily practice this include the food and beverage industry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and automotive.
This article explores why it is important, why you should prioritise it and how it works.
Why Is Traceability Important?
As hinted previously, there are numerous motivations for being able to track the origins of ingredients and parts. This section unpacks these reasons.
Safety: By tracing every element in a product, producers can identify contamination, faults or errors. It protects consumers from consuming dangerous pathogens like listeriosis that are contaminated in production lines, or protects users from faulty components that may have been used in an assembly line.
Trust: Being able to prove where products come from creates a sense of trust with the public because society is increasingly demanding transparency.
Regulatory Compliance: Each industry has different requirements, but regulatory bodies often mandate strict traceability that aligns with the industry and prevents fraud.
Streamlined Recall Management: When the unfortunate event occurs, and products need to be recalled, strict traceability makes the process run more smoothly. From identifying batches easily and quickly.
Prevent Counterfeit Products: Advanced technologies that confirm the authenticity of traceability systems, particularly in the case of luxury goods, electronics and health care.
Operational Efficiency in Production: Technologies that enable traceability also assist with inventory management. Effective inventory management provides real-time data to decision makers within the company to streamline operations, reduce waste and identify bottlenecks.
Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing: With increasing pressures on green manufacturing practices, manufacturers and distributors who can prove that they source materials and products responsibly stand out above those who can’t.
Traceability and Its Function
At its core, traceability aims to identify the flow of goods and document it. This process usually uses one or multiple traceability technologies and stores the data on a traceability system.
The process of documenting this flow has two distinct components: tracking and tracing.
Tracking: This looks at the same path but from a different point of view. Instead of finding the source, it looks at the destination, like identifying that a product is at a particular point in the value chain and still needs to pass on to multiple stages before it reaches its destination.
Tracing: The complete history of a single product’s journey through the entire supply chain. The data can be linked to individual units or batches, but is focused on the origin.
A robust system needs to be able to answer the following questions:
- Was the product assembled with a defective component?
- Was the product assembled with a compliant process?
- Is the whole manufactured order affected, or is it limited to a specific component, batch or lot?
- What is the overall production history of the item?
It’s also important to note that a traceability system on its own doesn’t solve these problems on its own. It needs to be used in conjunction with:
- An effective warehouse management system that is able to track serial numbers, lots and bin locations to provide better visibility and management.
- Inventory management that records traceability and quality data of materials and products throughout the supply chain.
- Operations management systems that measure and improve product quality
- A system to log customer complaints and resolve these issues, such as a customer support line and a ticketing system.
Traceability Technologies and Identification
The technologies that enable tracing and tracking can be grouped into one of three categories, namely coding and making systems, RFID and NFC technology, and code systems.
Coding and Marking Systems
Laser Coders: Ideal for high-speed operations with permanent, tamper-proof markings.
Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) Printers: Excellent for clear, high-resolution markings on packaging.
Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) Printers: Suitable for marking on uneven or curved surfaces.
RFID and NFC Technologies
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID): Tags are attached to materials to enable real-time updates in factories.
Non-fungible Tokes (NFC): Encrypted tags not only provide information in real-time, but also authenticate and combat counterfeiting.
Blockchain: Immutable, decentralised tracking for industries that require transparency and fraud prevention.
Barcode and QR Code Systems
Code systems are efficient for product identification and usually link to a larger database that has further product information.
The above technologies don’t work on their own – they need to be used with sensors or data readers that connect and read the information across a warehouse or production line. It should also be backed by traceability software where the data can be stored. This, in turn, can integrate with other systems, such as inventory control, to ensure a comprehensive system that provides clear, real-time updates at all times across the factory floor.
Traceability is a vital factor in any manufacturing environment. Not only does it instil confidence in the consumer who knows and understands where their products… Read More
