Unlocking Transparency: Why Product Traceability Matters and How to Achieve It

We understand product traceability to be the set of procedures, measures and actions with which products are identified from the beginning of their manufacturing to the end of the supply chain. This allows any product to be located within the supply chain and, if necessary, removed from the market for safety reasons.

With the advancement of technological transformation, markets are increasingly global and are subject to strong quality and safety regulations. This generates the need to have reliable traceability, which ensures compliance with regulations. In the European Union, for example, it is mandatory to maintain traceability of food products.

Furthermore, with good product traceability software management, savings in production and logistics costs, an improvement in production processes and assurance of product quality are achieved.

Types of traceability

Three types of traceability can be distinguished, backward traceability, internal traceability and forward traceability:

1. Backward traceability

The focus is on product information before reaching the company. (Where, how and when it was manufactured, and all information that may be relevant before receiving it at the company)

Backward traceability is necessary to keep the products entering the plant under control, ensuring that they meet the requirements demanded by regulations, by customers and by internal standards.

2. Internal Traceability

All activities related to the product during its processes within our company. It is necessary to take into account the reception and storage, the manufacturing processes, whether it is mixed with other products, what type of transformation they undergo, and, in short, all the data that affects the characteristics of the products within the company.

3. Forward or external traceability

Once the products leave the company, external data is added that has to do with their transportation and destination. It involves recording who the recipient is, how and who transports it, departure and delivery dates, temperature records and other related data.

The common objective of these three visions is the assurance of traceability from start to finish.

How to trace a product

For traceability management to be efficient, it is necessary to develop a traceability plan that includes criteria, recording methods and enabling technology.

1. Define how products will be grouped

The first fundamental step is to define the criteria that will be used to group the products. The most common are the following:

• Batching

• Grouping in Items (in the primary sector)

• Grouping of different types of products (in sectors such as distribution)

For each lot or grouping, a unique numerical code is created that will be included in each product in that lot. This code will be maintained throughout the supply chain to facilitate product identification.

2. Create an automated records system

It is necessary to have an agile and accurate record of the data generated and related to the product to maintain correct control of traceability. To achieve this, it is necessary to use an automated registration model, where data is recorded using different technologies, avoiding manual registration, which is slower and has a greater possibility of error.

Different technologies allow certain degrees of automation, such as the barcode reader, the QR code reader, or more recently radio frequency identification (RFID).

3. Collection and identification

Companies must use a system that allows them to collect all the recorded information and track the product from three points of view, backward, internal and forward. The system collects the different data and documents generated throughout the supply chain and associates them with each product. Some general information could be:

• Entry of raw materials and other products.

• Records of the operations carried out in the plant.

• Types of transformations carried out on the product

• Batch dates, expiration dates, etc.

• Quality control records

• Dates of transfers or shipments

• Recipient records

It is vital that the system is capable of collecting all this information by product and by batches or groupings so that during or later we can access the information of a batch or a product.

This is essential for regulatory compliance and incident management. In the food sector, for example, it is essential to have correct monitoring to address food safety incidents.

The appropriate systems to record traceability are the MES system and an ERP for efficient traceability management.

The MES system. It is responsible for recording all the data captured during the production process and records it in batches or groups. This system integrates with the industrial ERP and automatically sends you all the information.

The ERP. Receives data from the integrated MES system and generates a complete traceability record including backward, internal and forward data and documentation.

4. Test of the traceability plan

Finally, we must test the traceability software plan to prove that data capture, correct registration in the system and identification of any product in the supply chain work correctly. To achieve this, it is also important to incorporate a continuous monitoring system with warnings of possible anomalies and deviations.

The criteria and technology appropriate to each situation are vital for traceability processes and records to be precise and fast, providing the necessary agility for production and regulatory and quality assurance.

At Transgenie, we work with ERP management solutions and MES systems that we configure to measure so that the traceability of your products is as efficient as possible. In addition, we help improve the rest of the company's processes. Do you think it's time to move forward? Let's move forward together! Contact us and we will show you how.