Traceability is a relatively new concept applicable to supply chain control and management. In recent decades, demand for more stringent traceability has risen dramatically. What are the reasons behind its evolution? What are the repercussions?

From batch number identification to item level information

For decades, tracing batch numbers was satisfactory until two major events changed this. First, food crises due to ‘mad cow disease’, bird flu and pork and vegetable crises have led the demand for item-level identification and information including date, origin and producer, as well as batch numbers. Then, the 9/11 terrorist attacks exposed the limitations of traditional control systems. More paperwork and border controls cannot accommodate globalisation, without end-to-end traceability in production or shipping and accountability from stakeholders. Nevertheless, the costs of full traceability, technological and legislative harmonisation delays, and the lack of investment between supply chain stakeholders, have created significant obstacles for rapid implementation of new traceability standards.

A period of harmonisation

Today, organisations like the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or European Union and private entities, have set new international standards and regulations. The trend is for unit processing or individual identification via a unique serial number (serialisation). Each product has its own identity, making it possible to track both its origins, the path it has followed and events encountered before reaching the consumer. Whilst batch numbers make it possible to link a group of products to the raw materials, resources and processes used during manufacture, serialisation introduces a dynamic dimension to product identification. The added value is threefold: the authenticity of a product can be controlled; critical events in its life can be traced; and the pre-alerting system for precise product parameters improves safety (by simplifying recalls and blocking distribution).

"Each product has its own identity, making it possible to track both its origins, the path it has followed and events encountered."

New generations of identifiers

Whereas 1D barcodes store limited information and cannot distinguish between similar products produced at a different time, RFID’s success is limited because of the high unitary cost of tags and technical issues with signal strength and receiver distance. Two-dimensional codes (PDF417, Datamatrix, QR) open new doors, as they contain enhanced item information, can be duplicated easily and read barcodes when parts are missing.

Traceability’s best advocates

The pharmaceutical industry has taken the lead by adopting 2D coding. This has triggered other sectors facing the same challenges with regards to security, counterfeiting and parallel markets to follow suit, e.g. cosmetics, luxury goods or food industries. GS1, the organisation responsible for standardising barcodes, followed this trend with its new Databar that can contain more data.

Whilst globalisation, mass production and ‘offshoring’ intensify supply chain complexity, health risks to consumers increase with the use of processed ingredients. With drops to unit coding costs and increased sanctions, regulators require manufacturers and shippers to comply for the consumers’ benefit. Traceability is non-negotiable now that end consumers demand it.