Traceability - Overview

Food safety and traceability are currently at the forefront of both government and industry discussions around the world. Numerous initiatives designed to introduce various forms of tracking and tracing functionalities in the food supply chain are underway.

Because of its ability to provide globally unique identification of trade items, logistic units, parties and locations, the GS1 System is particularly well suited to be used for these purposes.

From an information management point of view, implementing a traceability system within a supply chain requires all parties involved to systematically associate the physical flow of materials, intermediate and finished products with the flow of information about them.

This requires a holistic view of the supply chain, which is best attained by deploying a common business language – the GS1 System. Its global reach and universal acceptance by consumers, businesses and governments makes it uniquely positioned to provide the appropriate response to traceability system requirements.

To assist GS1 System users, GS1 has defined key traceability principles and produced the implementation grid shown below, which links them to enabling technologies and relevant GS1 System tools.

 

Traceability - Technical

The traceability principles in more detail:

• Unique identification

• Data capture and recording

• Links management

• Data communication

Unique identification

Any product that needs to be traced or tracked, must be uniquely identified. The EAN•UCC globallyunique identifiers are the keys that enable access to all available data about the product’s history, application or location.

• Identification of Locations
  Unique identification of loca-tions is ensured through the allocation of a GS1 Global Location Number (GLN) to each location and functional entity.

• Identification of Trade Items
  Unique product identificationis ensured through the allocation of a GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to each product (consumer unit). For traceability purposes, the GTIN has to be combined with a Serial Number or Batch Number in order to identify the particular item.

• Identification of Series
  Traceability of Series is ensured through the allocation of a GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and Serial Number to each product (consumer unit).

• Identification of Lots/Batches
  Traceability of Lots/Batches is ensured through the allocation of a GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and Lot/Batch Number to each product.

• Identification across Product Hierarchies
  A GTIN needs to be allocated to each of the three levels of the Product Hierarchy, namely: consumer unit, traded unit and pallet – only include the latter if it is priced, ordered or invoiced at any point in the supply chain, in other words, if the pallet is also considered to be a traded unit.

• Identification of Logistic Units (pallets)
  Identification and traceability of pallets is ensured through the allocation of an GS1 Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC). Any pallet, independently of its type (mixed or uniform), needs to carry an SSCC allocated at source. A new SSCC must be allocated every time a new pallet (logistic unit) is created.

Data capture and recording

Products, Standard Trade Item Groupings and Pallets identified with applicable GS1 standards (Global Trade Item Number - GTIN, Serial Shipping Container Code - SSCC, Application Identifier - AI) must be bar coded using relevant GS1 bar code symbols.

Links management

Production :

Identification management in a production environment is characterised by:

1.      Several supplier locations (GLN 1-3), which send pallets of materials (SSCC 1-4).

2.      At reception, materials are stored and/or ordered for the production process.

3.      At the production site (GLN 4), consumer units (GTIN 1) are produced in separate batches (each identified with a distinct Batch Number).

4.      In the packaging step, consumer units (GTIN 1 and its Batch Number) are packed into standard grouping units (GTIN 2).

5.      In the next two steps - storage and preparation for shipping, pallets are created (SSCC 5-7) and dispatched to customer destinations (GLN 5-6).

Key business rules – Production environment

1.      Reception : The SSCC of an incoming pallet is recorded and linked to the GLN of the supplier. Each time the pallet is moved, its SSCC is recorded and linked to the GLN of its new location (e.g. to storage or production).

2.      Production : Under ideal conditions the SSCC of the pallet and/or GTIN + Batch Number of materials used in the production process are recorded and linked to the GTIN of the product made and its production batch. At the end of the production process, standard trade item groupings are made from individual products. A new GTIN is assigned and linked to the production Batch Number.

3.      Packaging, storage and expedition : The GTIN of a standard trade item grouping is linked to the SSCC of the pallet onto which it is packed. The SSCC of an outbound pallet is linked via scanning to the GLN of its destination. The GLN of its destination must not necessarily be displayed on the label.

Distribution :

 

The figure above shows the use of GS1 standards for identifying locations (GLN) and logistic units (SSCC) in a distribution environment, which is characterised by:

1.      Several supplier locations (identified with GLN 1-3), which send pallets of finished products (identified with SSCC 1-4).

2.      At distribution centre (GLN 4) reception, pallets are stored and sent to the order picking process.

3.      In the order-picking step, orders are fulfilled either by shipping uniform pallets, cross docking or creation of mixed pallets. They are either carried forward unchanged (uniform pallet identified with SSCC 1) or newly created (mixed pallets identified with SSCC 5-7) with products originating from different pallets (SSCC 2-4).

4.      In the last two steps - storage and preparation for shipping, both uniform (SSCC 1) and mixed pallets (SSCC 5-7) are dispatched to customer/point-of-sale destinations (identified with GLN 5-6).

Key business rules – Distribution environment:

1.      Reception : The SSCC of an incoming pallet is recorded and linked to the GLN of the supplier. Each time the pallet is moved, its SSCC is recorded and linked to the GLN of its new location (e.g. to storage, order-picking or distribution).

2.      Order-picking and distribution :

a.      The SSCC of an unmodified pallet picked for distribution from the storage area or cross-docked without any storage is recorded and linked to the GLN of its destination.

b.      A newly created pallet contains standard trade item groupings originating from different pallets. In this case, a new SSCC is assigned to it and linked to the SSCC numbers of all other pallets used in its creation and/or, if applicable, the GTIN and Batch Number of each standard trade item grouping that was used. This can create the need for an enormous effort and can be solved through the application of a “time window”, to be defined by each company when a product is packed. Newly created pallets during this time window can be linked to pallets used up within the same time frame. The SSCC is recorded and linked to the GLN of its destination.

The ability to retrieve traceability data in a fast and accurate manner along of a supply chain is critical. This requires the management of successive links between what is received, produced, packed, stored and shipped across the entire supply chain (one step up, one step down).

If one of the partners, in the supply chain, fails to manage these links, this will result in a break in the information chain and in the subsequent loss of traceability. It is impossible to attain full product traceability without correctly identifying products in all their configurations at each different point in the supply chain.

 

Data Communication

Traceability requires associating the physical flow of products with the flow of information about them. To ensure the continuity of the information flow, each supply chain participant must communicate pre-defined traceability data to the next one, enabling the latter to apply traceability principles.

The use of GS1 eCom is recommended for the fast, accurate, and cost effective communication of traceability data. This includes two complementary standards for business messaging: GS1 EANCOM and GS1 XML.