Product traceability is an essential process in supply chain management, as it allows each phase of a product’s life cycle to be tracked. This system is particularly relevant in industries such as food and pharmaceuticals, where it is essential to quickly identify any anomaly to minimize risks to public health and maintain consumer confidence.
In this text, we tell you what the traceability of a product is, its types, its legal framework and the steps to ensure its correct functioning.
Traceability is understood as the registration system of the moments that make up the production and distribution process. This allows for detailed monitoring of each phase, from the receipt of raw materials to the arrival of the product to the target consumer. As part of the supply chain, it requires a high level of precision to guarantee not only quality standards, but also the safety of the products (eg food industry).
In this sense, traceability makes it possible to detect defective or contaminated items, essential for the deployment of corrective and containment measures, such as the removal of stock at the main points of sale. Indeed, the methods applied in this system facilitate the identification of groups or batches in which the problem is replicated. By having a specific procedure and structure, traceability has a positive impact on the minimization or elimination of the negative consequences that the consumption of the product could entail.
There are three types of product traceability. They are detailed below.
This type of traceability is also known as backward traceability and focuses on the identification of materials that make up the product that reaches the final consumer. When is it necessary to resort to this method? It is very common in consumer industries, such as food, where speed and efficiency are required in response to health alerts. The objective is, in any case, to detect the origin of the failure or problem.
Internal traceability deals with the production process itself within the company or factory. This means that the most relevant aspects of the following moments are managed: receipt of raw materials, manufacturing and preparation for distribution. But what is the importance of this type of traceability? Although savings and process optimization are the bases, this monitoring seeks to ensure the quality of the product before its commercialization.
Downward or forward traceability aims to know the path of the product from its departure from the company or factory to its consumption. The interest is placed in ensuring efficient distribution and sale, above all, in compliance with applicable standards and regulations. This type of traceability, on the other hand, is essential to remove products that could be defective or dangerous. By knowing the supply chain, this action is easier, even in selective withdrawals.
Product traceability is regulated by laws and regulations that vary by country and industrial sector; International regulations are even applied regarding the import or export of products, as is the case in the European Union. Precisely, these regulations establish minimum standards to guarantee the transparency and integrity of the supply chain, but also consumer safety.
In addition, it is necessary to mention that these regulations address the need to have a risk management plan, even more so when distributing food products that are susceptible to cross-contamination and other problems. As mentioned, the registration of products throughout the supply chain facilitates decision making, application of measures and responses to emergencies. The most common action is the withdrawal of products from the market.
The EU, for example, has TRACES, a platform that allows you to consult and manage the certification of products of animal and non-animal origin. Among its benefits for merchants and consumers are administrative transparency, food and health safety, and improved cooperation and coordination with authorities in EU member countries.
However, companies are obliged to manage documentation, data and other information about products in the case of audits, controls or judicial investigations.
These are the steps necessary to implement product traceability efficiently.
The first step to properly manage the traceability of a product is the assignment of labels to raw materials. Commonly, barcodes, QR codes or, in the food industry, RFID tags are used . In fact, in this sector, EAN codes 12 and 128 are used.
Now, for this, it is necessary to have criteria to group products, that is, create lots. This is useful when products must be removed, since not all lots have the same characteristics, reception dates, transformation dates, among others.
It is essential to maintain a detailed record of batch information and transformation activities at each stage of production, as this facilitates the identification of raw materials associated with the products . Indeed, batch numbers are also assigned for finished products. But what other information is included here? Storage data, processed quantities and any incidents are taken into account.
Automation in the labelling process is essential to save both time and resources, in addition to making product traceability a more efficient process. What is needed for this? The company will need to implement appropriate software to create and read labels. These technologies allow information to be collected automatically in real time, which improves not only storage, but also product distribution.
It is also necessary to identify and record any variations or problems during the production and distribution of the product. Why is this useful? By having detailed information, those in charge of analyzing and studying traceability can quickly find and verify the origin of the failure or problem. As a consequence, work windows are opened either to rectify the failure or to act on the removal of the defective batch.
Finally, it is necessary to check that the traceability system complies with both internal and external requirements (regulations, standards, standards, certifications, among others). This ensures that all processes and records were carried out timely and correctly, which would result in a quick response to any incident with the product.