Traceability Across the Supply Chain

WARNING: Images showing the handling of food and exotic animals are graphic and may be disturbing to some readers.

Those of us in the CPG world are well aware of the varying requirements for supply chain traceability and transparency. In light of the Novel Corona Virus, many are calling for full transparency and care in where their food is sourced, and how it is prepared. Restaurants are under intense scrutiny in how food is handled and prepared. Before the outbreak of this pandemic, I would call our foodchain slightly opaque- Now is the time to ensure that we have traceability in all aspects of CPG. This Pandemic has made it clear that this next step is inevitable, and it is clear that now is the time to act in order to safeguard your business. As food and beverage manufacturers, farmers, distributors, neighbors, humans- we need to protect each other.

What is needed in food and beverage manufacturing and wholesale?

Aside from general ERP and MRP, we need to ensure that documents and certificates are tracked, including their expiration dates. These documents need to be proactively managed and updated. This is the first key in establishing a standard to be adhered to and is the "cornerstone" of full supply chain traceability systemization.

With the addition of supply chain management, including shipping and receiving with lot codes, expiration dates, and automatic FIFO allocation this becomes a very strong system. One of the issues in the so-called wet markets is that lack of traceability with cross-contamination, and no best practices followed the situation was prime for a nightmare scenario. Let's assume that the bats are the cause of the Corona Virus. If you look at this graphic from SCMP- you can see the number of different materials being intermixed, work surfaces not clean, and general filth of the work area. How many GMP's are ripe for improvement here?

When the document management and supply chain management work together there are many gaps that can be avoided. This is an issue because many document systems do not integrate seamlessly with supply chain management systems. There are many traceability systems that can help with one aspect of the equation, yet with full transparency, there is a need for a vertical stack software that can provide traceability with a keystroke that includes 100% of materials used in productions, destroyed, and sold, along with the associated documents.

This all leads to one main goal: to recall food quickly during an incident and to have that visibility at any time in the future. The bottom line is that in a recall time is money. Remember the Romaine lettuce recalls? We knew the source of the illness was Romaine, but not which farm it was grown in, who handled it, if it came from a repacker, or if it had been mixed into a larger batch from multiple farms! This was 75,000 pounds recalled, approximately $150,000 revenue lost (not including the cost of the recall itself).

If Records are kept for many years the ability to trace easily and quickly can be valuable both financially and in people's health. In today's CPG market, we can not afford to not have a system in place that affords the ability to track and trace. For some it is mandatory, for others it is an option, but to all, it is a necessity.

How would a system have helped in our current crisis?

In the event of an outbreak that originated in food, such as is speculated for the Corona Virus, there would have been an opportunity to trace food products to their sources. There is not anything that can be done about the GMP's unless the government gets involved, or practices change. The infographic shows a very quick timeline of the identification and actions, but it does not provide a true start. The first Corona Virus patient is speculated to have been in November. Roughly a month passed before the identification of the illness and shutting down the source. How many people could have been saved? Would we have a pandemic? There are many more questions that we can not answer, but we should all be following GMP's, and using systems that are built to trace our food and beverage manufacturing. We owe it to each other to do the best we can.

Cashmere Systems was founded on the need for transparency. We saw this need growing, and wanted to provide a solution that was easy to use, and affordable enough for all in the CPG space. It is amazing how much of a community that exists within this market segment. Let's take care of each other, and the customers that we serve. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you would like to discuss the options that exist, and how we focus on enabling a transparent supply chain.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. We will come out the other side better prepared, and stronger than ever.

Photos credit:

SCMP (South China Morning Post), Shutter Stock, Radio Free Asia, NPR, Bloomberg, Johns Hopkins