The Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA was passed in 2011 to drive a re-orientation of the Food Supply Chain to one of prevention of a food born illness as a first priority instead of just reacting following such an occurrence.  A lot of progress has been made but we still see Food Supply Chain Traceability programs as less mature.

To achieve Food Supply Chain Traceability suppliers, logistics providers, and customers need to collaborate.  Today the typical process is as follows:

A food processor places a purchase order with a supplier using the suppliers product codes and units of measure which may or may not be mapped to the food processors raw material codes.  The supplier creates the order using their code. The product is processed and on the outside of the package/pallet their item code, lot # and expiration date are recorded. The order is filled and hopefully, the shipping documentation contains the manufacturer’s item code, lot # and expiration date.  The product is shipped to the food processor via a 3PL (Third Party Logistics Provider) which generates a general manifest. Upon arrival at the food processor, the item code and quantity are checked against the order. Many food processors do not maintain perpetual inventories and to remain in compliance they record the receipt on a manual log. Customers that are maintaining perpetual inventory on a system will typically assign an internal lot number or numbers to the pallet or sets of pallets associated with THEIR item code.  The supplier lot numbers may be recorded on the manual compliance paperwork but they are not recorded in the system.

Downstream if a quality or contamination problem is detected the food processor will initiate a trace. If they are on a paper-based system this process can take hours. For those maintaining the perpetual inventory things are better but will still require locating all of the receiving paperwork for all of the raw material receipts and then placing calls to those suppliers. There is then time spent mapping the given item and lot codes with a similar backtrace process until the source of the contaminant is identified. Then the same process is reversed forward through the Food Supply Chain. This full process can take days. Due to the time delays recall scopes tend to be broader than necessary and are issued slower than desired.

To improve the state of Food Supply Chain traceability several things need to occur:

• Food Processors, Distributors, and 3PL organizations need to merge their compliance and business systems (ERP) into a single solution. Accurate perpetual inventories with detailed lot information and control point information should all be occurring within the same process. Ramco Food and Beverage ERP and a few other mid Market ERP systems contain the platform to merge the quality and food safety compliance information with the inventory and processing transactions.  Manual recording systems are not scalable and it will be a challenge to meet the reporting timeframes mandated by FSMA.
• Collaboration Maturity needs to improve. A typical food processor should utilize a Collaboration Maturity Assessment such as provided by Adroit to identify those providers where a more collaborative relationship is advised. To truly collaborate both parties should be on a digital platform. Work to initiate an Advanced Ship Notice program. Use the ASN record definition as a means to set those data elements that should be mapped between the organizations. Thus prior to receipt of the shipment, the customer will have the details of the shipment including all the quality and traceability information. This information can be automatically linked and matched to the purchase order, receipt and inventory lot information.  The ASN program can be interfaced via a variety of means including web services, EDI, file transfers, etc.  Blockchain collaboration platforms are being developed to further tighten the integration and data integrity between customers and suppliers. For Blockchain to be effective, members of a given food supply chain need to invest in the platform and develop standards.  Given the current state of maturity within the Food Supply Chain we think this will take some time.
• Develop a formal Recall Management program and set a recurring mock recall program. Focus first on internal procedures and then extend it to upstream and downstream supply chain partners.

Adroit has the expertise to assist with the development of traceability and recall procedures.  We can help you to merge your compliance and business information. If capable information systems are in place we can help to fully utilize them and if necessary we can provide Ramco Food and Beverage ERP to serve as that platform.