Tag Archives: Supply Chain

Melody Ge, Kestrel Management
FST Soapbox

Five Tips to Add Food Fraud Prevention To Your Food Defense Program

By Melody Ge
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Melody Ge, Kestrel Management

Food defense is the protection of food products from intentional contamination or adulteration, as well as biological, chemical, physical or radiological agents. It addresses additional concerns including physical, personnel and operational security. A traditional food defense program is generally perceived as a program that includes site security, visitors control or even on-site personnel monitoring. However, with the new FSMA Preventive Controls Rules and GFSI Guidance for all the recognized schemes, additional to consumer demand on product transparency, we must now take food fraud into consideration within our food defense program.

What is food fraud? According to the study from Michigan State University, food fraud is a collective term used to encompass the deliberate and intentional substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain. It becomes not just a potential for food safety issues, but also a severe issue that could potentially damage your brand reputation. It is hence critical to have appropriate protection and prevention, as the umbrella encompasses both food defense and food safety.

What does this mean to food manufacturers? The awareness of traceability and transparency certainly should rise. Most facilities should have a food defense program in place to comply with any GMP or GFSI requirements. To make it more competent for food fraud, what could we do? Here are some quick tips to strengthen your food defense program with food fraud prevention:

  • Tip 1: Review your entire supply chain one more time, considering fraud risks
  • Tip 2: Use the HACCP concept for food fraud risk analysis
  • Tip 3: Double-check incoming goods
  • Tip 4: Make the entire supply chain transparent
  • Tip 5: Document all records

Tip 1: Review your entire supply chain one more time, considering fraud risks

The unknown could potentially hurt you or your program. You would prefer to be aware of what might go wrong before it goes wrong, which is why a review should be one of the key steps in your food safety program. It might be a familiar terminology in the industry; however, we could not eliminate its importance to your entire food safety management system. To maintain product authenticity, understanding where your ingredients come from and who your business partners and suppliers are become the first step to success. It also gives you an excellent opportunity to analyze the risks and potential risk sources. A thorough review should include all the approved suppliers and vendor information. Knowing the source of your product provides you with a good foundation for your food defense program. How can we efficiently review our own supply chain?

  • List all approved suppliers and contract vendors
  • Make sure all ingredients are used accordingly and as intended
  • Keep the supplier registration list up to date

The more you understand your own supply chain, the more helpful it will be to your food defense program.

Tip 2: Use HACCP concept for food fraud risk analysis within supply chain

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), as defined by FDA, is a management system in which food safety is ensured by addressing through the analysis and control of biological, chemical and physical hazards throughout the entire supply chain. This mentality of HACCP could be used and very helpful to analyze the potential fraud risks. Its seven principles and 12 steps could be implemented to identify your own fraud risks. And it is important for us to identify the hazards from potentially adulterated ingredients to determine the next step for what needs to be controlled. Utilizing the 12 steps, we can list all the key points and steps that could potentially impact your products’ authenticity. The risks can come from personnel, visitors or the ingredients themselves. There are many resources out there; for example, US Pharmacopeia (USP) has developed a global food fraud database that is a good resource for all ingredients that have been falsely used in food products.

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Tip 3: Double-check incoming goods

Many articles address the importance of vulnerability assessments to prevent food fraud plus any documentation your suppliers have provided. Yes, it is critical; however, as one of the important steps in the HACCP program, verification is also important to make sure what goes into your finished products is safe and guaranteed. This could be addressed and monitored by implementing genetic testing. Each product and ingredient has its own DNA, just like our fingerprints. Nowadays, there are many methodologies developed for this type of test. The DNA testing could be a helpful tool to help your facility verify the authenticity of your incoming raw materials. Genetic testing using techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to detect the DNA of the product upon receiving the incoming goods. Moreover, as fast as it can be, facilities can now receive the test results within one to two hours. The testing itself might seem like an extra step with more effort and labor. However, the return is a huge saving on damages caused by food fraud. You can now start to verify and control your supply chain from the beginning to avoid any potential adulteration.

Tip 4: Make the entire supply chain transparent

This transparency not only applies to internal employees but also outward to your customers and vendors. That way you can familiarize yourself with your own supply chain, while at the same time establish brand reputation and confidence to your customers.

Tip 5: Keep all records documented

The records you should keep, besides a registration list of all your ingredients and vendors, should include the inventory list, how ingredients are used, whether it is used outside of its intended use and authorized personnel signatures. The following are some tips for an efficient document control:

  • Make it clear and straightforward
  • Categorize it based on your own facility operations
  • Keep the records in the same order of your supply chain from ingredients to end consumers

After all, with the newly released requirements, as QA professionals, we need to start developing a mindset that considers food fraud as a type of hazard, and develop monitor and control strategies for mitigating it. Just like we are now so familiar with the physical, chemical and biological hazards within our production facilities compared to decades ago, food fraud will no longer be a scary term once it is proficiently understood and properly controlled.

Judy Black, Rentokil
Bug Bytes

How the Internet of Things Helps Pest Management in Food Processing

By Judy Black
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Judy Black, Rentokil

As the applications of connected devices continues to drive innovation and create exciting possibilities throughout the food processing industry, the impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) on pest management in the food supply chain is already easy to recognize. An ecosystem of connected devices streamlines several processes that are integral to an effective integrated pest management plan, providing convenience and saving time for both food manufacturers and their pest management partners. From creating a smart network of devices that detect changes and track movement in the pest population to seamless reporting procedures that cut down on paperwork, we’re already seeing the benefits of a more connected world on a very important aspect of food safety. At the ground level—often quite literally—we have networked traps for pests ranging from stored product insects to rodents. Each trap tracks the pests it captures and reports its readings to a central hub in real time, providing an instant snapshot of changes in the pest population and triggering notifications when that population exceeds pre-set parameters—well before the pests create an issue. Beyond knowing when a pest population increases in a facility, this network of connected monitoring devices can pinpoint where those pests are congregating, allowing the facility’s pest management partner to identify and eliminate the source of the issue quickly.

Beyond those devices on the front lines, the IoT also has a major impact on the behind-the-scenes management of pest management processes. With the increase in reporting requirements brought on by the adoption of FSMA earlier in the decade came a lot of new paperwork for food manufacturers. On the pest management front, the paper trail required to track the steps taken to reduce the risk of pest infestation represents a significant commitment of time and effort on the part of facility managers. Working with a pest management partner that understands the opportunities connected devices provide means less paperwork; a centralized online hub allows facility managers to review their partner’s recommendations, indicate the steps they’ve taken to address issues and close the loop without having to touch a file cabinet.

The availability of this pest-tracking data allows forward-thinking pest management companies to be more efficient and better informed. By compiling and analyzing this data, they can identify regional trends in pest populations, allowing them to be better prepared to recognize and resolve pest issues early and to stay ahead of cyclical fluctuations in the pest population.

We often talk about technology in terms of the impact it will have in the future, but in the pest management business, we’re already seeing the benefits of a connected ecosystem of devices. While the technology will continue to evolve and improve, it’s important for food manufacturers to recognize the benefits of working with a pest management partner that embraces the IoT. By streamlining and centralizing the processes of monitoring and reporting on pest management practices, this technology saves time and reduces the risks pests pose throughout the food supply chain.

Big data

Embracing Big Data as an Asset to Your Company

By Maria Fontanazza
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Big data

Big data has become a fairly common term used across industries. It refers to large, complex volumes of data that are generated from multiple sources. The challenge may not be so much in gathering the data but more so in what to do with the information. Although it can be a bear to manage, if able to harness data correctly, food companies could have a leg up on their competition.

“The food industry is behind. As an example, the aerospace industry has the ability to monitor engines on a transatlantic flight to ensure they are operating at the optimal conditions. This data is being used by engineers within different organizations to make improvements,” says Kathy Wybourn, director of food & beverage, USA & Canada at DNV-GL. “Just having the ability to collect information in real time will shift the industry from reactive to proactive. This will require the industry to fit the pieces together to collect information. As an example, you could reject a product at the supplier site, even before it leaves the supplier—you would have all that information at the tips of your fingers.” In a Q&A with Food Safety Tech, Wybourn discusses how the food industry can benefit from the proper use of big data.

Food Safety Tech: What does the term “big data” mean to the food industry?

Kathy Wybourn, DNV-GL
Kathy Wybourn, director of food & beverage, USA & Canada at DNV-GL

Kathy Wybourn: Large volumes of data that is collected from both internal and external sources, used to make smarter business decisions. The supply chain in the food industry is very complex—receiving supplies from all over the globe. [Big data can identify] trends in different regions of the world and assist food companies make better risk decisions about their supply chain. Big data will ultimately improve the safety and quality of products for consumers. Improved supply chain management [and] traceability of products will also lower the risk of food fraud.

We’ve moved from an analog to digital age. The internet has provided the connectivity to link data from raw materials to end users. Using social media data, GPS, photos, videos and data sensors can provide real-time data about raw materials through manufacturing, distribution and retail, which will allow an organization to have better insights into information and decision making along the entire supply chain.

DNV GL recently conducted a survey called “ViewPoint” about the application of Big data. The survey found that 50% of the respondents already have been doing something with Big Data in different ways. Interesting enough, Big Data has different meanings and importance to the respondents, but what is common, is the fact that data will be used differently in the future than what is currently in their tool box. Big Data will allow better insight and enable companies to make fact-based decisions and better manage both performance and risks. The respondents may have different definitions for Big Data, but they all agree that data will be used differently than today for making both internal and external business decisions.

“A higher number of food and beverage companies indicate that big data will have a high or fairly high impact on their business in the next 2¬–3 years. The companies in this industry indicate fewer barriers, even today, in taking advantage of big data concepts. Already, 21% say that their management team is preparing for the new reality and seemingly more food and beverage companies plan to invest in big data.” – DNV-GL Viewpoint Report

FST: How can the industry use big data to make food safer and more sustainable?

Wybourn: Big data will allow the food industry to become even more transparent, which will help improve food safety. Big data will improve supply chain management and allow organizations to make more informed decisions regarding processes, both internally and externally. Food manufacturers can improve efficiency and quality of their own manufacturing processes: Increasing output and solving operational problems faster, which will both have a positive effect on an organization’s bottom line.

Non-conformity data is powerful and can be collected through advanced analytics throughout the supply chain. This data can be further sorted by regions of the world, which will improve knowledge and insight about suppliers. Big data brings further insight beyond what is gained from one audit, which will allow organizations to be confident about making better risk decisions.

Additionally, big data can be used to assess your organization’s performance by benchmarking against other companies’ performance in the areas of nonconformities to food safety standards in their own or different regions.

FST: Can you give some examples of where food companies are or should be leveraging big data to help them in the compliance phase of FSMA?

Wybourn: Both large as well as small companies are struggling with FSMA preventive controls. FSMA mandates that a manufacturing facility have a risk-based supply chain program for raw materials and ingredients for hazards that require a supply chain applied control. Manufacturing sites may rely on a supplier or customer to control a hazard. An organization’s ability to manage big data to improve the organization’s tools to capture, store and analyze this data can greatly improve the monitoring of hazards and lower risk to the supply chain.

FST: Do you have examples of how some companies are leveraging technology to make the best use of their data?

Wybourn: DNV GL has new digital platforms, which can be used to benchmark your own organization to the performance of others.

eAdvantage is a customer portal that provides customers with a complete overview of their former and future audit activities. Through the portal they can see upcoming activities, work with findings and close non-conformities, communicate with an auditor, share audit information, access certificates and monitor their overall progress.

Lumina is a set of tools that provides better insight into a company’s management system. It analyses information hidden in the company’s audit data and allows to benchmark that company against thousands of others worldwide based on more than 1.6 million audit findings. It allows an organization to obtain an overview of their own sites performance, spot warning signs at an early stage and see how they compare to similar companies in the industry, giving confidence to make the right decisions.

Veracity is an open industry data platform, ideal for integrating data in a secure way. The Veracity eco-system handles asset data, manages data quality and applies advanced analytics, connecting industry players for frictionless data aggregation, sharing and benchmarking. In the aquaculture industry, this will lay the foundation for predictive analyses, decision support, indication warning, and simulation capabilities unlocking substantial growth potential in the global aquaculture industry. All the while, we make sure fish farmers and other data providers retain ownership and control of their data.

I believe we are only at the tip of an iceberg of where big data can take the food & beverage Industry.

FST: Is it possible to get too much data? Are food companies going to be bombarded with too much info that they don’t know how to use?

Wybourn: The answer is simple, yes. We live in a world of data abundance and information overload each day. Data sets are growing rapidly, and the ability to store and analyze data is daunting. The tools we have today will become obsolete tomorrow. One only can sort through data with the tools he/she has today to understand even the simplest of processes.

Clive Longbottom, Quocirca

The Internet of Things: What the Future Holds

By Clive Longbottom
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Clive Longbottom, Quocirca

While the Internet of Things (IoT) is already having a major impact on safety in the food supply chain we’re only just scratching the surface of what connected devices can do to make the industry safer and more efficient. What strikes us as unique and innovative today will likely become standard across the food industry in the years to come as we find new and better ways to apply the technology in all aspects of the business.

One area we can expect to see the impact of the IoT grow is in a broader adoption of automation across the food supply chain. In the context of farming, we’re likely to see autonomous tractors supplant manually driven tractors as the primary equipment used to prepare land. Automated aerial drones will be able to assess the health of crops and deliver highly targeted applications of fertilizers, insecticides and weed killers to cut down on damage caused to crops by excessive use of those products. Transportation, too, is likely to see the impact of automation as driverless trucks take on the majority of shipments of goods.

Another key benefit the IoT will bring to the food industry is improved access to valuable data and in-depth analysis. This will allow more accurate tracking of shipments, better monitoring of quality throughout the supply chain and more useful prediction of potential problems. It’s here that we’re likely to see the biggest impact on pest management, as a broad network of connected sensors will be better able to identify and track pest populations, monitoring their movement and growth in a way that allows pest management professionals to target treatments more effectively. A recent survey of food professionals conducted by Quocirca and commissioned by Rentokil Initial shows that 20% of respondents think IoT will help them deal with cyclical problems such as pest swarms and seasonal flooding, while 19% believe it will provide the most benefit by alerting them to immediate issues such as unexpected pest infestations.

One thing we know for sure is that the technology will become more widely adopted throughout the industry as innovation drives costs down. Initially it will be difficult for smaller organizations with lower margins to invest in cutting edge technology, but as iteration and innovation push the boundaries of what IoT can do, they will also make more basic applications more affordable, as we’ve seen with technology across many industries in recent years.

While it’s easy to speculate and imagine a sci-fi-inspired future of driverless trucks, automated farm machines and limitless access to deep analytics, accurately predicting the exact applications of the IoT as it develops proves more difficult. What we do know is that we can expect the adoption of these technologies to grow at an increasing rate as more innovative and cost effective applications of the IoT are developed.

Food Safety Supply Chain panel 2017

Industry Experts Weigh in on Supply Chain Issues

By Maria Fontanazza
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Food Safety Supply Chain panel 2017

The Food Safety Supply Chain conference brought together industry stakeholders from FDA, CFSAN, GFSI’s certification programs, academia and food companies to discuss strategies and challenges of the supply chain in a more complex global environment. The two-day event was held earlier this month at U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention in Rockville, Maryland. Here’s what some of the speakers had to say.

(Click images to enlarge)

Sharon Mayl, FDA You can’t build safety at the border; you have to build in safety before you get to the border… The Foreign Supplier Verification rule requires importers for first time to share responsibility of products that are coming into country. We have written this rule with a lot of flexibility. – Sharon Mayl, senior advisor for policy to the deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, FDA, on the FSMA FSVP rule
Jennifer Thomas, CFSAN Transportation of food is a piece that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it’s a very important part in ensuring the safety of food…[FDA is] in the process of developing a small entities compliance guide. We’re also revising the guidance we did in 2010 to ensure that it’s consistent with the rule. – Jennifer Thomas, director, division of enforcement, office of compliance, CFSAN, on the FSMA Sanitary Transportation of Human Food rule

Food fraud can lead to a public health threat—and should be managed under a food safety management system. – John Spink, Ph.D., director and assistant professor, Michigan State University, on supply chain transparency and food fraud

Russell Statman, Registrar Corp. When you’re looking at the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, you also have to approve your suppliers. There are several aspects to this—you have to check their record with FDA, whether they have any warning letters or on import alert. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy from them, it just means you have to investigate what the problem is. – Russell Statman, executive director, Registrar Corp., on the FSVP rule
FDA doesn’t have jurisdiction over aquaculture farms. So we’re working with countries that do. Any country that has a significant industry has good aquaculture practice programs (GAqP)— every country now has one—so we’re working with them now to make them better. ­– Brett Koonse, consumer safety officer, FDA, on aquaculture and food safety Brett Koonse, FDA

[The Sanitary Transportation of Human Food rule is important because of] the role that transportation has played in the past regarding foodborne outbreaks. We have to be proactive. We can’t learn from our mistakes anymore. – Debby Newslow, president, DL Newslow & Associates

Food Safety Supply Chain panel 2017
(left to right) John Wadie of 3M Food Safety, Melanie Neumann, Terry Levee and Jorge Hernandez

Food safety should not be about just meeting the regulations. Suppliers must still meet the standards of your business.  – Jorge Hernandez, chief food safety officer, Wholesome International

Collaboration and partnership are the only way your going to gain the transparency you need in the supply chain and build your brand for the protection it needs. – Melanie Neumann, president and global food safety attorney, Neumann Risk Services, LLC

One of reasons retailers take [visibility] seriously is that we’re the last line of defense. If you buy something at the grocery store and you get sick, you don’t remember the manufacturer of the product, you remember where you [bought] the product. – Terry Levee, senior director of food safety, Giant Eagle

3M Food Safety

Industry Experts Discuss FSMA Supply Chain Challenges

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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3M Food Safety

Last week a panel of industry authorities gathered to share their perspectives on the importance of transparency in the supply chain and the challenges that food companies experience in managing different aspects, from their suppliers to once product reaches retailers.

“Understand that food safety today has changed significantly and will continue to change. It’s a dynamic field and regulations have only accelerated,” said Jorge Hernandez, chief food safety officer at The Wholesome Company. “You need to be more proactive internally and externally.”

Moderated by John Wadie, U.S. marketing operations manager for 3M Food Safety, the other panelists were Melanie Neumann, president of Neuman Risk Services, LLC and Terry Levee, Senior Director, Giant Eagle.

The panel is being rebroadcast as a free webinar, “Challenges Seen in Implementing and Executing Supply Chain Management”, on Tuesday, June 20 at 1 pm CT. It is part two of the 3M Food Safety FSMA Webinar Series: From Rules to Tools. Register here

Amy Kircher, Food Protection and Defense Institute

Supply Chain Awareness Critical to Food Safety

By Maria Fontanazza
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Amy Kircher, Food Protection and Defense Institute

The supply chain of a single product often involves multiple levels. For a company to adequately evaluate its risk and vulnerability, it must have a grasp on the full extent of its supply chain, according to Amy Kircher, Dr. PH, director, Food Protection and Defense Institute. “When we think about the supply chain there are two points to consider: One is just being aware of the depth and breadth of a supply chain to create a food product. It’s much larger than who you buy from and who you sell to,” says Kircher. “Second is moving from a reactive mentality to a proactive mentality. How do we get ahead and close vulnerabilities before they are exposed or monitor threats to the food system such that we can put mitigations in place.” During a discussion with Food Safety Tech, Kircher shares her perspective on how companies can understand and protect their supply chain.

Amy Kircher, Food Protection and Defense Institute
Amy Kircher, Dr. PH, director, Food Protection and Defense Institute

Food Safety Tech: What are the biggest supply chain threats facing food companies?

Amy Kircher: I think one of the biggest challenges is just understanding the entire food supply chain and all the buying, selling and manufacturing that happens along that line. When food comes from a point of origin—whether it’s a farm or a manufactured nutrient—what are all the steps and movements of that product that then results in the final product that the end consumer buys? Typically companies know at least one [step] back and one [step] forward, but they don’t always know the entire breadth of the particular ingredient that they’re buying. Or, if they’re in the middle of the supply chain, [they may not know] where all of their products may be going if it’s sold multiple times (i.e., a spice as an ingredient). There are exceptions—some companies are vertically integrated and know their entire supply chain. But on average, that is a real challenge: Understanding the complexity of the supply chain, where are you in that process, whom you are buying from, and where the food is going afterwards.

FST: How can companies gain a better understanding of their supply chain?

Kircher: Ask questions of whom you’re buying product from—from where are they sourcing the ingredient or commodity? For example, if you’re making a five-component food product, ask your supplier, where does it get its stock from? From where are you sourcing? Have an open dialogue with your vendors and make sure you have the process in place so if you had to quickly identify where an [ingredient] was from, you could.

Secondly, understand the ingredients that you need to procure and be able to monitor where there might be threats for that particular product or commodity. If you need to buy peppers as an ingredient for a spice blend or a can of soup, [you should] be able to monitor what’s happening in that particular commodity: Has there been an intentional adulteration recently? Any recalls? Have there been weather issues in the part of the world where your particular pepper is sourced? If we know there is a natural disaster in a region, how quickly are you notified? Do you have alternate sources as a backup?

A great example is the Ebola [outbreak]: When Ebola happened, there were changes that were happening with cocoa almost daily, because most of the cocoa is sourced out of West Africa, exactly where Ebola was happening. There were price shifts and some transfer concerns where cargo ships weren’t coming into port in some of those countries. It’s important to have an understanding of the ingredients or commodities that you source and be well aware of what’s happening in that landscape.

FST: What steps should companies take to protect their supply chain?

Kircher: You should be doing vulnerability and risk assessments of your supply chain. Know where there are risks of that particular supply: Those risks could be a multitude of things, be it a natural risk or something related to a change in trade policy. Know where you have vulnerabilities within your system: Where could a particular product be exposed to a vulnerability, either natural or intentional? [From there], start assessing what can be done about it. If there’s a specific ingredient that you need to have to make a particular product, where does it come from and do you have alternative sources? What kind of testing mechanisms do you have in place? Some vendors only have one manufacturing site or one receiving site for a product they’re manufacturing. How secure is that processing plant? Is it in a hurricane zone? Have you had criminal activity there? Understanding where there are vulnerabilities in your supply chain allows you to prioritize which ones you should spend money on mitigating.

FST: What technologies do you find to be the most effective in assessing risks and providing visibility throughout the supply chain?

Kircher: I think there are several products that will help. At the Food Defense and Protection Institute, we have a couple. The first is a supply chain documentation and analysis tool (CRISTAL) that allows you to document your supply chain throughout the whole system. Then it applies weights and algorithms to allow you to see what is most critical in your supply chain, and from there you can look at risks from hazards. For a lot of companies, the first step is to map the entire supply chain. Having technology that allows them to do that efficiently versus drawing or creating an Excel spreadsheet allows them to visualize where they might have gaps/challenges, followed by risk and vulnerability assessment.

Second is horizon scanning, or looking at early indications of warnings of events. Our tool is called FIDES (Focused Integration of Date for Early Signals). It looks at predicative analytics—are there conditions or drivers that are occurring that might result in an emerging event or event that might create a problem? We can always scan and monitor where we might have challenges.

We want to move people from a reactive food protection and defense to a preventive posture where you are starting to be ahead of it [threats] and understand where you might have a risk or vulnerability that gets exposed such that you can mitigate it prior to a consumer purchasing [the product].

Supply Chain QA Management Goals

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Need more help with setting strategic goals and tactics for success in supply chain quality assurance management? This month an upcoming webinar will help attendees do just that, along with delve into the perspectives of two project managers of Fortune 500 companies and how they used a supplier quality management software platform to manage quality assurance.

The complimentary webinar “Achieving Significant Goals in Supply Chain QA Management” (Register) will be held June 22, 2017 at 11 am ET. Speakers include Sandy DeGroot, formerly of Campbell’s Soup organic division, John McGlinn, vice president of sales at EMNS, Inc., and Justin Ramos, partner at Brand Solutions Group.

John Sammon, ParTech
FST Soapbox

Keeping Food Safe using IoT in the Digital Supply Chain

By John Sammon III
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John Sammon, ParTech

Technology advancement continues to mature at a fairly predictable rate in terms of processing speed, size, battery life and perhaps most importantly, costs. Whereas 100 years ago the telephone, followed by the radio, were just being invented, today we are steadily marching toward a 100 gigabyte / second transfer rate. These conditions are what originally launched the Information Age and it now clears a path for 50 billion connected devices in the next three to five years.

To me, “Internet of Things” (IoT) is one of those catch-all phrases that encompasses so many different technologies, value propositions and solution sets. This means that when we discuss IoT, we can be talking about a device in your home or a device used to monitor the stability of a section of the Alaskan pipeline between Coldfoot and Deadhorse. Therefore, we should condense the topic at hand down to cold chain logistics and IoT.

The cold chain is an uninterrupted supply chain we control so temperature is maintained to ensure both quality and safety of food. This includes all segments of food production, transport, warehousing, distribution, handling, preparation and storage.

Environmental conditions are essential in both quality and safety for proper food logistics, and therefore this industry was among the first to proliferate IoT. It began 15 years ago in the “over the road” and “rail” transport space when companies began to use satellite and cellular technologies to track and monitor the status, well-being and health of temperature-controlled cargos. The real-time nature of these solutions and the cloud-based historical records were the foundation of IoT as we understand it today.

Whereas these earlier solutions focused on the segments of supply chain where risks are most high, today IoT technology is implemented from source to destination. Smart devices are showing up all over the supply chain. These independent devices can work independently or collectively to capture and even halt food contamination before it happens. Temperature is essential, but more and more food safety IoT will detect gases, along with other environmental conditions that can predict and accurately report the evidence of pathogens.

But what is driving the IoT adoption? How do these disparate technologies come together in a cohesive way to build solutions that are proficient and economical? And perhaps most importantly, what is next?

Why

Consumer demand for fresher, safer and responsibly sourced foods are driving much of the IoT adoption. More retailers are focusing on customer loyalty and trust as key metrics for success. So whether it is blueberries 12 months out of the year, or whole meal replacements such as a vegetarian lasagna, people want more than low cost; they= want transparency and quality. This demand drives behavior throughout the supply chain.

How

The technology required to make this happen is ubiquitous and indeed, fascinating. Starting with the sensor technology first, we are seeing more “things” that can detect. In addition, the intelligence embedded in the devices provides accurate performance while preserving battery life, by reporting on exceptions.

The delivery of information has improved with multi- modes using cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, and various other scan/read technologies. Wireless is everywhere.

We are also seeing the explosion of APIs in all IoT solution sets. API stands for “Application Programing Interface”. Web APIs are a framework that allows for future functionality within applications. APIs allow the building of HTTP services that are compatible with a broad range of clients (sensors, mobile devices and browsers). This framework sets a standard for how different components of software should interact with one another.

The development and advancement of cloud technology acts as the backbone of all IoT. These central repositories of data (which becomes information) virtually never go down, are endlessly scalable and elastic without which there would be no internet.

Lastly, we have mobility. Mobility can be wearable or a handheld. The app plays a critical role in the proliferation of IoT. Smart devices are essential to solutions when stakeholders are everywhere throughout the supply chain. The application to see real-time information and track progress lives in Google Play and iTunes stores. Mobility coupled with wireless allows for real-time alerting and alarming directly to responsible stakeholders.

What’s Next

I believe that we will begin to see more “Solutions of Solutions”: Systems created out of many different technologies that when brought together generate widespread value.

As an example, global sourcing coupled with sophisticated, informed consumers has yielded technologies such as IBM’s Blockchain, which is designed for a single version of truth about a product from source to origin. Similar to Bitcoin, this technology allows for a decentralized exchange of valuable information whereby all participants benefit in the sharing of data.

The largest U.S.-based retailers are investing millions of dollars in these traceability technologies, not just to protect their brands, but because consumers expect transparency, demand quality and seek sustainability. The laws of economics (supply and demand) dictate that those that source these foods, such as meats, fishes, fruits and vegetables, must then also invest in technologies that share data.

However, because the Blockchain concept is designed such that no one single entity controls enterprise-wide information, the entire supply chain becomes transparent, which yields trust that everyone owns access and visibility. Each source of data in the chain is interdependent upon other sources, therefore all are compelled to behave rationally and responsibly. At its foundation, Blockchain is a database of information from (n) sources whereby a decentralized structure yields shared values for all stakeholders.