Page 88 - Conveniece World Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

SUPPLY CHAIN & LOGISTICS FROM PAGE 85 “Take that pallet of tomatoes: it needs to have a unique ID that identifies that shipping unit for its entire life, and against which data can be recorded. “That ID needs to be unique and understood by everybody in the supply chain, so you need to have a standard to be able to identify it. “You need to identify that the supply chain event is taking place in a specific location, because location is very important in traceability. You also need to understand which parties are participating in the event, and why it’s happening.” We can speak the same language In a grocery supply chain, the parties include growers, importers, transport companies (and the subcontractors they use), processing and manufacturing companies, packers, warehouse operators, wholesalers, distributors and the supermarkets retailing the products. When local delivery to the door takes place, the likes of Uber Eats, Menulog and Deliveroo also become part of the chain. While this may seem simple, the sharing of those records with other supply chain partners is causing difficulties, particularly as the standards being used by supply chain partners are frequently incompatible. “With so much information being captured, if the consideration of standards is a secondary thought, these systems will inevitably create islands of information,” Mr Sieira said. “When that happens, the users of these traceability systems will have difficulty sharing data with other parties in the supply chain. “There are certain points in the supply chain where all of these industries come together. If you look at it from the perspective of transport and logistics, whether you’re talking about a carcass of beef, a punnet of strawberries, or a pallet of Nestlé Milo, all these different types of commodities eventually become freight.” While freight is where everything comes together, when products reach a store, terms such as ‘pallet’ and ‘container’ disappear, and the individual units re-emerge to become stock on shelves. Therefore, retailers must not only track products through their supply chain as aggregated freight units, but also track the individual events. Products may be combined, separated, redirected, or perhaps used to make other products. This means for every event, there needs to be a meaningful record enabling the ability to trace back. For example, what sets out as a carcass of beef will go through various supply chain events before arriving as different products in multiple supermarkets. By then, it may be packaged as steak, sausages or chops, perhaps also appearing in any number of different products, such as the flavouring in packets of chips and tins of gravy powder. While the retailer needs traceability all the way back to the source, their supply chain partners will also benefit from shared data. For this, the data standard being used needs to be consistent throughout the supply chain. “Looking at it from a retailer’s perspective, they need to be tracking and tracing all those different types of commodities,” Mr Sieira said. “If the different systems and solutions are going to offer the capacity to integrate and share that data, they need to consider data standards. “GS1 standards are the foundation for this interoperability because they’re technology and supplier neutral, offering a common platform where trading partners across the globe can work collaboratively to deliver safe, legal products.” While we’re unable to help jigsaw fans, those wanting to learn more about effective traceability can visit the NGTAG webpage gs1au.org/ngtag. 86 CONVENIENCE WORLD NOV/DEC, 2020