ENGINEERING IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGIES TRACK TRACEABILITY TO NEW REALITES The motivation for manufacturers to implement a tracking system to trace their products all the way through the supply route is high. It would, for example, enable them to make direct contact with the various parties across the distribution chain, including the end user. Feedback from customers in particular, is most valuable as it allows manufacturers to more accurately know their tastes, customise their product, be able to predict trends, etc. Also, in the case of product recalls, having access to the final consumer greatly streamlines the logistics of returns, reducing costs and limiting damage to reputation and brand image. This now seems particularly relevant with the Food Act 2014 becoming law in New Zealand on March 1 this year. While food producers have three years to comply, the Minister of Primary Industries (MPI) can now order a recall whenever the safety or fitness of a product is in doubt. In the past, the onus was on the regulator to establish that a product was unsafe, which was sometimes difficult to do. The nett result seems certain to be greater safety for consumers, but also more product recalls. 18 September 2016 Counterfeiting is a major problem globally, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry. While still not a significant issue for the food industry, some producers of premium products (for example wines) are already starting to report cases of illegal copying. Steps are being taken to overcome this, such as individual serialisation of every product. Bank notes have borne serial numbers for many years, precisely to overcome forgery. Internationally recognised standards are currently being developed for serialisation, but these are based around the manufacturer being able to trace their individual products. Finally, customers are increasingly demanding to know more about the origins of what they purchase, as well as details of the processing involved. This is to ensure the safety and the authenticity of what they’re consuming. While still in its infancy, the first trials of apps that allow customers to access production related information at the point of sale, have already taken place. However, this sort of information can really only be made available if the manufacturer has an effective traceability system, which tracks the product from creation to the final user. Technology totally key The key aspect of traceability is of course technology. There are several advancements that have been made recently in support of traceability. With the days of hand written documents well and truly behind us, manufacturers have been using electronic systems for some time now. However, the data has been propriety and closed off to outsiders. But as the world becomes more inter-connected, and we move to the age of Industrie 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), this data will become more accessible. However, the amount of manufacturing data for even just a single product is huge. It would also need to be kept for some time, particularly for products with a long shelf live. This presents a new challenge – the use of databases to hold production data. This is one area where programmable controllers have improved over the years, which database connectivity (eg: MS-SQL) now a standard feature on some models, like Omron’s NJ series. Another key component of database interface is the ability of the CPU to connect to the internet. This is because nearly all database servers reside in cloud‑based data centres. Furthermore, data centres don’t just store raw data, they can also analyse the data as part of the services they offer. Finally, the ability to load ready-made function blocks (FBs) into programs massively extends the power of what a modern controller is capable of. FBs can be pre-configured for a required functional, such as traceability, and be tested by the original developer. This speeds up commissioning time considerably and provides great flexibility, as FBs can be produced and modified very quickly. An eye on the job Product traceability needs to be embedded within the whole manufacturing process. For reasons such as space and sheer cost, it’s simply not practical to install additional systems dedicated to traceability, to run along-side existing manufacturing lines. Visual inspection systems have been part and parcel of manufacturing for some decades. They inspect items much like human eyes, and can be programmed to detect defects such as incorrect size, wrong shape, inappropriate colour and many other attributes. They improve quality significantly by eliminating the workpieces that fail to comply. The technology of visual inspection systems has advanced to the stage where the reading of bar codes (both 1D and 2D) is now standard on systems like Omron’s FH series. Furthermore, optical character recognition (OCR) allows printed text to not only just be read (eg, to confirm say a used‑by date has been printed), it can also interpret the characters to ensure the textual information is correct. However, one of the hindrances of traceability systems has been a lack of globally‑recognised standardisation. However, we have seen the recent emergence and utilisation of standards such as GS1‑128 databar and Pharmacode, which was specifically for the pharmaceutical industry. Pharmacodes can be coloured to match the packaging and are scanned in uni‑directionally. They hold a single number which is encrypted so would‑be scammers cannot decipher the number directly from the code. Traceability is where a manufacturer is able to track their goods through the entire production process, right through the supply chain (including retail outlet) and all the way to the end consumer. To date, while such a scheme has been highly desirable, it’s merely a pipe dream for most. However, after many years of development, technologies are starting to emerge that could ultimately make this an exciting reality. Here’s how.
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