to guarantee the transparency of the food supply chain (Mirabelli et al., 2012). The aim of the proposed work is to define a methodological approach f

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1 Traceability of the cereal supply chain: design and development of an information system for a storage center Abstract Purpose Teresa Pizzuti, Giovanni Mirabelli Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering (DIMEG, University of Calabria, Ponte Pietro Bucci, cube 44c, third floor, Rende - Italy (teresa.pizzuti@unical.it, giovanni.mirabelli@unical.it) The aim of the proposed research work is the definition of a traceability information system for the cereal sector, particularly focused on the maintenance of traceability at a storage center. The implementation of an appropriate traceability system, able to guarantee the continuous monitoring of the flow of products and information and to facilitate the process of products certification, is strategically essential to achieve continuous quality improvement. The storage facilities play a strategic role in the cereal sector because of the numerous operations of aggregation, handling, segregation, and distribution of products. Design/methodology/approach The development of the traceability system has initially required the definition of the traceable units, or batches, and consequently the identification of the most important information to be recorded and transmitted along the entire supply chain. Then, a relational database has been developed with the main objective of providing information on product quality and safety for consumers, and their origin. Requirements for use in the storage center have been defined: a system-wide approach has been adopted and the Unified Modelling Language (UML) technique has been used to describe both the structure and the dynamics of the traceability system. In particular, the design has taken advantage of these tools: (i) use case diagram; (ii) class diagram; (iii) sequence diagram; (iv) activity diagram. Through the adoption of UML the information system is described in its entirety. Originality/value The result of the proposed research work mainly consists of a model for the traceability management in the cereal sector. In the cereals supply chain, the processes of aggregation and separation of wheat can occur at different stages with a consequently increase in the contamination risk in case of a contaminated batch. To this end, to manage the contamination issue, information on food transactions must be maintained at every step in order to facilitate the identification of a food outbreak disease in a short time period and avoid the recall of all the batches supplied by a company. The proposed traceability information system has been defined taking advantage of the Business Process Modelling (BPM), the methodological approach oriented to business processes and continuous improvement. The design phase has been conducted identifying fundamental processes, highlighting roles for each actor, modelling the workflow and the information flow in order to facilitate the information retrieval. Keywords: Traceability, cereals supply chain, BPM, UML, Information System 1. Introduction Nowadays traceability is one of the main issues attracting the attention of private companies and public authorities because of its relevance in the maintenance of food quality and safety. The term traceability mainly refers to the ability of maintaining information tracking and tracing. Tracking is the informative process by which a product is followed along the supply chain keeping records at each stage, from the production to the transformation and distribution process. Tracing is the reverse process of tracking. Tracing is defined as the ability of reconstructing the history of a product, identifying its origin through the complexity of resources involved in its lifecycle. While the tracking process operates in order to record the important information at each step of the supply chain, the tracing process represent the ability of identify the origin of a product through the analysis and elaboration of the information previously recorded by each actor involved in the chain. Several traceability systems have been developed as a consequence of the regulatory standards and of the need 230

2 to guarantee the transparency of the food supply chain (Mirabelli et al., 2012). The aim of the proposed work is to define a methodological approach for supporting the identification of the main features which deal with the development of an efficient traceability system for the cereals supply chain. On the base of the research work proposed by (Thakur and Hurburgh, 2009), a traceability information system is defined with the main goals of managing incoming and outgoing traceability units and, at the same time, their movements along the Supply Chain. Thakur et al highlighted how the processes of aggregation and segregation of wheat that occur at different stages of the supply chain increases the risk of contamination in case of a single contaminated batch. Nevertheless, if the internal documentation related to the various transactions that involve the different lots is not maintained, in case of emergency or food diseases is almost impossible to isolate the source of the problem and all the products manufactured by the company must be recalled. In our work the design phase for the definition of the traceability system is carried out taking advantage of the Business Process Modelling (BPM), the methodological approach oriented to business processes and continuous improvement. The analysis has been conducted determining the fundamental processes of the cereal sector, highlighting the roles of each actor involved in the supply chain and describing the workflow in its entirety, using the tools provided by the UML notation for the modelling and management of the information flow. The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 introduces the main concepts related to the cereals supply chain, focusing on the description of actors and processes involved in the chain and the main problems related with the maintenance of traceability in a cereals supply chain; Section 3 describes the most important methodologies for the design of traceability solutions; Section 4 is focused on the description of the traceability system for a cereals storage center; finally, in Section 5, some conclusions are provided. 2.The Cereals Supply Chain The cereals supply chain holds worldwide a position of strategic level and significance because of its ability to meet basic needs related to human food and livestock production. The term cereal sector refers to the set of companies that produce, distribute and market semifinished and finished products obtained from raw materials belonging to the group of cereals. Figure 1 shows the products flow along the cereals supply chain and highlight the main actor involved in the traceability process. The core actors of the cereals supply chain are the agricultural companies or farms which produce the raw materials required by the other actor in the supply chain for the production of grains and food product of cereals origin such as bakery products, pasta, and confectionery. The storage centers represent the link between the agricultural and the industrial phase and they consist in facilities for the storage of cereals and grains. Cereals can be stored in warehouses or silos. After the first storage, they can be send to the milling industry in order to obtain different types of grains. Grains obtained from the first transformation can be successively stored and sold to the food industry for the production of food products obtained performing a second transformation process. In the cereals supply chain products are generally managed in batches or lots. The batch represents the key element of a traceability system and it defined by the ISO/22005 (International Organization for Standardization, 2007) as the minimum amount of homogeneous material and/or finished product, manufactured and/or processed or packaged in similar circumstances, for which it is possible to obtain a series of information. The definition of a lot size is a complex task in the cereal sector because of the following features: (1) the product is often sold in bulk; (2) segregation lots are difficult to identify because: the storage of raw materials is undifferentiated; the preservation is maintained in silos of significant size used in the continuum; the replenishment is conducted with continuous flow procedure; (3)several lots of different varieties are generally mixed and divided at different stages of the supply chain. The problem is amplified because the mixing procedures are personalized and are characterized by a certain "professional secrecy". In conclusion, it is important to highlight that without a proper and consistent definition of the traceable units, information cannot be management efficiently in case of emergency. Keeping track of all the transformations is crucial in linking an identifying the origin of a batch. 3. Methodologies for the design of traceability solutions Figure 1: Cereals Supply Chain Traceability information can be recorder making use of manual documentation or information technologies. 231

3 Nevertheless, in order to maintain traceability, all the partners involved in the supply chain must realize an internal traceability for the storage of the information necessary to identify the connection between lots in input and lots in output. The most appropriate solution that can be adopted for developing an internal traceability system is a relational database management system (RDBMS)(Codd, 1970), since it is able to track and trace batches, to record all the changes in and out as well as the transformations that occur in each step of the supply chain. On the other hand, information recorded by each actor must be maintained and made available to every actor of the supply chain (De Cindio et al., 2011). This condition requires the use of common standards in both phases of identification and registration of information, and during its transmission (Pizzuti, T. et al., 2013). A set of global standards that can be used in the communication business to business (B2B), based on a central set of shared XML schemas, can be modelled and implemented on the base of business requirements modelled using the Unified Modelling Language(UML) (Satish Mishra, 1997). A UML model consists of an organized collection of diagrams constructed by composing graphic elements (with formally defined meaning), formal textual elements, and elements of free text. A UML model allows identifying the actors of a system and the interactions between the actors and the system itself. Nowadays, technological development and ever-changing context force companies to adapt their organizational structure and their informative systems to the changes. In such a context, an efficient traceability system must be reusable and adaptable. Moreover, the continuous adaptation, despite being strategically necessary, is associated with efforts and costs that are not always sustainable over time. To this end, one of the main objectives to be achieved by the introduction of a traceability information system is the ability to reuse and adapt the system at lower costs and in short time. The need to reuse and adapt the system at lower costs and in short time can be managed following the methodological approach of the Business Process Management (BPM). The Business Process Management is defined as a systematic and structured approach to analyse, improve, control and manage the business processes in order to improve the quality of products and services (Horak, 1995). The implementation of the BPM can be dived into 4 steps: design, setup, monitoring, analysis and optimization. The design phase deals with the identification, analysis and representation of the business processes through the use of different graphical notations. These techniques include traditional models, such as flow charts, data flow diagram (DFD), SADT/IDEF 0 technique, both innovative models such as the Action Workflow Diagram. The most innovative techniques for the process modelling include the Business Process Modelling and Notation (BPMN)(Object Management Group, 2010). BMPN can be seen as a UML notation applied to the management of work processes, capable to split the work s information from the technical information. In our work we followed a business process management approach in order to assist the development of a traceability system at a cereals storage center. The system requirements have been identified and modelled using UML. 4. Modelling of a traceability system for a cereals storage center. This paragraph describes the proposed traceability system obtained through the creation of a relational database developed with the aim of recording all the information and the process model obtained using UML. The design phase has been carried out taking advantage of the BPM methodological approach, which is oriented to the business processes and the continuous improvement. The design phase has been conducted identifying fundamental processes, highlighting roles for each actor, modelling the workflow and the information flow in order to facilitate the information retrieval. Through the UML modelling, the information system is described in its entirety, defining for each actor involved in the storage center: the activities to be carried out by interfacing with the system, the time sequence of the assets, the information flows and the system responses in each scenario considered. Furthermore, the methods to be invoked for information management and retrieval of data traceability have been defined. The idea of focusing on the maintenance of traceability at the storage center has been mainly oriented by the numerous transformations that occur at this step of the supply chain: an incoming batch, in fact, can be stored in one or more silos and mixed with the products already present in them, that can be characterized by different qualitative features. In addition, internal movements can occur from a silo to another and lots in output can result from the aggregation of different batches characterized by different compositions. The definition of batch or traceable unit is the most important step in the development of a traceability information system. Moreover, cereals and grains are handled in bulk and the definition of the size of the lot is a complex task. As mentioned before, at the storage center, cereals or grains with different qualitative features are stored in the same silo. Lot of in input stored in the same silos cannot be clearly divided and, because of the structural characteristics of the products they will necessarily be brought to the blend, both during the exhaust phase and both for the settling physiological movements that occur in the silo. In this work we assumed the use of vertical silos with conical bottom and we choose the methodology mass flow for the product discharge. In addition, various definitions of lot have been used according to the different movements within the storage center. For example, a lot can be represented by a cargo of cereals or grains supplied by a farmer is considered an incoming lot, the quantity of cereals contained in a single silo internally 232

4 to the storage center or a truck or railcar shipped to a client. Each lot can undergo transformations: the aggregation to other lots and/or segregation in several sub-lots. Consequently, the data model must be designed in order to manage information on transformations, specify the various quality parameters associated with these activities, and connect this information with the information related with the farm and the customers. 5.1 Database Model designed. A system-wide approach is used for the definition of these requirements. This approach makes use of the UML modelling technique, which can describe both the structure and the dynamics of the system of traceability. In particular, the design has taken advantage of these tools: (1) Use case diagram; (2) activity diagrams, (3) class diagram and (4) sequence diagram. These diagrams are described in the following sub-paragraphs. In this work we propose the use of a relational database management system (RDBMS) for the maintenance of the internal traceability at the storage center. The entityrelationship (ER) modelling technique is used to model the database. An ER model is a detailed logical representation of data at a high level of abstraction, consisting of entities, relationships between entities and attributes that characterize them (Hoffer et al., 2010). Figure 2 shows the entities in boxes and the relationships that connect the corresponding cardinality in rumbles. In Figure 3, each entity is represented in the form of table in which are present the attributes that characterize them, highlighting primary keys and foreign keys. Figure 2: Entity-relationship model for the storage center The proposed ER-model is generated in order to: (i) store all information relating to the activities and transformations operated on each single lot, along with its quality features; (ii) link the information of the incoming lots to the outgoing lots (iii) perform aggregate calculations for the amount and the quality of blended products; (iv) query the database to retrieve the related information to each lot; (v) trace the source of a lot or track information about lots shipped. In addition, the application of traceability information stored in a database provides a complete set of data useful for many other applications, including the optimization of the mass flow end the operational efficiency UML model In order to design an efficient traceability system, the requirements for use in the storage center has been Figure 3: Attribute specification for the ER-model Use case diagrams The use case diagrams describe the behaviour of the system, and what happens in terms of functions when the actor interacts with the system. The use case a diagram for the traceability management describe the steps in which is divided the operation of management of the cereals at storage center. This operation is done both when the cereals are supplied by another company and they must be stored in a silo both when the goods, already stored in the company, are moved and assigned to another silo. The interaction with the system is also required when the warehouse manager need to compose a new lot in output for a specific client. To ensure traceability, the user must enter in the system the code of the silo of origin, with the corresponding quantities. Consequently, the lot in output is generated with its identification code. For the storage center three cases of use have been defined for describing the management of the batches in input; the management of the movements; the management of the batch in output. For the three use case diagrams, the operation of login in the system is a prerequisite and it is introduced to respect the privacy requirement. Figure 4 shows the Use case diagram Movements Management 233

5 Figure 4: Use case diagram "Movements Management" Figure 5: Activity diagram "Storage Center Management" Activity diagrams The main aim of the activity diagrams is to determine the flow of actions that must be performed by each actor in reference to the system. The activities operated by the warehouse manager are the following: (i) the storage of the batch in input in the silos; (ii) the movement of stored batch from one silo to another silo; (iii) the composition of the batch in output. In the case of storage of the batch in input in a silo, the warehouse manager introduce in the system the information related with the assignment of the silo. In particular, the batch in input is associated with the code of the storage bins in which it is stored. In case of internal movements, the responsible of the system must edit the assignment and update it inserting the code of the batch reassigned. The third case refers to the formation of the batch in output. In this case the warehouse manager consults the sales system and, if the required products are available in the quantity requested, he deals with the definition of the batch in output. As previously mentioned, a lot in output can be composed of several varieties of the same cereal in order to meet the needs of the customer or the internal choices for the storage center. In these cases, it is necessary to keep track of the composition of the batch in output and of the origin of each lot which composes the batch. Thus, the manager must interface with the system, record the information on the composed batch and insert the information in the database. Figure 5 shows the flow of processes carried out by the storage center for the proper management of the traceability system. Stakeholders and activities carried out individually for each activity diagram are connected to each other with a complete vision of the whole activity flow Class Diagram The class diagram is developed in order to provide a complete vision of the behaviour of the system. The class diagram (Figure 6) has structure similar to the relational database previously presented. However, entities are substituted by classes, each of which is characterized by attributes and methods. Figure 6: Class diagram The methods developed for supporting the business processes includes the method verificadisponibilità(string codice_cereale) which provide the total amount of a particular type of cereals present in the warehouse and the method elenco_in_per_cereale(string codice_cereale) which belongs to the class Lotto_Ingresso and provide the information on the incoming batches related to that particular type of cereal. The most important methods for the traceability maintenance are: getcomposizione (int ID_Silos). The method belongs to the class Assegnamento (assignment), and through the introduction of the ID number of the silo under consideration, it generates as result the description of the composition of the silo, the batch in input and the relative quantity for each incoming batch. composizioneout (String ID_lotto_OUT). The method belongs to the class Proviene (belongs), through the introduction of the identification code of a particular batch in output it returns the composition of the considered batch, providing the information of each lot used to compose it in the aggregation phase and the relative amount. getquantità (Silos_di_Origine int, int Silos_di_Destinazione, String ID_lotto_IN). The method is included in the class Movimentazione Interna (Internal handling) and it provides for each batch in input the 234

6 quantity which has been moved, identifying the silo of origin and the silo of destination Sequence Diagrams The sequence diagram is used to describe the interaction between different objects in a sequential order. Three different sequence diagrams have been defined for the operations on the batch in input, the operation of moving and the operation on the batch in output. Figure 7 shows the sequence diagram Movement management. Figure 7: Sequence Diagram "Movement Management" In this case, three loops are introduced in order to repeat the same operation until the exit condition. The first loop is repeated in case of batch in input when the warehouse responsible, using the method setassegnamento(),assign one or more silos to each batch and insert the information on the assignment until that the all the incoming goods are located. In the second case, when an internal movement is operated, the movement is inserted as object of the class Movimentazione interna (internal movement) through the method setmovimentazione() and the assignment to the silos is successively edited through the method setassegnamento(). Even in this case the exit condition is verified when the goods are stored in totally. Finally, the warehouse manager consults the sales register and in case of programmed sales, it is involved in the composition of the batch in output. At this step, the manager inserts the information on the outgoing batch and the origin of the batches that composed it. These operation are supported by the methods setproviene() and setlottoout() that are called cyclically until the completion of the sales lot. 5.Conclusions The main objective of this research work is to provide a methodological approach and a simple tool for the development of an information system for the maintenance of traceability in a storage center. In order to maintain a more granularity traceability, a huge number of information must be recorded and maintained at the storage center. This aspect led to the development of a database capable of contain information in a systemic and programmatic way. An additional advantage of the developed database is the possibility to use the huge amount of recorded information for informative and statistical report capable of describe the storage processes, identify the critical control points and provide information for future improvements. The design phase of the information system has been carried out taking advantage of the BPM methodological approach, which is oriented to the business processes and the continuous improvement. The UML notation has been used for the modelling and the management of the information flow. The result of the presented work mainly consist in a model for the traceability management, which ensures the identification of locations, logistic units and products that followed the same path of transformation, and in general it is a good tool for the management of corporate documentation. References Codd, E.F., A relational model of data for large shared data banks. Commun. Acm 13, De Cindio, B., Longo, F., Mirabelli, G., Pizzuti, T., Modelling a Traceability System for a Food Supply Chain: Standards, Technologies and Software Tools, in: MAS2011. Presented at the 10th International Conference on Modeling and Applied Simulation, Rome, Italy, pp Hoffer, J.A., Venkataraman, R., Topi, H., Modern Database Management. Prentice Hall. Horak, W., Business Process Management: survey and methodology. IEEE Trans. Eng. Manag. 42, International Organization for Standardization, New ISO Standard to Facilitate Traceability in Food Supply Chains. ISO 22005:2007. Mirabelli, G., Pizzuti, T., Goméz-González, F., Sanz-Bobi, M.A., Food Traceability models: an overview of the state of the art, in: MAS2012. Presented at the 11th International Conference on Modeling and Applied Simulation, Vienna, Austria. Object Management Group, Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) Version 2.0. Pizzuti, T., Mirabelli, G., Sanz-Bobi, M.A., Goméz- González, F., Food Track&Trace Ontology for helping the food traceability control. J. Food Eng. Satish Mishra, Visual Modeling & Unified Modeling Language (UML): Introduction to UML. Rational Software Corporation Thakur, M., Hurburgh, C.R., Framework for implementing traceability system in the bulk grain supply chain. J. Food Eng. 95,