EAN UCC standards for shared supply chain TRACEABILITY

EAN UCC standards for shared supply chain TRACEABILITY EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION... 3 2. THE CONCEPT : TRACEABILITY... 5 3. THE EAN UCC SYSTEM: IDENTIFY AND COMMUNICATE TO IMPROVE TRACEABILITY... 5 4. EAN UCC STANDARDS AND TRACEABILITY... 7 5. EAN UCC STANDARDS AND PRODUCT RECALL... 8 6. ROLE AND ACTIVITITIES OF EAN BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG... 9 More information : EAN Belgium_Luxembourg Rue Royale 29 1000 BRUSSELS Tel : 02/229.18.80 Fax : 02/217.43.47 E-mail : info@eanbelgilux.be Internet : www.eanbelgilux.be EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 2

1. INTRODUCTION An effective traceability often means managing a lot of information on each product reference, each production batch, each stock movement, each shipment,.... Labelling and computer interfaces are often a bottleneck within a company, as well as between partners in supply chains. And yet, traceability is gaining ground and this especially due to legislations imposed upon operators in the supply chain. European and Belgian legislations are putting greater pressure on companies to equip with their own traceability system. These legislations were established to determine responsibilities, to allow authorities to fight against fraud and to limit health crises. Within the food safety approach, the European Regulation (EC) 178/2002 1 claims that a European Authority for Food Safety shall be established off the 1 st of January 2005. From than on, food and feed business operators shall have in place systems and procedures in order to identify any person by whom they have been supplied/ or to which their products have been supplied. With these systems they shall be able to provide information on food safety matters. The Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain published the Royal Decree of 14/11/2003, titled Royal Decree concerning auto control, notification duty and traceability, in order to implement the above mentioned Regulation on national level. Furthermore, there is a growing tendency for product safety and traceability in non-food sectors. For the moment the health sector is already subjected to traceability commitments. The chemical industry and the sector of equipment products are preparing themselves. The implementation of traceability systems brings along many advantages for a company. First of all, it enables the optimisation of product and process quality. Traceability and quality management go together. A traceability system guarantees the reliability of product information and helps to quickly pinpoint the cause of quality problems. Once a company knows where problems arise regularly, it can anticipate. Another advantage is that it enables companies to better control their logistic operations. Being constantly aware of the exact location of its dispatch units allows a company to optimise its stock management, what in its turn can lead to huge cost savings (less spoilage and less left-overs, ). Furthermore, transport and deliveries can be monitored in real time, which may lead to a better customer service. When using a traceability system, a contaminated product, a product of inferior quality,... can be located quickly and precisely. This way there is no need to destroy all products, but only the ones bearing an anomaly, so that costs linked to recalls can be minimised and corrective steps can be worked out more quickly. It also helps protect a company s image. In practice we notice that companies implementing their traceability system, too often choose for an isolated approach. However, to be completely effective, a common strategy is required. 1 Texts of EU Regulations are available on www.europa.eu.int EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 3

In fact, all companies being part of the same supply chain are commonly interdependent. So each partner should ensure the continuity of information flows both upstream and downstream, because the traceability of the weakest link determines the traceability of the whole supply chain. In this paper we define what traceability means and explain how companies can realise it using EAN UCC standards. The different steps a company has to take to guarantee traceability, are mentioned and illustrated in a scheme. Furthermore is clarified how, in case of a product recall, the different parties of a supply chain can block products and can quarantine them from the shop layers. Finally, the role and activities of EAN Belgium Luxembourg for traceability are explained. This document will of course be adapted to future developments in this area if required. EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 4

2. THE CONCEPT : TRACEABILITY ISO (International Standards Organization) defines traceability as the ability to recover at any moment the history, process or location of an entity, using thereby recorded data identifiers. The entity can be an activity, a process, a product, an organism as well as a person. From the users point of view, traceability may be considered as the qualitative and quantitative follow up of products through the supply chain, in space as well as in time. From the information management s point of view, traceability means the systematic association of an information flow at a flow of goods, so that at any time, predefined data related to batches of product groupings (also predefined) can be traced back thereby making use of key identifiers. When defining traceability, the direction in the supply chain must be distinguished. Tracking (downstream the supply chain) is the ability to follow the path of a product through the supply chain, based on one or more criteria. This is important when it comes to recalls of products. Tracing (upstream the supply chain) is the ability to identify the origin and the characteristics of a particular product through the supply chain, based on one or more relevant criteria. Tracing is especially useful to detect the cause of quality problems. Most of the time traceability is associated with the follow up of serious incidents. Although, it can also be used to find back production and packaging problems, such as labels that are wrongly placed, errors in coupons or price indication, taste problems in a specific batch,. 3. THE EAN UCC SYSTEM: IDENTIFY AND COMMUNICATE TO IMPROVE TRACEABILITY Given the diversity of partners and supply chains, a common language is needed to ensure the continuity of the supply chain, to cross the limits of systems specifically created for a company, a sector or a country, and to minimise the costs of development of traceability systems. The EAN UCC system contains standards for the international and unique identification of products, services and addresses, as well as standards for the electronic exchange of information between companies. The EAN UCC standards are multi-industry and are created by the companies themselves within the aim to optimise their goods and information flows. These standards are the direct expression of their needs and their trade practices in terms of traceability. EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 5

EAN Belgium Luxembourg The EAN UCC system PRODUCER MANUFACTURER TRANSPORT DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM SALE TO THE OPERATOR END CONSUMER Numbering- GTIN GTIN GTIN GTIN structures : SSCC SSCC GLN GLN GLN Automatic EAN UCC bar codes EAN UCC bar codes EAN UCC bar codes EAN UCC bar codes capture : EAN UCC Logistics Label EAN UCC Logistics Label RFID/EPC RFID/EPC RFID/EPC RFID/EPC Electronic data capture (EDI/XML, CDB) Numbering structures o GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) : unique number for a commercial unit o SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) : unique number for a logistic unit (dispatch unit) o GLN (Global Location Number) : unique address number Automatic capture of EAN/UCC-numbers and attribute elements o EAN UCC bar codes : UCC/EAN-128, EAN-13, ITF-14, RSS o EAN UCC Logistics Label o RFID-tags, EPC Electronic data exchange o EANCOM, XML messages o CDB (Central Data Bank) EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 6

EAN Belgium Luxembourg 4. EAN UCC STANDARDS AND TRACEABILITY The 4 principles of traceability : Identify products, production batches and dispatch units Record all successive links in the supply chain between production batches and dispatch units Record traceability data throughout the supply chain Provide the downstream partner with all the information required to ensure product traceability 4. Preparation and dispatch (_) Mark the dispatch unit (client and transport part on the EAN UCC Logistics Label) Record links between the dispatch units (SSCC), their destinations (GLN) and the order (order number). Scan the EAN UCC Logistics Labels on the dispatch units (SSCC) when loading the truck Generate and send the dispatch note (DESADV message)/ or delivery slip. Record preparation and dispatch conditions 3. Packaging and storage in a logistic environment Mark the box (GTIN and, if possible, the batch number in the UCC/EAN 128 bar code) Mark the pallet (product part of the EAN UCC Logistics Label with SSCC) Record links between the consumer unit batch number and the SSCC of the pallet Record the packaging conditions Scan the EAN UCC Logistics Labels when entering into stock 2. Production Scan EAN bar codes at stock release and production launch. Record links between batch number/sscc of incoming raw materials and the consumer unit batch number. Mark the consumer unit (GTIN in the EAN-13 bar code and batch number in human readable). Record production data 1. Reception and storage of raw materials/ goods in process Scan EAN bar codes on pallets (SSCC, GTIN) and/or boxes (GTIN). Check quantities and compare with the electronic shipping order, or in case of fail, with the delivery slip. Record information on products received and their condition upon delivery. _ If order-picking takes place between step 3 and 4, links have to be recorded between the bar codes of the mother pallet, boxes and locations and the SSCC on the new dispatch units. EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 7

EAN Belgium Luxembourg 5. EAN UCC STANDARDS AND PRODUCT RECALL 1. The consumer The consumer points out that the product he bought is defective. He declares it to the point-ofsale. 2. The point-of-sale The retailer forwards the complaint to his supplier, indicating the product reference (GTIN) and, if possible, the batch number. 3. The manufacturer The manufacturer finds out that the anomaly is attributable to a raw material. He identifies and informs the upstream supplier involved. 4. The upstream supplier The supplier analyses the cause of the anomaly and identifies the production batches in question. He identifies the dispatch units (SSCC) composed of these production batches. He informs the client(s) having received these units, of the nature of the problem and the batch number of the raw materials involved. 7. Point-of-sale The point-of-sale withdraws the defective products in question. 6. The distribution platform The distribution platform identifies and locates the boxes and pallets with the batch number in question (in stock, at order-picking, in the shipping area, delivered to the point-of-sale). He blocks products still at the platform. He informs the shops that have been serviced, of the pallets (SSCC) and batch numbers to be withdrawn. 5. The manufacturer The manufacturer decides to recall the finished goods concerned. In his references, he looks up all products containing the same raw material. In these references he looks up, thanks to his traceability system, the batches of the finished goods which are composed of the batch of the defective raw material in question. He identifies and locates the boxes and pallets (SSCC) to be withdrawn. He blocks the boxes and pallets still in stock. He provides his clients with information relative to the products to be blocked (SSCC, GTIN, batch number). EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 8

EAN Belgium Luxembourg 6. ROLE AND ACTIVITIES OF EAN BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG EAN Belgium Luxembourg offers a coordination platform between manufacturers and retailers for traceability purposes and ensures the coherence and interoperability of the solutions being implemented. GOALS ACTIVITITIES BEING REALISED To support and facilitate procedures and traceability systems implemented by Belgian companies. To provide traceability solutions that can be used within a company and between different partners of the supply chain. To ensure the EAN UCC system is in line with the development of the traceability needs of companies. Seminars Documentation Technical assistance Contacts with associations and administrative bodies involved Sector-oriented working groups and more general ones Redaction of sector-oriented application guidelines and a general guideline Assistance in pilot projects Contacts with material and software manufacturers Contacts with associations and administrative bodies involved Technical working groups Requests for changes in EAN UCC standards at international level Seminars for companies, federations,... Working groups : - fruit and vegetables - meat and meat products - best practices in traceability Sector-oriented guidelines (EAN UCC specifications): for the identification and traceability of fruit, vegetables and potatoes. for the identification and traceability of meat and meat products Best practices guideline for traceability purposes All documents are available on www.eanbelgilux.be/traceability.htm Participation in meetings of EAN International EAN Belgium Luxembourg Shared supply chain TRACEABILITY Page 9