Tracing batches with the intelligent warehouse

 

Dematic implements solutions for the food industry

The introduction of transponders means that for the first time detailed, variable information can be linked directly to goods, enabling their origin to be quickly verified. This may save lives when food "accidents" occur, as companies can then identify and take harmful products off the market in the shortest possible time.

BSE, dioxin, nitrofen and just recently acrylamide - one food scandal seems to follow another, upsetting consumer confidence in edible goods. Both conventional and "organic" food are affected in equal measure. Manufacturers who can't respond immediately by withdrawing contaminated products from warehouses, production and shops face a loss of image and a drastic fall in sales. For example, Coca Cola suffered a substantial drop in sales in Belgium when a batch that had been contaminated by cleaning agents couldn't be taken off the market because it couldn't be traced.

EU Directive 178/2002, due in force from January 2005, is designed to remedy such situations. The Directive prescribes transparency throughout the entire food and animal feed chains in order to offer consumers better protection from contaminated food. Raw materials, semi-manufactures, finished goods and packaging will have to be traceable from production to their point of sale and consumption. The Directive widens the definition of foodstuffs to cover all materials and products that can be consumed by people in an unprocessed, semi-processed or processed form. Drugs are the only exception, as they are subject to other directives and regulations. Unlike the International Food Standard, to which German food producers have voluntarily subscribed, every business active in the industry will now be compelled to integrate appropriate control mechanisms into their systems by January 2005.

The EU Directive stipulates what progressive companies are already practicing in at least parts of their supply chains as a means of internal or quality control: continuous documentation of all processes and results, from incoming goods to production and delivery. The wealth of information involved means that such a system can only be successful with an IT-based ERP system backed up by corresponding subsystems, such as a warehouse management system. Dematic is offering companies various packages tailor-made for many different types of requirements. Dematic' portfolio includes both a cost-effective entry-level solution and a high-end solution with special features such as returned goods, stops, quarantine and range planning.

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