RFID-enabled track-and-trace gets traction in Norway
edited by Linda Casey -- Packaging Digest, 8/1/2008
The food manufacturing industry is facing challenging market conditions: Foods are being sourced across international borders; and consumers are demanding to know more about the products they buy, including the conditions under which the food was grown and how it travelled from farm to dinner table. This consumer pressure doesn’t come alone. Food suppliers also need to comply with government regulations and industry requirements for quality and traceability. As a result, food producers need to provide more detail on products.To this end, Nortura BA, one of Norway’s largest food suppliers, has signed an agreement with IBM to use RFID technology to track and trace poultry and meat products from the farm, through the supply chain, to supermarket shelves. According to a press release from IBM, the application will be the first food tracking solution of its kind in the Nordics.
Packaging will be tagged with RFID chips to help ensure that the meat and poultry products contained are kept in optimal conditions throughout the supply chain. Specialists from IBM Global Technology Services unit will implement an end-to-end infrastructure solution for Matiq, and IBM experts on sensors and RFID will work with Matiq on development. At the core of the system will be IBM’s WebSphere RFID Information Center, software for enterprises seeking to share product movement information with trading partners who also are using EPCIS compliant solutions.
Both IBM and Matiq will manage the technology infrastructure, which will allow Norwegian suppliers and supermarkets to share RFID data across and between enterprises using software that complies with GS1 EPCglobal’s Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard. This is designed to allow all stakeholders to monitor and analyze the entire supply chain for a product.
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