A case study coauthored by GS1 US and Nestlé Professional demonstrates that good data governance saves time and money while providing transparency and trust to the customers.

In 2022, Fieldale Farms received a customer request to implement new traceability requirements. The customer’s goal was to increase traceability transparency for their consumers, eliminate manual scanning at all levels of their supply chain, improve their inventory accuracies, and build consumer trust. Fieldale brought in CAT Squared to build seamless integrations between the traceability platform and plant-floor hardware to meet the customer’s request.

"CAT Squared helped us achieve the goals our customer asked for by providing new developments in RFID technology systems," said Cameron Smith, IT plant liaison at Fieldale Farms Corporation. Because CAT Squared’s plant-floor solutions are hardware- and software-agnostic, the team was easily able to integrate with readers from Zebra Technologies, software from Mojix, and labeling systems from Avery Dennison.

The customer’s RFID program required Fieldale to incorporate label attributes that comply with the GS1 Foodservice traceability program. The GS1-128 barcodes are scanned throughout the supply chain, capturing the physical location and context of specific products, their lot numbers, production dates, and expiration dates. RFIDs rely on the serialization of each case and linking that serial number to a product commissioning event.

To meet that requirement, CAT Squared handled the encoding (and decoding) of serials to SGTIN-96 (Serialized Global Trade Identification Number) for creating the RFID labels. The system then transmitted Fieldale’s production data by product to Mojix for commissioning events.

In addition to meeting their customer’s requirements, the RFID initiative is anticipated to save Fieldale time on inventory management and stock rotation, mitigate human error, and increase expiration date visibility. Ultimately, the goal is to create a more transparent supply chain through a best-in-class traceability system to enable safety, efficiency, and the verification of food with integrity.

New FDA traceability requirements are effective January 20, 2023. The FSMA Final Rule: Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods includes a requirement for those who manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods on the Food Traceability List (FTL) to establish and maintain records containing Key Data Elements (KDEs) associated with different Critical Tracking Events (CTEs). The FDA notes that while the proposed requirements only apply to those foods on the FTL, “they were designed to be suitable for all FDA-regulated food products. FDA would encourage the voluntary adoption of these practices industrywide.”

By 2027, retailers must be able to scan a 2D barcode to retrieve the GTIN-12 (UPC) data string in addition to the linear, 1D EAN/UPC barcode that is commonly used today for pricing information at checkout. This does not mean the linear UPC barcode will go away entirely, but product suppliers will be able to choose between using a 2D barcode or both barcodes on their POS items.

The rollout of the 2D barcode requirement is supported through Sunrise 2027, a new initiative from GS1 US – a neutral, not-for-profit organization that develops internationally recognizable supply chain standards.

This last year revealed many vulnerabilities and challenges for food suppliers. The pandemic exposed a vulnerability in manufacturers’ reliance on human labor. Regulatory bodies like the FDA, USDA, and GFFA are compelling supply-chain participants to adopt common standards and digital technologies. Retailers – who are under pressure from consumers demanding more variety, sustainability, transparency, and ethical sourcing – are increasingly willing to go around manufacturers to create the products they need if they can’t get the relationship they want with the manufacturer. These challenges will continue beyond 2021.

In January 2020, Microsoft officially ended its support for Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5. This will complete the end-of-life process for all Windows ruggedized environments.

At Purdue University's National Conference for Food and Agribusiness, speakers presented results of the University’s research study analyzing what data is collected across the food value chain, how it’s shared, and to what extent it is used to make strategic decisions. The study focused on five levels of the value chain: (1) Ag Input Manufacturers, (2) Ag Retailers, (3) Farmers, (4) First Handlers/Food Processors, (5) Food Manufacturers, and (6) Food Retailers. The event included panel discussions with representatives from each part of the value chain discussing trends they’re experiencing.

On October 21, 2019, the FDA held a public meeting with a broad cross-section of industry stakeholders to build a shared vision around A New Era of Smarter Food Safety, a campaign intended to strengthen the agency’s protection of the food supply.

On March 29, members of the CAT Squared team attended the 2019 Blockchain Conference hosted by the Center for Blockchain Excellence at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. The conference included several keynote speakers including Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas. There were also breakout sessions with panels of blockchain innovators and opportunities for developers to break out their laptops and practice interacting with blockchain development platforms. However, of all the sessions we attended, the one I found most exciting was a discussion led by Golden State Foods (GSF) Chief Technology Officer Guilda Javaheri.

For nearly 25 years, CAT Squared has developed manufacturing execution systems (MES) to manage plant-floor processes for food processing facilities. CAT Squared’s MES delivers end-to-end traceability from receiving of ingredients and dry goods through shipping of final product. By combining our MES with blockchain and other IIoT technologies, CAT Squared can now expand the reach of our capabilities outside the four walls of the plant, connecting all participants of the food value chain.