{"id":1649,"date":"2023-03-10T10:09:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T04:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.infosys.com\/infosys-cobalt\/?p=1649"},"modified":"2023-03-10T10:13:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T04:43:38","slug":"supply-chain-traceability-enablers-for-volatility-challenges-resiliency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.infosys.com\/infosys-cobalt\/cloud-applications\/supply-chain-traceability-enablers-for-volatility-challenges-resiliency.html","title":{"rendered":"Supply Chain Traceability \u2013 Enablers for volatility challenges and resiliency"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my previous blogs, Supply Chain Volatility \u2013 The problem of today and tomorrow<\/a> and Resilient Supply Chain \u2013 the way forward for risk free execution<\/a>, I discussed on the problem of availability of material as a result of the Covid19 pandemic or other such disruptive scenarios and how to bring in resiliency in the supply chain organization to resolve and protect against such scenarios in the future. We talked about the various risk factors that need to be considered and the action plan for each of the risk elements. But the question that comes up is how we identify the pain points and risk areas for a particular organization. \u00a0To understand that we need to evaluate the steps of product movement from the origin to the end customer. This is what Traceability is all about. It tracks through all steps of the product development, manufacturing, processing & distribution.<\/p>\n

Now the question that comes to our mind is why traceability is important and how can we achieve it. It helps organizations to find the source or root-cause of a defect or problem in a product and then subsequently acted for resolution and remediation. This means that if we have a return from the customer or a quality check failure in any of our internal processes, we would be able to track back on the delivery and manufacturing cycle of the product thus identifying the root cause of the problem, resolve it and identify if there are more products that needs attention. We sometimes hear of product recalls and that happens due to traceability where the organization identifies a batch or group of products where there was an anomaly or defect which would or may create issues or challenges with the customer and in fact is a compromise of quality which neither the customer nor the organization would be happy about. So, the need of traceability. And looking forward, there are three main reasons for adopting it:<\/p>\n

A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Consumers would like to know whereabouts of their products<\/p>\n

B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Regulators across numerous jurisdictions<\/p>\n

C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Advancements in quality & availability of technology solutions<\/p>\n

With all these reasons in place, many organizations manage traceability through its processes with technology, operations, and worker enablement while others go in for a traceability program to achieve it. Traceability can be of multiple types: Chain traceability where procurement to manufacturing to sales & distribution both forward and backward are tracked and Internal traceability where movement of material in an area is tracked. It is not that it is either Chain or Internal. It can be both depending on the requirements for the product and the organization. Chain traceability helps to identify and note the source of raw materials and if any defect helps to track back for correction or remediation. It also tracks manufacturing of the parts, their storage into inventory and logistics for customer shipments. Whereas Internal traceability collects, tracks, and manages the production processes to ensure quality, efficiency, and timely delivery.<\/p>\n

Companies used to deploy different methods to achieve different types of traceability in their supply chain with the use of barcodes, RFID and blockchain. Detailed recording of all steps of the flow of materials and finished goods are maintained with storage, supplier, and transportation information. This helps in finding the origin of the raw material and track their moves. But what is the data that is needed? It needs master data in terms of supplier, customer, and product data. It also needs transaction data in terms of delivery, manufacturing, or any trade transactions. As in whole, there are various types of traceability technology tools \u2013<\/p>\n

A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Product Identification using bar codes \u2013 Implementation of bar codes for tracking production history with finished goods<\/p>\n

B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) \u2013 Tracks movement of products within closed systems without human intervention<\/p>\n

C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Traceability Software \u2013 Collection & management of data to improve product quality, security & safety.<\/p>\n

D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E-Kanban \u2013 Scheduling system to support production line and lower risk of mistakes<\/p>\n

E.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Blockchain \u2013 Tracking of material through every step of the product lifecycle is mapped.<\/p>\n