Fill gaps with traceability All about end-to-end traceability

To start with, let us simplify the jargon. End-to-end traceability is about tracking and tracing your products from the source of the raw materials to the finished product reaching the end consumer. It is also known as the farm to fork traceability model, where one can access the complete supply chain journey of the product and its transformation from raw material to finished goods.

With consumers getting increasingly brand conscious and aware, it is very important for brand owners to track and trace their product movement to validate claims whenever required. The need for validation can come suddenly or could be built slowly along with consumer safety and awareness. One such recent example of this is a pandemic outbreak, in which consumers focused on buying locally manufactured goods have started asking for the source information. It is also because of increased consumer awareness as they know that industries are heavily dependent on low-cost manufacturing capabilities of China.

Why is end-to-end traceability important?
End-to-end traceability is important as it lends real-time product visibility in the supply chain. It is integral for business owners to know, at all times, where their products are lying in the supply chain.

It gains further importance in the case of products with a short shelf life as it enables them to manage expiries better and ensure minimum product wastage.

In the case of product defects, leading to health risks to consumers or legal risks to brand owners, implementation of the traceability solutions enable manufacturers/brand owners to withdraw the affected batches with speed and accuracy. This enables:

• Protection of brand image
  

With social media and Youtube, consumers today have the power to make or break any brand within hours. Hence, the speed of product recalls is essential to protect the brand integrity as companies cannot afford to let the word spread on social media.

• Validating product claims
  

End-to-end traceability can be used as an effective tool by brand owners in validating product claims, such as organic, sugar-free, made of coffee beans of certain areas, etc.

• Making all supply chain partners responsible
  

There could be many reasons behind a defective batch, ranging from the wrong constitution used at the time of product manufacturing, defected raw material, rodent problem at the warehouse, bad storage conditions, expiry, etc. However, the responsibility of all defected products rests with the brand owners and it is the brand image that is at stake. End-to-end traceability enables brand owners to locate the root cause of the problem and pinpoint the responsible party.

Besides these, there are many other benefits of traceability such as automated data capture leading to freeing up of resource time, efficient product withdrawals, and complete visibility in the supply chain.