Today, at the GS1 Connect conference, Mojix revealed Source: the first SaaS platform and app to make first-mile traceability easy and low cost for any raw material supplier, whether agricultural or other.
Today, at the GS1 Connect conference, Mojix revealed Source: the first SaaS platform and app to make first-mile traceability easy and low cost for any raw material supplier, whether agricultural or other. Origination data is attached to the rest of the supply chain, all the way to the last mile, for end-to-end visibility. The multi-enterprise traceability platform was built on the back of the FDA Traceability Challenge, but Source’s addressable market for supply chain transparency goes well beyond food safety. Source can help reach Corporate Social Responsibility objectives and reduce brand risk in nearly any industry through product authentication, quality assurance, and supplier control.
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Dan Doles, Mojix CEO, said: “We have recently implemented traceability at a leading QSR’s facilities at the very end of the chain, from warehouse to restaurant. With Source, we’ll be able to link any of that data to the very beginning of the chain.”
Just under a year after the FDA Traceability Challenge win, Mojix, a global leader in item-level intelligence solutions for the supply chain, announced the public launch of their project. Mojix applied their cross-industry supply chain management expertise to field-related issues in the Food industry. The solution was built in response to queries from food brands, soon under the obligation to go beyond “one up; one back” and provide Traceability Program Records within 24 hours of a data request[3]. Source is the positive outcome of two years of R&D focused on the tracing of items back to their source, for the comprehensive and accurate origination of raw materials and ingredients.
The challenge: capturing and managing origination data
Manufacturers know their direct suppliers (one-back) and direct customers (one-up), but supply chain intelligence usually ends there. Data uncertainty also increases as you try to gain clarity upstream, to the original materials composing an item. This hinders nationwide or global withdrawals and recalls. Combined with partner technologies, Mojix can multiply tenfold recall speed to completion by indicating, for example, for one lot number, how many cases of this lot are currently at which DCs, warehouses or restaurants.
The market for raw materials and ingredients in the food industry is fragmented, heterogeneous, and often unstandardized. Production units are, for the large part, SMEs with limited technological capabilities. The greater part of the data related to harvesting, packing, shipping, and the storage of original ingredients is still paper based. In the cases where it is digitized, it remains siloed: it is not connected to the rest of the supply chain’s Information Systems.
The app, for simplified serialization, tagging and KDE and/or CTE capture
The first objective was to make sure that any field worker could easily give a serialized identity to their production, whatever their working conditions, with a simple smartphone. The app was built with encoding capabilities as well as onboarding features to better understand and automatically access GS1 standard lot codes (EPCIS) and create universal establishment identities (GLNs).
The app requires minimal input from the user and automates every repetitive action. It produces standard labels in any format (barcode, QR code, RFID…) that will serve to track the item or lot throughout its lifecycle from the earliest moment possible. The app is also equipped with the latest recognition technology, to automatically populate data fields from available documents, such as purchase orders or invoices.
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The platform is interoperable and connected to the entire supply chain
Source seamlessly captures item or lot-level KDEs (Key Data Elements) and CTEs (Critical Tracking Events) from the first mile, but most importantly, connects this data to the rest of the supply chain, all the way to the last mile. This is what creates full item and/or lot lifecycle visibility.
The IDs that are created for items/lots, and the data associated with these IDs is aggregated and managed within the platform. Source stitches together relevant KDEs and CTEs, in full conformity with the regulatory requirements in the United States, to start. Food brands, QSRs, grocers and distributors worried about the additional record keeping requirements with the upcoming Rule 204 need only onboard their suppliers to be able to automatically produce the Traceability Reports, in a format acceptable for authorities, and shareable in one click. Once a supplier is registered and using Source, they become compliant by default with any other potential client with similar requirements.
Mojix’s supply chain management expertise is the cornerstone of the best-in-class SaaS platform’s edge-to-cloud technical architecture, which enables scalability, multi-enterprise and multi-software integrations, to ensure that relevant data is shared with stakeholders on a real-time basis. The speed is what enables facts-based decision-making at the edge, which generates significant RoI to boot.
The item itself becomes the medium
As with any encoding technology, the item/lot itself, thanks to its unique and universal code, becomes the bearer of the information, and the link to enterprise information systems. No longer is it necessary to rely on transactional documents to trace the nature or the origin of a lot or an item. Lack of intermediation makes the data more reliable and seamlessly accessible in one click, from a single source of information.
All the data can be shared, but it’s in one place: Source acts as a repository for the data related to certification and laboratory testing. In one click, it’s possible to know the history of an establishment (GLN), based on auto-testing, external testing, and certifications. Rules and workflows for validation of the data entered can be added for increased data integrity. Last, this data can be connected to a blockchain throughout.
A strong potential for brand protection, whatever the industry
Supply chain management excellence is Source’s DNA, and regulatory requirements are its backbone. Its best potential, however, is expected to be revealed in brand risk management. Public opinion doesn’t distinguish between direct and indirect responsibilities in a health scandal, or in failure to provide quality. The brand, as an intangible asset, bears the brunt of the negative consequences in a sometimes very long and complex supply chain.
Furthermore, facing increasingly demanding and eco-conscious consumers, brands from all industries are signing quality, sustainability, and social engagement charters that are forcing them to keep track of their progress. By bringing end-to-end transparency to the supply chain, Source can inform them to help them certify their progress, to control their providers’ raw materials’ provenance, and on the longer term, give the end consumer more information on the individual item they are about to buy.