As companies expand their supply chain to include new partners and new regions, they need better visibility to ensure quality and react faster to events. Expanding their supply chain introduces a variety of issues ranging from falsified goods to accidental incidents that impact customer safety. That’s where Enterprise Labeling, and traceability come into play to essentially be that risk management solution.

It is important to get a full understanding of what traceability is and how it works. Instead of simply tracking a product’s movement from one place to another, traceability incorporates the identification of the product’s origin- including the parts or material used in making it- through records, data capture, and labelling across the supply chain. Combining traceability with tracking allows companies to visualize product creation on every level within the supply chain.

Why does traceability matter? For starters, there are regulations that require traceability measures. For example, the FDA constructed regulations regarding traceability dealing with how food & beverage products follow ingredients from farm to fork in the form of serialization. As other industries begin to adopt regulations linked to traceability, businesses will need to adapt.

Having increased traceability helps protect companies from various issues. The consequences and risks associated with limited traceability includes:

• Health and safety issues
• Lengthy, costly recalls
• Fines and penalties
• Supply chain disruption
• Damaged brand/reputation

By enabling a more effective, whole-chain traceability linking technology platforms and systems between supply chain partners, companies can talk to one another through the identification of encoded barcode. The increased communication benefits both parties because they can share specific information with greater accuracy and efficiency.

Download Loftware’s Traceability Report to learn more about how increasing traceability can positively impact your supply chain. You will enhance your knowledge of supply chain traceability and learn about the 6 best practices in labeling and Artwork Management. Included in this report you’ll find information on how to improve traceability within your supply chain – including:

• Centralizing labeling and Artwork Management
• Integration with sources of truth
• Creation of a “closed loop” workflow and approval process
• Extension of your process to trusted trade partners
• Gaining real-time insight to keep product on track
• Scaling easily to enter and monitor new markets