Track & Trace

AR creates business value by improving performance across the value chain – product development, manufacturing, service and many other areas.

Augmented reality uses technology to superimpose information — sounds, images and video on the print, using a mobile phone or tablet. Some of the pages in the SAPC brochure contain a “Zapcode”. When this is scanned with free mobile app “Zappar” the page comes to life with a film featuring the people, departments and processes featured.

Tapì, headquartered in Massanzago (PD), Italy, and Thinfilm, based in San Jose, California, will develop and implementation Thinfilm’s NFC-technology.

Atlas RFID Solutions, the world leader in Material Readiness™ for the construction industry, has announced the release of their latest track and trace software is slated for Q3 2019. The new platform, called Jovix 3.0 is a powerful and elegant software built on a high-performance platform with feature upgrades including configurable workflows, user and role management, and no-limit mapping.

The FDA is halfway through the implementation timeline for the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). The goal of this law is to provide an ‘inter-operable’ solution that can identify and track and trace pharmaceutical products throughout the US Supply Chain, and to ensure the safety and security of all medicines we take today. We will answer how does IoT devices expand from basic track and trace to actively monitoring drugs in-transit and provide alerts and alarms from the norms. How does IoT data plus machine learning and blockchain improve drug recalls, reduce waste and fraud, and ultimately optimize operations.

TachyonIQ, the leader in image processing software for data capture, announced today the release of a new barcode scanning algorithm that omnidirectionally decodes the mandatory DotCode symbology of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

LVMH has partnered with ConsenSys and Microsoft to launch AURA, a platform that offers product tracking and tracing services, based on Ethereum blockchain technology. As the three companies explained in a joint release, AURA makes it possible for consumers to access the product history and proof of authenticity of luxury goods — from raw materials to the point of sale, all the way to second-hand markets.

In line with the prevalence of everyday technology use, Active and intelligent packaging (A&IP) is being increasingly utilised by brands to achieve various results. From brand protection to brand promotion and many advantages throughout the supply chain, smart/connected packaging is delivering very real benefits, far from novelty technology for the sake of it.

The retailer joins other big players such as AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Pfizer in the effort to use distributed ledger technology for medication safety and integrity.

Through the integration of technological solutions such as smart software and artificial intelligence, robotics and even wearable tech for employees, companies are effectively building an edge by providing a better service for their customers.
One of the sectors that benefits the most from this rapid integration is the supply chain sector. Logistics plays a crucial role in getting the product to the consumer as efficiently and effectively as possible, not only for the bottom line, but the company as well. With this in mind, let’s break down some of the key innovations that are transforming the supply chain industry.

Batch manufacturing is the tried, tested, and trusted approach for manufacturing pharmaceutical products. There is an increasing push, however, for the industry to switch to continuous manufacturing.
A key driver of this push is the FDA – the Food and Drug Administration in the US. The FDA believes continuous manufacturing improves product quality, reduces medicine shortages, and enhances efficiencies, among other things.

If you’re an over the road (OTR) trucking manager, you probably already have an electronic logging device (ELD) with driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIR) in place. If so, you should be fine. However, there are many ELD’s that do not have a DVIR in place or that just barely comply with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule.

• 99% of mid-market manufacturing executives are familiar with Industry 4.0, yet only 5% are currently implementing or have implemented an Industry 4.0 strategy
• Investing in upgrading existing machinery, replacing fully depreciated machines with next-generation smart, connected production equipment, and adopting real-time monitoring including Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are manufacturers’ top three priorities based on interviews with them.

Organizations are getting creative in the ways they implement the Internet of Things (IoT) into their back-office operations. In this month’s Intelligence of Things Tracker, PYMNTS spotlighted an independent brewery, Sugar Creek Brewing Company in North Carolina, that has deployed IoT technology to track and mitigate beer spillage down the production line, as well as to manage and collect data on carbonation and pH levels, temperature and beer bottle fill times.

In this interview we speak with Simon Dössegger, CEO of Modum.io, to understand how his company is using blockchain to transform the supply chain management business, and what the future of the industry holds.

As consumers’ buying behaviors continue to change, the effects ripple into the supply chain, and businesses are continuously looking for help from technology to efficiently keep up with the demand and processes.

ConsenSys entered into a partnership with LVMH and Microsoft to launch a new blockchain platform tailored for the luxury industry. The consortium, named AURA, will be based on Ethereum blockchain technology and utilize Microsoft’s Azure platform and enable customers to prove the authenticity of their goods.

The report predicts that 38.6 billion devices will be connected by 2025, and 50 billion by 2030. Some segments (such as connected computing devices) will see low growth or decline, while others (such as media devices) will continue to expand steadily. Growth rates for wearable devices and connected vehicles will remain positive, but volumes will be modest relative to other segments.

“These technologies are those that supply chain leaders simply cannot ignore,” explained Christian Titze, research vice president at Gartner. “Within the next five years, if half of large global companies are using some of these technologies in their supply chain operations, it’s safe to say that the technologies will disrupt people, business objectives and IT systems.”

Becoming aware of blockchain’s weak spots is an important first step towards taking full advantage of what the technology really has to offer.

The short film is in addition to the tobacco manufacturer’s dedicated Track & Trace microsite, which contains all of the essential information needed to make sure retailers are compliant, including a full timeline and FAQs.