Introduction
Today, there is a growing need to be able to track products back to their origins. This is what’s called product traceability. As consumer awareness grows, there has been an increased demand for transparency in the supply chain. The public wants to know how food is produced, where it comes from, how products are made, and so on. Product traceability attempts to provide this level of transparency by tracking specific items or batches back through their production process.
What is Product Traceability?
Product traceability is the ability to trace a product through its entire lifecycle. This means that you can track a single item from the moment it was created all the way through its use or consumption. Product traceability is important for several reasons:
- Safety – consumers have a right to know what they’re buying and where their food comes from. It’s also beneficial for companies, as they can reduce their risk of liability by being able to prove that they comply with various regulations at every stage of production.
- Quality – if something goes wrong with your product, you want to identify where in its lifecycle this occurred so that it doesn’t happen again or spread further than necessary (and so you don’t lose customers).
- Compliance – many industries are required by law or regulation to maintain certain standards throughout their processes; tracking products ensures compliance with these requirements.
How does ERP facilitate product traceability?
ERP can be used to track product shipments, and then you can use those shipment records to verify that your products have arrived at their intended destinations. Once the products arrive, an ERP system can help you keep tabs on them until they’re sold, returned, or stored. If a recall is necessary for any reason, your ERP system will already know who has received the recalled items—and if they’ve been returned or repackaged.
ERP software also makes it easy to manage product warranties: store information about when a warranty expires; monitor warranty claims; and update warranty details as appropriate (e.g., when someone’s mileage has increased).
What are the benefits of product traceability?
In today’s world, consumers are more informed and connected than ever before. They expect companies to be transparent about the products they buy, how those products are made, and what happens to them after purchase. Product traceability is an important part of this transparency—it helps you improve product quality by reducing waste and manufacturing defects; it can also help you provide greater value for your customers by enabling faster responses to customer service issues or recalls.
In addition to these benefits, there are several other reasons why product traceability is a good idea:
- Product safety: By tracking individual units from production through the delivery or disposal process, you’ll be able to identify potential problems with your supply chain or products before they reach consumers. This will help keep unwanted materials out of landfills and reduce the risk of lawsuits when someone becomes sick due to a defect in goods manufactured by your company’s suppliers (or even those sourced on your own premises). In fact, many retailers now offer full recall guarantees so that anyone who purchases a defective item can return it without hassle—and this wouldn’t be possible without proper product traceability!
- Compliance with regulations: If federal agencies such as EPA require certain types of data from manufacturers or distributors in order for their businesses licenses to remain valid, then such legal requirements should be met accordingly.”
What sets top-tier ERP systems apart from the rest?
The first factor to consider is integration with other systems. How will your ERP system integrate with your internal operations and external partners? Can it be integrated with a variety of third-party software, including CRMs, inventory management systems, and databases?
The second thing to look for is the automation of your processes. What functions do you need to be automated in order for the system to work for you? Does it have a workflow feature that generates alerts when a document or transaction needs approval from another department? Is there automatic data entry so employees can focus on other tasks instead of manually entering information into multiple systems?
Thirdly, how well do this solution offers reporting and analysis functionality so that you can make smarter decisions based on real-time information? For example: How often do reports get updated automatically, so they’re always accurate; how much time does it take to pull together reports; what types of graphs or charts are available right out of the box (or via add-ons); who else can access these reports besides those who run them regularly (e.g., upper management)?
We review product traceability and the role ERP can play.
Why does product traceability matter?
Product traceability is an important part of any company’s supply chain management (SCM) strategy. Why? Because it helps businesses stay compliant with regulatory requirements, and it can also help you identify issues in your SCM process before they become too big to solve.
How does ERP help with product traceability?
ERP solutions are designed to integrate with other systems to create a single view of all data across your supply chain. This gives you a single source for actionable insights into what’s happening at every step of the process—from ordering raw materials through manufacturing, shipping, warehousing and distribution, right up until customer delivery.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that ERP is the ideal solution for product traceability. ERP systems are designed to meet all your business needs and give you the flexibility to customize them as needed. With an ERP system in place, you can easily track products from their source all the way through the purchase. By doing so, you will have complete control over your supply chain and easily trace any product back to its origin.
