Feasibility of Bulk MaterialFeasibility of Bulk Material Traceability

Charles R. Hurburgh, Jr., Professor, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

ithwithBrittini Brown, Gretchen Mosher, Maitri Thakur, Greg Bennett

Howard Shepherd, Chad Laux, Gunsu Gemesi

Traceability is a Multipurpose A ti itActivityAbility to trace the history, application or location of an

entity by means of recorded identifications. (EU #1830)#1830)Respond to security threatsRespond to food safety problems Document chain of custodyDocument chain-of-custodyDocument production practices (eg. organic)Meet consumer desires or social preferencesP id f t / lit if itProvide safety/quality assurance or uniformityProtect integrity of brand name; control riskAuthenticate claims (eg. Regional foods)R l liRegulatory complianceImprove logistics and reduce production costsOrganized, uniform response to unusual conditionsCarbon footprinting

Information at Each Step!

Process Mapping – at the Farm Level

Tracking Unit – Farm Level

Farmers Cooperative CompanyOd b lt F ilitOdebolt Facility

• First Site for ISO Certification

• Replicate at Other pLocations

Bulk Grain HandlingBulk Grain Handling

Tracking Bulk Grain• Initial bin assignment all inbound tickets• Data fields for other information related to scale ticket• Date, time stamp establishes position within bin• Current technology – all possible scale tickets

in every outboundin every outbound.• Translation – any tracking is a process of

elimination• Where the grain cannot be.• Reduce the possibilities with

management decisionsmanagement decisions• Controlled movement• Grain quality management

Grain Traceability-Steady Improvement

Average traceability i d i i

Second SetFirst Set Second SetFirst Set

Traceability Index (Precision)

index improving over time

127Complete Data

1522Locations

127Complete Data

1522Locations

Locations with high traceability index lacked QM systems

====================

Tracking Index====================

Tracking Index

Low index values at manageable levels

98Low

945942High

227374Average

98Low

945942High

227374Average

98Low 98Low

September 2007: 20 recalls; TI = 160; Range 3 - 1130p gJuly 2008: 26 recalls: TI = 145; Range 5 - 698

Cost-BenefitSummary for QMS

Operation Cost Savingsp gGrading $1,085Inventory Control 10,675Operations Efficiency 2,180Regulatory Compliance 5,300Employee Development 3 400Employee Development 3,400

Total $22,640Cost of QMS $11,250Ratio: 2:1

One location – four months - 2002

Copyright © 2002 Iowa State University and Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company

Supply Chain Mappingpp y pp g

Feed Inputs

Dairy Farms

Dairy Processor

•Date Received•Supplier•Bill of Lading •Operator•Silo Destination•Sil L l

•Silo SourceP d t

•Filler IDP d t D i ti•Silo Level •Product

•Product Total•Product Destination•Cream Destination•Cream Total

•Product Description •PT Tank Source•Date Received•UPC Number•Sell By Date•Cooler Location•Pallet ID•Quantity•Product Destination•Route ID•Order Number

Summaryy• Traceability relates to product quality, safety,

security and authenticitysecurity and authenticity. • Traceability of bulk commodities can be

more accurate than generally believedmore accurate than generally believed. • Traceability = operational efficiencies.• Traceability back through farming operations• Traceability back through farming operations

to land parcels? Would create management information as well as food safety.information as well as food safety.

• Quantitative (amounts) vs probability (odds)

SummarySummary• The best system will become the regulatory and

world trade standard. • International standards must prevail; ISO

22000/22005/22006 already• How precise will be good enough?• Gaps:

– Ontology, linkages and models– Operating practices integrated with tracking integrated

with cost efficiency integrated with Carbon tracking.with cost efficiency integrated with Carbon tracking.– Application templates designed around cost analysis and

assessment of objectives.

See Proceedings fromgAgricultural and Food Traceability Conference

June 2009