Matiq, the information technology subsidiary of Nortura, Norway's largest food supplier ,has joined with IBM to use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track and trace poultry and meat products from the farm, through the supply chain, to supermarket shelves. Currently the food manufacturing industry is facing both government regulations and industry requirements for quality and traceability.
The tracking solution will help ensure that meat and poultry products are kept in optimal condition throughout the supply chain. The system calls for product packaging to be tagged with RFID chips to help ensure that products are kept in optimal condition.
Norwegian suppliers and supermarkets use software that complies with GS1 EPCglobal's Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard -- which allows sharing of RFID data across and between enterprises.
"Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of food quality, safety, origin and traceability. This creates greater pressure on manufacturers to keep track of every component in the manufacturing process, in order to ensure that their products are safe for the consumer," said Are Bergquist, CEO of Matiq.
At the core of the system will be IBM's WebSphere RFID Information Center, software for enterprises seeking to share product movement information with trading partners which are also using EPCIS compliant solutions.
