Conceptual Design of Fully
Traceable Supply Chain for Bulk
Agricultural Commodities
Maitri Thakur
Dr. Charles R. Hurburgh
Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
NC-213: “Management of Grain Quality & Security in World Markets”
February 26-27, 2008
Omaha, Nebraska
Outline
Traceability
Chain Traceability
Traceability System Requirements
Internal Traceability
Conceptual Traceability Model


Entity-Relationship Model
Sequential Interaction Model
Concluding Thoughts
Traceability
Under European Union Law,
“Traceability” means the ability to track any food,
feed, food-producing animal or substance that will
be used for consumption, through all the stages of
production, processing and distribution
Traceability is a risk-management tool which allows
food business operators or authorities to withdraw
or recall products which have been identified as
unsafe
Traceability: ISO 22000
International Standards Organization (ISO) published
New Food Traceability Standard – July 11, 2007
Require that each company know who their immediate
supplier is and to whom the product is being sent, on
the principle of one up, one down
One weak link in the supply chain can result in unsafe
food, which can present a serious danger to
consumers and have costly repercussions for suppliers
Food safety is therefore the joint responsibility of all
the actors involved
Bulk Grain Supply Chain
SEED
PRODUCTION
FARMING
HANDLING
PROCESSING
DISTRIBUTION
Chain Traceability
SEED
PRODUCTION
TRACK
FARMING
HANDLING
PROCESSING
DISTRIBUTION
TRACE
Traceability System Requirements
Grain Traceability System
Seed Company
Record Farming
Practices
Record Breeding
Practices
Farmer
Authenticate Claims
*
*
*
Comply with Food *
Safety Regulations
Processor
Grain Handler
Protect Integrity
of Brand Name
Record Handling/
Storage Practices
Record Processing
Practices
Distributor
Document Chain of
Custody
Meet Consumer
Preferences
Retailer
Consumer
Internal Traceability
Every actor in the supply chain is responsible for
maintaining records that link the inputs with the
outputs
Internal processes:
Movement
Storage
Aggregation
Segregation
Transformation
Destruction
Internal Traceability:
Entity-Relationship Models
SEED COMPANY
PK
Company_ID
FARMER
Address
Contact_Person
Contact_Phone
BREEDING
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
Company_ID
Seed_ID
Time
Date
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
Company_ID
Seed_ID
Seed_ID
Seed_ID
Wholesaler_ID
Seed_Variety
Seed_Type
Field_ID
PK
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
PK,FK2
WHOLESALER
PK
HARVESTING
PLANTING
Farmer_ID
Crop_ID
Field_ID
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
PK,FK2
Farmer_ID
Crop_ID
Field_ID
FERTILIZER
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
PK,FK2
Date
Time
Date
Time
Farmer_ID
Crop_ID
Field_ID
Date
Time
SALE
PK
Record_ID
FK1
Elevator_ID
Wholesaler_ID
Name
Address
ELEVATOR
sells_to
CROP
RETAILER
PK
Retailer_ID
PK
PK
Crop_ID
Field_ID
FK1
Crop_Name
Farmer_ID
Fertilizer_App
Lot_ID
Name
Address
sells_to
FARMER
SEED COMPANY
Lot_ID
Company_ID
Seed_ID
BUYS
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
PK
LOT
has
SALE
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
Time
Date
Time
Date
FIELD
has
Farmer_ID
Name
Address
GROWING
SEEDS
PK
PK
PK
Farmer_ID
Name
Address
FARMER
buys
PK
Elevator_ID
FK1
El_Name
El_Address
Record_ID
Internal Traceability:
Entity-Relationship Models
ELEVATOR
PK
Elevator_ID
has
LOCATION
PK
PK
Location_ID
Elevator_ID
PROCESSOR
PK
Processor_ID
Pr_Name
Pr_Address
El_Name
El_Address
manufactures
has
PK
Scale_Ticket
FK1
Farmer_ID
Load_ID
Qty_Bushels
No_Of_Lots
SHIPS
PK
Shipment_ID
FK1
PK,FK2
PK,FK3
BIN
PK
Processor_ID
Qty_Bushels
No_Of_Lots
Farmer_ID
PK
Processor_ID
FK1
Pr_Name
Pr_Address
Elevator_ID
Name
Address
PK
PK
Load_Id
Bin_No
FK1
No_Of_Lots
Qty_Bushels
Field_ID
Farmer_ID
has
PK
Ingredient_ID
Lot_ID
has
QUALITY
GRAIN
PK
PROCESSOR
INGREDIENT
Product_ID
Prod_Lot_ID
Ingredient_ID
Prod_Name
Prod_Date
Prod_Time
Bin_Depth
Bin_Capacity
GRAIN
FARMER
PK
PK
PK,FK1
Processor_ID
Lot_ID
Bin_No
has
PK
PRODUCT
BUYS
BUYS
Lot_ID
SALE
Qty_Bushels
Elevator_ID
Grain_Type
PK,FK1
PK,FK1
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
Product_ID
Prod_Lot_ID
Ingredient_ID
Dist_ID
Date_Sold
SELLS
DISTRIBUTOR
QUALITY
PK,FK1
PK,FK1
ELEVATOR
Load_ID
Bin_No
Moisture
Test_Weight
PK
Dist_ID
Dist_Name
Dist_Address
PROCESSOR
PK,FK1
PK,FK2
Dist_ID
Retailer_ID
FK3
FK3
FK3
Product_ID
Prod_Lot_ID
Ingredient_ID
RETAILER
PK
Retailer_ID
Ret_Name
Ret_Address
UML Sequence Diagram
Suspect Product
Farming
Handling
Processing
Distribution
Retail
Send Crop Data
Send Grain Data
Send Product Data
Send Product Data
Top Package::User
Request Additional Information
Request Additional Information for Suspect Products
Request Additional Information for Suspect Products
Request Additional Information for Suspect Grain
Return Necessary Information for Suspect Grain
Return Necessary Information for Suspect Products
Return Necessary Information for Suspect Products
Return Requested Information
IDEF0: Traceability System Development
Regulatory Compliance
Chain-of-custody Documentation
Regulatory Need
Business Need
Customer Preference
Develop
Traceability System
A0
Production Practices Documentation
Claims Authentication
Safety & Quality Assurance
Customer Satisfaction
Validation Certificates
Industry
Personnel Procedures
Standards
Control
Input
Process
Name
Mechanism
Output
Traceability System Development
Regulatory
Compliance
Procedure
Manual
Regulatory Need
Business Need
Determine
Traceability Plan
1
Customer
Preference
Implementation
Report
Implement
Traceability Plan
2
Performance
Report
Evaluate
System
Performance
3
Chain-of-custody Documentation
Production Practices Documentation
Claims Authentication
Safety & Quality Assurance
Customer Satisfaction
Validation Certificates
System
Validation
4
System
Maintenance
5
Industry
Standards
Personnel
Procedures
Grain Elevator Model
(Handling Specialty Grain)
Regulatory Compliance
(ISO)
ISO Certification
(Regulatory Need)
Segregate different
crops (Business Need)
Speciality grains
(Consumer Demand)
Traceability
System Manual
Determine
Traceability Plan
1
Implementation
Report
Implement
Traceability Plan
2
Performance Report
(QMS reports)
Evaluate
System
Performance
Audit reports
3
System
Validation
4
Production Practices Documentation
Quality Management System Documentation
ISO Certification
Customer Satisfaction
Validation Certificates
System
Maintenance
5
Industry
Standards
Personnel
Procedures
Concluding Thoughts
Traceability systems should meet business and
regulatory requirements while providing product
information
All actors in the supply chain must maintain internal
and external traceability systems
Businesses should share relevant information with other
partners
A request for traceability data should be responded to
as soon as possible (comply with regulations)
Failure at one point in the chain will result in the system
failure. A chain is only as good as its weakest link.
Thank you
Maitri Thakur
PhD Student
Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering
Iowa State University
Email: maitri@iastate.edu