Key Ingredients to Successful Quality-based Traceability

In this week’s blog, I would like to outline the key elements needed in a successful quality-based traceability system.

Integrate Quality and Traceability Data
Traceability does not stop at one up, one down. Further due diligence includes reviewing documentation associated with incoming inspections, certificates of analysis, supplier non-conformances, supplier audits and regulatory compliance data. An integrated quality-based traceability system marries lot-level and batch-level traceability information with all required quality documentation.

Integrate Suppliers and Tiers of Suppliers into the System
Quality and traceability should extend beyond the four walls of the packer or processor. Having suppliers, along capture quality and traceability data, provides immediate traceability up or down stream, benefiting all companies within that supply chain. Availability to current specifications, test procedures, non-conformances and audits, as well as transaction-based electronic certificates of analysis (e-COA,) all provide the control needed for a complete system.

Automate COA Validation
Supplier’s performance against and compliance to a packer or processor’s specifications are currently manual and time-consuming practices with no value added in most companies. With integrated quality and traceability data in an online system, suppliers can provide shipment and e-COA data electronically where e-COA test data is immediately validated prior to shipment.

Eliminate Manual Entry of Data
Today most quality and traceability data exists electronically in various systems. An integrated quality and traceability system can collect data directly from suppliers and multiple internal systems electronically without the need for manual data entry or duplicate effort, leading to more complete, accurate and real-time data needed for effective traceability and root-cause analysis.