Dive Brief:
- The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI) said that as supply chains become more diverse, protecting the equity companies have established in many high profile brands could be challenging, according to Food Business News.
- Other obstacles include consumer purchasing methods expanding beyond brick-and-mortar stores, and third-party sellers hawking the same products.
- Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is one solution many believe can help, and PMMI holds that tech like blockchain, a database that tracks key aspects of a product as it moves throught the supply chain, will become a future standard.
Dive Insight:
According to supply chain experts, RFID ensures that the right goods are available in the right place with no discrepancies and zero errors. The technology enables the supply chain to be much more precise, and improves the efficiency and reliability of the entire chain — something vital to the success of food manufacturers.
The price of RFID tech could hinder adoption across the food and beverage supply chain for a few years, however. Still, the ability to track products from the beginning to the end of the supply chain is paramount to brand safety, and RFID can help protect areas of vulnerability, such as the ingredient sourcing stage.
For a grocery store looking to have better inventory of its products, RFID scanners can easily read tags and record hundreds of tags per second, saving valuable time for employees.
Blockchain is a helpful database that tracks key aspects of a product as it moves through the supply chain. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal noted that Wal-Mart will begin testing Blockchain during the first quarter of this year in its U.S. produce and Chinese pork supply chains.