Pieces of plastic in chocolate bars, bacterial contamination of cream cheese, falsely declared ingredients in pasta-based ready meals - a food product may be recalled for any numbe...
Pieces of plastic in chocolate bars, bacterial contamination of cream cheese, falsely declared ingredients in pasta-based ready meals - a food product may be recalled for any number of reasons. As well as damaging the manufacturer's reputation, these situations often come at tremendous expense, with costs rising as the whereabouts of the end products become less clear. Not to mention that time is of the essence when it comes to product recalls. With identification systems and integration technology from SICK, foodstuffs can be identified at any point as they make their way from the producer to the end customer, providing the option of tracing them in real time and at item level with the click of a mouse should a critical situation arise. Bar code scanners in the CLV product families, Lector image-based code readers, ultra-high-frequency RFID systems, and 4Dpro - the auto-ID integration platform from SICK - are all technologies that can be relied upon when setting up track-and-trace solutions within the food industry. Bar codes, 2D codes, or electronic transponders are used to identify objects depending on whether they are individual items, primary and secondary packaging, pallets, trucks, or swap bodies. When it comes to deciding on which technology to use, it is important to take financial factors into account as well as considering the objects and processes involved. For example, a bar code can be printed onto an egg, while the cartons holding six or ten eggs can be labeled up with 2D codes and additional plain text, such as the best-before date.