- Capturing and Managing Origination Data
- Automatically Populating Data Fields
- Repository of Certification and Testing Data
Mojix has announced the release of Source, its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and app intended to make first-mile traceability easier and lower in cost for raw material suppliers in agriculture or other industries. With Source, origination data is attached throughout the supply chain to the last mile for end-to-end visibility. The multi-enterprise traceability platform’s creation was the result of the FDA Traceability Challenge, but Source’s addressable market for supply chain transparency goes beyond food safety, the company reports. It can help businesses achieve corporate social responsibility objectives and reduce brand risk in nearly any industry, Mojix indicates, through product authentication, quality assurance and supplier control.
A year after winning the FDA competition, Mojix has announced the project’s public launch. The firm says it has applied its supply chain management experience to field-related issues in the food industry. The solution was built in response to queries from food brands obligated to go beyond “one up, one back” and provide traceability program records within 24 hours of a data request. According to the company, Source is the outcome of two years of R&D focused on the tracing of items for the comprehensive and accurate origination of raw materials and ingredients.
With Source, origination data is attached throughout the supply chain to the last mile for end-to-end visibility.
Capturing and Managing Origination Data
The challenge, Mojix explains, was to capture and manage origination data. Manufacturers know their direct suppliers (one back) and direct customers (one up), but supply chain intelligence usually ends there, the company notes. Data uncertainty increases as businesses try to gain clarity upstream to the original materials composing items, which can hinder nationwide or global withdrawals and recalls, Mojix reports. Combined with partner technologies, the company says it can multiply recall speed to completion tenfold by indicating, for example, how many cases of a given lot are at specific distribution centers, warehouses or restaurants.
The market for raw materials and ingredients in the food industry is fragmented, heterogeneous and often unstandardized, Mojix explains. Production units are, for the large part, small to medium enterprises with limited technological capabilities. The greater part of the data related to harvesting, packing, shipping and storage of original ingredients is still paper-based—and when it is digitized, it remains siloed, Mojix adds, not connected to the rest of the supply chain’s information systems.
The first objective, the company says, was to make sure field workers could give a serialized identity to their production via a smartphone, regardless of their working conditions. The app was built with encoding capabilities and onboarding features so companies could understand and automatically access GS1 standard lot codes (Electronic Product Code Information Services, or EPCIS) and create universal establishment identities (global location numbers, or GLNs). The app requires minimal input from users and automates repetitive actions. It produces standard labels in any format (barcode, QR code or RFID) that can track items or lots throughout their lifecycle.
Automatically Populating Data Fields
In addition, Mojix indicates, the app comes with recognition technology enabling it to automatically populate data fields from available documents, such as purchase orders or invoices. The platform is interoperable and connected to entire supply chain. According to the company, Source can capture item- or lot-level key data elements (KDEs) and critical-tracking events (CTEs) from the first mile, then connect this data to the rest of the supply chain, creating full item and lot lifecycle visibility.
The IDs created for items or lots, and the data associated with these IDs, is aggregated and managed within the platform. Source stitches together relevant KDEs and CTEs in conformity with U.S. regulatory requirements. According to Mojix, food brands, quick-serve restaurants, grocers and distributors worried about the record-keeping requirements in the upcoming Rule 204 need only onboard suppliers to automatically produce traceability reports in a format acceptable for authorities and shareable in a single click. Once suppliers are registered and using Source, they become compliant by default with any other potential client that have similar requirements.
The SaaS platform’s edge-to-cloud technical architecture enables scalability, multi-enterprise and multi-software integrations, the company explains, to ensure that relevant data is shared with stakeholders on a real-time basis. As with all encoding technologies, the item or lot, because of its unique and universal code, becomes the bearer of this data and the link to enterprise information systems. Users need not rely on transactional documents to trace the nature or origin of a given lot or item, the company reports, while the lack of intermediation makes the data more reliable and accessible.
Repository of Certification and Testing Data
All the collected data can be shared and be stored in one place, since Source acts as a repository for information related to certification and laboratory testing. With a single click, users can obtain the history of an establishment (its GLN), based on auto-testing, external testing and certifications. Rules and workflows for validation of the data entered can be added for increased data integrity, and the information can be connected to a blockchain.
Mojix says Source allows for brand protection, supply chain management, the meeting of regulatory requirements, and brand risk management. Furthermore, eco-conscious consumers are forcing brands to sign quality, sustainability and social-engagement charters in order to track their progress. By bringing end-to-end transparency to a supply chain, Source is designed to help them certify that progress, control providers’ raw materials’ provenance and give end consumers information about the products they buy.
Key Takeaways:
- Mojix’s Source software-as-a-service platform makes first-mile traceability easier for raw material suppliers.
- With the platform, origination data is attached throughout the supply chain to the last mile, enabling end-to-end visibility.