GTP:Transformations

From TraceFood

Guide to keep track of transformations

To be able to trace both backwards to find origin and forward to find all related units it is vital to record all transformations (split and joins) a trade unit is subject to. The four steps below specify how to keep track of transformations.

• Define the Trade Unit in the business under examination.
• Record IDs of received Trade Units (raw materials and/or ingredients). Here are two alternatives; 1) If the received Trade Unit has a unique ID, record it. 2) If the received Trade Unit does not have a unique ID, allocate one to it. If alternative 2, the TraceFood standard requires recording of some more information, specified in a table called ’Bringing in supplies from outside the TraceFood domain’.
• Record the ID of the Trade Units that go into the production, and give all produced Trade Units a unique ID. In practice, the ID of Trade Units that goes into production will at that stage be linked to a production batch (cf. Batch number). Every produced Trade Unit must be allocated a unique number (cf. GTIN+). In this way the ID of received Trade Units will be linked with the ID of produced Trade Units. This practice ensures forward traceability inside the business. Where possible and relevant, it is also recommended to record the fraction (%) and/or the net weight of each Trade Unit that goes into production.
• Record the ID of all Trade Units dispatched. Fulfillment of requirements in step 2-4 provides both a link between received and dispatched Trade Units (and the other way around), via the production process (called internal traceability), and a link to previous and next food business operator (called chain traceability). In the TraceFood standard the mapping of these relations are called transformation information. The figure below shows how relations are linked both ways through a business. Entire Trade Unit 11 is input factor in Trade Unit 21, while TU 21 is also made up by TU 12. Both fractions (%) and Net weight are indicated. In this figure the production step is removed, and only relation between received and dispatched TUs are shown.