The authorities and major food retailers expect suppliers to perform rapid recalls. Image: Wikimedia Commons, Costco Bakery

Some retailers require food processors to produce traceability data within an hour. In any case electronic capture of materials tracking data is essential for rapid recalls.

The computer has to track suspect product back to its ingredients. It needs to determine which line produced the batch and who was involved. Failiure to provide this information may result in a total recall.

The BellHawk solution

Pre-emptive warnings

BellHawk replaces paper forms, and manual keyboard entry, with barcode scanners and wireless mobile computers. Process operators and material handlers use them to capture data at points of action. The system gives them a pre-emptive warnings of mistake such as selecting quarantined ingredient or the wrong packaging material.

Comprehensive tracking

1. Receipt and put away of each container of material by lot number and expiry date;
2. Quality status to make sure good raw materials and ingredients go into production batches;
3. Each container of product mix, its quality inspection record, and its use in packaged products;
4. Picking, packing and shipping of finished products;
5. Employees who worked on each step of processing and packaging;
6. Machines used in the process.

Full traceability

BellHawk provides complete end-to-end materials traceability history from each container of ingredients to batches of product and the customers they were shipped to. Product defects due to operator error, machine malfunction and contamination can be included in the tracking and traceability process.

Business information

From this data BellHawk is able to provide real-time business intelligence to:

• Customer support teams, on the status of orders, products and deliveries;
• Materials and production managers, on the status of inventory and work in proces;
• Business managers, on the actual cost of intermediate and finished products.