Procurement Intelligence Unit

An experiment in the North Sea has successfully brought modern warehouse management techniques into the fisheries supply chain. Swedish fishermen attached radio frequency identification (RFID) to store, track and monitor cod deliveries. The potential savings are not just small fry, in a move that has proved highly popular with consumers, who were able to see where and when fish were caught.

The project is part of the European Union's SafeFoodEra food safety programme. Previously, fish monitoring was in the lap of the cods, with fishermen phoning through the size and location of their catch to the Swedish authorities and pencil-written notes passed to distributors.

In this trial, the fish were placed into reusable plastic storage boxes, attached with RFID labels, detailing the key catch information. The raw fish were then forwarded to the production line for filleting and were packaged into cardboard boxes that were also equipped with tags. The relationship between caught fish and fillet production was facilitated and recorded by an electronic product code information services software, which traced the information for downstream use. When the fish arrived at the shop, product details were available online, allowing the retailer to print out a traceability graph detailing the fish's source and route.

The most interesting element of this report was the involvement of warehousing and supply management within the fish stock industry. The trial of stocking information conveyed to customers proved very popular. For the participating retailer the experiment went swimmingly, with daily sales of cod increasing from only few kilos to over 150 kilos.

Although RFID technology is widely used in fish stock monitoring, and within the retail supply chain, this is the first such example of using this technology through the entire supply chain, from fish to dish.

The question for other users of supply chains is whether this cheap and efficient tracking software can be deployed elsewhere. Its potential use in the food chain is especially pertinent, where the visibility of these systems provide full coverage from seed to shelf and from farm to fork. Sensor-enabled tabs can also record environmental conditions to ensure that the produce has been stored in the correct temperature and humidity. This has the potential to forgo the large losses currently endured in perishable goods operations.

Considering the wide applicability of radio monitoring, in the drug industry it may well have prevented the infiltration of counterfeited Viagra into the Australian pharmaceutical supply chain. It will also ensure that the source of the drug originated from a credible manufacturer and that the drugs were produced with appropriate conditions.

The potential of deploying this technology has applications beyond the fishing industry, that will enable head-to-tail monitoring of stock throughout the supply chain. The data potential offered by RFIDs provide full supply visibility, efficient monitoring of stock and the potential to save a few quid.