De-mystifying Serialization and Track and Trace – PART II

In my previous blog I started to explain how serialization and Track and Trace work. Here is the completion of my explanation in a very basic format.

Track and Trace also requires the capability of tracking each individual unit of sale backwards through the process by simply scanning the serialization code on the unit. The database should allow the pharmacy dispensing the product to be able to scan the unit and tell where that unit has been since its inception and even the exact batches of raw materials used to make it.

There can be much more information required to be tracked inside this system. For example, some companies require a double blind serialization system where two independent employees set up the same serial numbers for a batch of product and the system makes sure they ‘match’, thereby catching a potential mistake by one individual. The system may also require passwords for access to some or all of the data.

This is a very simplified description of a complicated software process and each company will need to set its own parameters for data creation, storage, collection, interaction and retrieval. If you want to see how New England Machinery can assist our customers in adding Track and Trace to the beginning of the packaging line, or inclusion in an existing system, please stop by our booth (#1442) at the Pack Expo International 2012 show, Oct. 28-31, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.