Improving integration in supply chain traceability systems for perishable products

Traceability represents a major concern in supply chains of perishable products. Progress enables complex and integrated monitoring systems based on Internet of Things (IoT), continuous monitoring and real-time alerting. However, the adoption rate of these innovations is not fast enough due to the need of expensive equipment and a robust digital infrastructure. The use of inappropriate technology and the lack of standardization between different monitoring systems often causes data leakage during storage and transportation. The lack of a standard in the traceability tools also causes difficulties in merging the output preventing the formation of a seamless cold chain. This paper presents a decision support tool that helps practitioners to track and trace the perishable products at each stage of the supply chain. The tool gathers data from multiple sources with different data structures, merge the files and fill missing data with the aid of a routing tool and weather forecasting databases. The output of this tool is a unique file containing all the traceability data about the product during its life-cycle. The tool also visualizes the traceability data through the use of a Geographic Information System on OpenStreetMap.