Frequently Asked Questions

What is tracking and tracing?

Traceability in the Supply Chain

Today, European legislation (General Food Law) constitutes a set of requirements that each company manufacturing, distributing, importing and/or exporting products to and from Europe must comply with.

The first priority of product traceability is to protect the consumer and ensure a fast product recall. The second priority is to manage the economic aspects related to the company.

This is best achieved through the precise identification (tracking) and location (tracing) of all non-conform products within the Supply Chain.

Tracking is the capability to locate a product based on specific criteria wherever it is at each point of the Supply Chain. Companies must be able to identify and locate their products within the Supply Chain in order to recall them whenever necessary (one step forward principle).

Tracing is the capability to identify the origin and characteristics of a product based on criteria determined at each point of the supply chain. Companies must be able to determine the identity and source of products received in an accurate and fast manner whenever necessary (one step backward legal principle).

Achieving a consistently high level of product traceability requires continuous high quality registration of all goods movements in the Supply Chain. For this reason Schils introduced already in 2001 the fully integrated automation system SAP, which meets all aspects of tracking and tracing.