PLM TrustLink Boosts Food Supply Chain Visibility with Impinj
This Impinj partner's RAIN RFID software solution surfaces actionable data to help reduce food waste, enable timely deliveries, and help keep consumers safe.
Facing challenges in fresh food supply chains
The path of a crate of lettuce from farm to fork is an arduous one, and the journey is rife with potential pitfalls. As produce moves through the supply chain from grower to processor to distributor to restaurant, food companies need accurate and timely handling to ensure the product reaches its destination fresh, on time, and in the exact quantity the customer requested.
But the journey isn’t always successful. Sometimes pallets are accidentally loaded onto the wrong truck, and that case of lettuce ends up at an ice cream shop instead of a restaurant. With the freshness clock ticking, the lettuce is typically discarded, creating unnecessary food waste and leaving the restaurateur scrambling to rewrite the evening’s menu.
And when perishables that require strict temperature controls, such as meats or cheeses, are late to their destination or linger at the loading dock due to misrouting, the outcomes can be more dire.
Streamlining deliveries and surfacing data with RAIN RFID
Software solution provider and Impinj partner PLM TrustLink® addresses food supply and distribution chain challenges with its cloud-based IoT management solution, using Impinj RAIN RFID products to enable full food traceability from farm to customer.
Designed for food producers, processors, distributors, grocers, and restaurateurs, PLM TrustLink’s track-and-trace solution integrates with a customer’s existing ERP and delivery systems to track boxes, cases, and pallets of fresh food that are affixed with RAIN RFID tags. As food travels through the supply chain, the solution tracks details about the products in near-real time as it makes stops along the way.
Orders are automatically monitored for quantity and quality accuracy as they encounter RAIN RFID-enabled checkpoints. With the PLM TrustLink solution, workers can visualize actionable data on tablets and smart devices. The end goal? Ensuring the right products reach the right customers at the right time.
How PLM TrustLink and Impinj improve food traceability
Here’s how PLM TrustLink’s RAIN RFID solution works:
At the producer: An apple farmer, for example, loads picked fruit into collection bins, then uses a mobile RAIN RFID label printer to print and encode labels embedded with Impinj M700 series or Impinj M800 series RAIN RFID tag chips. The tag chips can hold identifying information about the tagged products, including fruit type, batch number, harvest location, and date picked. The labels are affixed to the bins, then the bins are sent to a facility for processing. The PLM TrustLink software now maintains the product information as a “digital twin” in the cloud, enabling items to be tracked throughout the supply chain.
At the processor: Here, the apples are sorted according to size, type, and other specifications. The processor combines this new information with the farmer’s product information, creating new RAIN RFID labels that are affixed to new bins and pallets destined for a distribution facility. Before the repackaged fruit leaves the processor, employees use handheld RAIN RFID readers from Impinj partners to read the labels, wirelessly capturing the product data.
At the distributor: A refrigerated truck transports the containers of fruit to a wholesale distributor. When the apples arrive, they pass through an entry portal featuring an Impinj R700 series RAIN RFID fixed reader that automatically reads the RAIN RFID tags on the containers — even if they aren’t within direct line-of-sight — and PLM TrustLink’s solution matches them against the containers’ digital twins in the cloud. A green light on the portal indicates the products are correct, clearing the shipment to continue its journey.
When the distributor receives a customer’s order, workers sort the fruit into smaller cases. These new shipping and storage cases get new RAIN RFID labels with new tracking numbers, and the PLM TrustLink solution updates the digital twins with new data. The cases are then loaded onto pallets, wrapped, and transferred onto a truck for delivery to a store or restaurant.
At the restaurant or grocer: At the fruit’s destination, the delivery driver, restaurateur, or grocer can ensure the order is correct by waving a handheld RAIN RFID reader over the pallet, capturing the information on the cases’ labels in seconds without individual scanning. The PLM TrustLink software verifies the product data against the electronic manifest, checking for correct count, SKU, freshness date, and recall information.
Impinj is a world-class provider of RAIN RFID tag chips and RAIN RFID readers that are certified and tuned to work in concert with PLM TrustLink.
Optimizing food’s journey along the supply chain
PLM TrustLink relies on RAIN RFID to help companies enhance transparency, traceability, and trust in their fresh food supply and distribution chains. Solution benefits include:
Timely action in case of recalls
When news breaks about tainted food, time is of the essence. The sooner an item is removed from the supply chain, the lesser the chance of people becoming sick. PLM TrustLink’s RAIN RFID-enabled solution provides immediate and detailed insight into the origins and location of perishable items — down to the case level — so their source can be identified and recalled items can be removed.
Accurate deliveries for stores and restaurants
Drivers often make after-hours deliveries to grocery stores and restaurants using paper manifests to confirm orders, opening the door for human error. PLM TrustLink’s solution tracks a delivery’s entire journey from its origin, matching the products against an order’s electronic manifest at checkpoints along the way — including at drop-off.
Less food waste, lower costs for customers
In food supply chains, misdelivered perishables with a short shelf life can’t be easily returned like a jacket or a pair of shoes. If an extra case of tomatoes is misdelivered to a grocery store, the food may not sell before it spoils. Conversely, to safeguard against potentially lost deliveries, end customers may order extra tomatoes that ultimately go unused. PLM TrustLink’s RAIN RFID capabilities ensure every item in an order is counted accurately and the right customer receives it, minimizing the possibility that food ends up in a landfill.
Faster, more accurate processes with RAIN RFID
Food producers, processors, distributors, and others who track perishable food using barcodes must scan each case one-by-one to access product data — a process that takes time and is prone to error if a barcode is misread or overlooked. RAIN RFID’s ability to read items from up to 10 meters (30 feet) away without direct line-of-sight — even when stacked in cases or packed tightly on pallets — makes reading items 20 to 25 times faster and delivers a 25-30% increase in read accuracy over barcodes.
Delivering trust through the Impinj platform
For companies and enterprises, full visibility into their supply chain is important; in the case of perishable food, it’s critical. The PLM TrustLink track-and-trace solution relies on the Impinj platform of best-in-market tag chips, fixed readers, reader chips, and partner handheld readers to ensure food is accurately tracked throughout the supply chain.
PLM TrustLink and the Impinj Partner Network
Impinj partner PLM TrustLink offers cloud-based IoT management platforms for supply chain ecosystems. Learn more about PLM TrustLink and the Impinj Partner Network, and read how RAIN RFID and the Impinj platform can help companies track every thing throughout their supply chains.
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Friday, October 4, 2024
ABOUT THE PARTNER
PLM
PLM TrustLink™ is a comprehensive cloud-based IoT management platform for supply chain ecosystems. PLM TrustLink™ provides real-time, automated, condition-monitored, track & trace, and analytic solutions that digitize products in supply & distribution.
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Impinj products deliver connectivity for this solution
Tag Chips
Impinj RAIN RFID tag chips provide unique identifiers and enable smart, connected things (endpoints)
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Readers
Impinj RAIN RFID readers are smart edge devices that identify and locate connected things
Learn more