1. COLD STORAGE
Traceability, Productivity and Compliance
Labeling Requirements (such as GS-1) are driving
the fresh food industry to use barcode technology—at
the dock-side, in the field, at the production line and in
storage.
Receiving CHALLENGE
Being in the fresh food business means getting short shelf-life
Inventory Management products to market as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
Wholesalers and retailers are becoming more demanding
Case & Pallet Labeling
and the processors, in order to comply with new require-
Lot Traceability ments, are using bar code technology in increasing numbers.
SOLUTION
Shipment Verification
Alaskan fish processors have been using SIMBA software for
Automated Bill of Lading & over 25 years. It was designed in the late 1980’s with the
Manifests purpose of reporting daily production to management and
sales. Since then, the system has expanded to include print-
ing compliance labels, tracking inventory, shipment verifica-
tion, and complete lot traceability for food safety.
FLEXIBILITY
The fresh food industry encompasses everything from fish to
produce to meat and poultry to berries and citrus fruits. Each
product has its own unique challenges for production, han-
dling and food safety. The following is a discussion of avail-
able and scalable solutions for cold storage companies when
handling fresh food products.

2. FRESH FOOD STORAGE & TRACEABILITY—DYNAMIC SYSTEMS INC. www.a-barcode.com
Cold Storage companies are most often request. No processing or commin-
managing products owned by their cus- gling is required. Traceability is more
tomers. This “temporary custody” of fresh simple—keep track of the drums by lot
product includes the requirement for con- until shipped and report to the manufac-
firming item/quantity/location, for lot trace- turer.
ability, for maintaining freshness, and for
SOLUTION
shipment verification.
The software solution for Scenario 1 may
include:
Barcode Labeling: Upon receipt, the
facility may print a barcode label that ties
to the pertinent details in an inventory
management database or on an excel
spreadsheet. The database details
could include grower, lot number, prod-
uct code, date received, storage location.
Inventory Control: If the drum is within
the facility, a simple scan of the barcode
label and entry (or scan) of the new loca-
SCENARIO 1: Receive/Store/Ship
tion code updates the inventory software
In this example the Cold Storage company database.
is an inventory location for the product
Palletizing: Some product traceability
owned by their customer and performs no
and inventory management software so-
value-added functions.
lutions provide for accumulating units
The facility may be the first point of owner- (drums, cartons, etc.) onto a pallet and
ship of the product for their customer. For tracking all units with one “pallet label”.
example, a berry jam manufacturer pur-
Shipping & Shipment Verification: Once
chases cooked berries from a number of
the owner of the goods requests a ship-
local growers. The drums of berries are
ment, that transaction may be captured
shipped directly to the 3rd party cold stor-
in the software and, in more advanced
age facilities who hold the product in a
systems, the Manifest and Bill of Lading
temperature-controlled environment until
may be automatically produced.
they are needed for a production run.
The manufacturer has required the cold
storage facility to report upon receipt of the
drums - which grower sent the berries,
what is the product code and quantity? -
and to ship specific drums to them upon

3. FRESH FOOD STORAGE & TRACEABILITY—DYNAMIC SYSTEMS INC. www.a-barcode.com
USING BARCODE FOR SCENARIO 1 commingle lots or perform any process-
SOLUTIONS ing may chose a fairly straight-forward
Inventory Management Software. A cou-
Print Barcode Labels/Store on Database:
ple of features to look for:
This solution is the simplest and includes 3
pieces. • The ability to store an item in multiple
locations. Not all inventory manage-
• Barcode Label Printer: Prices can
ment software allows for this, and a
range from a low of $500 up to $4,000
problem can occur if there isn’t
enough space in a specific location
for the quantity on hand.
• The ability to track lots. Again, this is
not always available and will be criti-
cal for any cold storage company with
traceability requirements.
Inventory management software has a
wide range in price also. It can be pur-
depending on the number of labels
chased from as low as $2,000 to highs of
printed in a time period. Most require-
$500,000 or more for those that have
ments can be addressed for about
advanced warehouse management fea-
$1400.
tures.
• Label Design Software: A single-user
When choosing mobile barcode devices
version that will allow printing from an
think about your environment.
excel spreadsheet or database will run
about $450. The least expensive
mobile pda’s are the
• Stand-alone or networked PC: The PC
most fragile. Ware-
doesn’t have to be very powerful. It
house locations are
just needs to have a USB port for the
notoriously hard on
printer and minimal memory/storage.
equipment, so you will want a hardware
This solution is the least expensive, the solution that has a high IP rating. (IP65
easiest to install and the easiest to use. It is sealed from dust and sprayed water;
does not address the need to record in- ask about the “drop test” and get one
ventory locations, palletize or verify ship- that can withstand multiple 6’ drops to
ment information. It does provide lot trace- concrete).
ability as long as a lot number is captured
If the mobile devices will be used in
in the database.
freezers it’s best to get ones that are
Moving to the more advanced solutions, a “non-condensing”. This means they
Cold Storage facility that is not required to won’t fog up when being used.

4. FRESH FOOD STORAGE & TRACEABILITY—DYNAMIC SYSTEMS INC. www.a-barcode.com
SCENARIO 2: COMMINGLING OR is recalled, so are Lots A&C in their en-
PROCESSING AND STORING BY tirety. This can get expensive.
LOCATION AND DATE A better method is by using a carton
tracking scheme. The software accumu-
Commingling is when product from differ-
lates carton data, defining which cartons
ent lots (perhaps even different species)
contain which Lots. Then when Lot B is
are mixed together in a new carton. This
contaminated, only
can happen when the Cold Storage facility
cartons B, A/B and
is asked to complete an order fulfillment
B/C are recalled.
function for their customer. Processing
This tracking
happens when the facility actually alters
method (re-boxing
the product (cuts into fillets, adds ingredi-
lots by carton)
ents, etc.) To maintain lot control and
would also pertain
traceability, the software used must have
to any recalled in-
re-boxing or commingling functionality.
gredients in proc-
You will find this only in software specially
essed foods.
designed for fresh food.
For a Cold Storage company, the risk of
TRACK BY LOT OR BY CARTON?
a cooler or freezer malfunction must also
There are two methods of maintaining be considered. If that happens, the car-
traceability: (1) track the lots as they move tons in that location at the date of the
through the supply chain; (2) track lots malfunction should be tracked and de-
within cartons as the cartons move stroyed. Again, unless the lots are
through the supply chain. tracked within each carton, the risk of
having to recall the entire lot rather than
If a simple lot tracking method is used, as the affected cartons is a real possibility.
lots are commingled, all the included lots
are considered contaminated in the case THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPMENT
of a recall. For example: VERIFICATION
Lot B is Commingled with a portion of Lots Every company has had shipment dis-
A&C (see diagram). Because there is no putes. Ideally it would be possible to re-
way in a straight-forward lot tracking tain proof of what was contained in a
scheme to differentiate which portions of specific shipment. Using a method of
Lots A&C have been commingled, if Lot B shipment verification (sometimes called
“van loading”) solves this problem.
As cartons are accumulated onto pallets
and loaded onto vans, each is accounted
for using a barcode scanning application.
Each carton number is assigned to a van
and included on the manifest.

5. FRESH FOOD STORAGE & TRACEABILITY—DYNAMIC SYSTEMS INC. www.a-barcode.com
USING BARCODE FOR SCENARIO 2 .Other key features to look for:
SOLUTIONS
• Ease of use—make sure the system
A system that address the Lot tracking re- can accumulate attributes, print bar-
quirements of Scenario 2 will include all of code labels and track cartons & lots
the features of the inventory management without too many key strokes
system in Scenario 1 plus the following.
• Speed & Flexibility—collecting that
much information can take time if the
data collection scheme isn’t efficient.
• Track by Carton—we’ve already dis-
cussed how tracking lots within car-
tons will save money.
• Shipment Verification—record ship-
ments by carton and van number to
satisfy any disputes.
CONCLUSION
Printing the Carton Label: A carton label
The use of barcode in Cold Storage envi-
may be as simple as a serialized number,
ronments can be key to a well-run and
as specific as a GS-1 label, and as com-
profitable business. Solutions range
plex as a Costco-compliant label.
from simple to very complex, and from
Whichever is the case, find an inventory inexpensive to over $1 million. It is im-
management system that allows for the portant that you list the key elements that
most complex label you can envision. will be required for your system to both
satisfy your customers and provide you
Boxing, Re-boxing and Commingling: with access to the information that you
The requirements for Commingling and Re need to run your business at the highest
-boxing are unique to products that have level of efficiency, accuracy and profit-
the potential of recontamination or recall ability.
(fresh foods, drugs). It’s important to find Learn more at:
a software solution that accounts for these
http :// www. a- b ar c ode . c om /s of twar e/f oo d-
situations by tracking expiration dates and
traceability/
lot numbers—and that has a tracking
scheme that mitigates losses in the case Call 800-342-3999 ext. 240
of a recall. The ability to track products by
various attributes (size, grade, owner, etc.)
is also unique and important in the fresh
food industry