Restoring consumer confidence means that supply chains need to work harder to tighten controls, improve visibility across their processes, and provide a joined-up picture of a product’s journey from the field or factory to the customer’s front door. The following white paper explores the traceability challenges facing organisations as they make, process, distribute and sell products, the reasons they now need to overcome these barriers, how they might approach this, and what they stand to gain as they achieve greater transparency both throughout their operations and along the supply chain.

1. Squaring the circle: Transforming
traceability in the supply chain
Executive Summary
From the food we eat and the medicines we take to the gadgets we buy and the vehicles we
drive, consumer buying choices used to be based on trust. But this trust has been eroded over
time by a spate of media scares which have led customers to question the integrity of brands
they once relied on.
As a result, customers are now paying much closer attention to the information available about
a product’s origins, and the processes involved in making and bringing goods to market.
Restoring consumer confidence means that supply chains need to work harder to tighten
controls, improve visibility across their processes, and provide a joined-up picture of a product’s
journey from the field or factory to the customer’s front door.
The following white paper explores the traceability challenges facing organisations as they
make, process, distribute and sell products, the reasons they now need to overcome these
barriers, how they might approach this, and what they stand to gain as they achieve greater
transparency both throughout their operations and along the supply chain.
www.advancedcomputersoftware.com/abs
Version 1.0 0413 Copyright Advanced Business Software and Solutions Limited 2013
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Introduction
Whether companies are making or handling food items, pharmaceutical goods, electronic
devices or vehicles, the ability to trace individual products right back along the supply chain to
their original source is now paramount. This traceability must extend to individual ingredients,
raw materials or components, and the processes and transitions involved in getting products
to market. Growing concerns about the exact content of foods, the integrity of meat supply,
animal welfare, working conditions for people, and environmental factors means consumers and
regulators are becoming a lot more interested in the detail on product labelling.
Increasingly, the primary reason for improving product traceability is customer confidence.
Industry regulators are demanding greater transparency too – not only for health and safety
reasons, but also so that advertising claims can be substantiated or contested. That includes
statements about a product’s organic/’natural’ status, its carbon footprint, and ethical properties
(such as Fair Trade and ’free range’), as well as testing and quality control processes.
Another common driver is risk reduction. Here the emphasis is on ensuring that any faulty
or contaminated product batches that have already entered the market can be located and
contained quickly, so that companies can avoid the huge cost and brand damage associated
with blanket recalls. Transparency is also important in establishing cause and responsibility if
something goes wrong.
Achieving comprehensive traceability isn’t easy however. Information capture and recording
behaviour and methods vary considerably from one industry and one company to another. The
greater the number of raw materials/ingredients involved, and the more involved and complex
the supply chain, the harder it is to maintain a clear line of sight across a product’s journey.
Yet manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers cannot dismiss the requirement.
Failure to respond to consumers’ demands for more granular product information could result in
a loss of business.
Large retailers and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers which are now expected
to show increased detail to consumers will push that requirement back down the supply
chain, preferring to do business with suppliers that can support them in their transparency
and traceability initiatives. From the farmer and the production facilities they serve, to the
chemical manufacturers providing raw ingredients to pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies,
no link in a supply chain can escape the need to capture, record and pass on accurate and
exact traceability data. Having insufficient resources or inadequate technology is no longer an
acceptable excuse for a company not to do its bit.
What is traceability?
Traceability, in the context being considered here, is the ability to verify the history, location and
application of a specific, identified product from creation to the point that it is brought to market
– by means of continuous tracking and recording. To be of comprehensive use, detail must be
recorded about where the product (and its constituent parts) came from; where each element
has been along the way, and when and what happened to it at each stage.
The more detail that can be captured, and the more this can be preserved in its original form to
protect its integrity, the more reliable and valuable it becomes. Often, traceability information
is compromised and detail is lost as a product passes from one company to another along the
supply chain – for example as raw materials are combined in a manufacturing or processing
plant, or as goods are repackaged and rebranded.

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As supply chains become increasingly global, consistency in information provision can be
particularly hard to maintain – for example where manufacturers and distributors may be
working to different requirements and standards, recording different information in different
ways.
Information about where and how products have been processed, stored and transported
is important too. These factors could have a bearing on quality, freshness, or scope for
contamination/cross-contamination (with implications for allergy sufferers, or general health and
safety, in the case of food).
Information also needs to be location- and time-specific, so that in the event of an issue
companies are able to pinpoint which production line was involved and which workers were
on shift. Date and time information is also essential to ensure that the use-by date of a final
product reflects the shelf life of all raw materials.
Traceability is particularly important in the food industry, and for other products where quality
is critical - such as medicines, medical devices, safety equipment, products for babies and
children, and vehicles and their components. But it also has value in almost all industries, for
reasons of quality control, regulatory compliance, risk reduction associated with product recalls,
and the ability to support the increasingly stringent requirements of OEM customers, retailers
and consumers.
Some notable sector-specific requirements are outlined below.
Food & beverage manufacture and supply
The food and drink supply chain is the UK’s single largest manufacturing sector and accounts for
7% of GDP. The sector employs 3.7 million people and is worth £80 billion per year. But Britain
imports 40% of the total food consumed, according to Global Food Security, and the proportion
is rising.
The UK horsemeat scandal of 2013 highlighted everything that can go wrong in a complex
supply chain where traceability is compromised. The controversy arose when several lines of
supermarket foods, including frozen lasagnes and burgers labelled as beef products, were found
to contain horsemeat.
The initial uproar was down to the fact that eating horsemeat is taboo in the UK. But, even
more sinister was that the event uncovered large-scale mislabelling across the packaged meat
products industry, with multiple cases emerging of cheaper products being used to replace or
bulk out more expensive meats. Reports pointed to cross-contamination of chicken with beef
and pork waste, causing anger and distress to those whose religion dictates that they avoid
pork.
The ensuing crisis in public confidence as consumers realised they could no longer trust what
they were eating led to a massive slump in sales of processed meat products. In the supply
chain, meanwhile, a blame game began as farms, processing facilities and supermarkets each
denied responsibility for the deception.
Under EU law, ’traceability’ means the ability to track any food, feed, food-producing animal
or substance that will be used for consumption, through all stages of production, processing,
storage and distribution. Current European requirements around food traceability are set out at
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/foodlaw/traceability/factsheet_trace_2007_en.pdf.

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But what the horsemeat scandal showed was that the existing measures have not been robust
enough to prevent fraudulent practice.
As a result of the scandal and its aftermath, the European Commission has been working
towards extending mandatory origin labelling of all types of meat used as an ingredient in
foods, and the unprocessed meat of sheep, goat, pig and poultry, to improve the level of food
information provided to consumers. Mandatory origin labelling could be extended to other
unprocessed meats such as horse, rabbit, game meat, etc, as well as milk; milk as an ingredient
in dairy products; single ingredient foods; unprocessed foods; and ingredients that represent
more than 50% of a food.
For consumers, confidence will be restored only when there are much stricter controls in place
and when there is complete, unambiguous labelling that is more closely monitored and vetted
by the authorities.
Consumers are paying closer attention to food and drink for many other reasons too. Already
more likely to check labelling for information about fat, sugar and salt content, customers
increasingly also want to know more about the source of products – for example whether they’re
British and local, or whether they are Fair Trade. Interest in organic and free-range produce
is on the rise again too. Concerns about genetically-modified produce and the potential for
‘outcrossing’ are also causing consumers to pay more attention to food packaging. Meanwhile
those with allergies or other diet restrictions want to be sure that they are successfully avoiding
ingredients they can’t or don’t want to ingest.
Also under review are best-before and use-before dates, as a better balance is sought between
food safety and unnecessary waste.
For complete consumer confidence, food producers and handlers need to be able to offer as
much detail as possible about how products came from the field and factory to their table.
Origin labelling and the traceability chain behind it needs to go deep, pinpointing where the
product was grown, bred and made – down to the country, county, farm, field or greenhouse,
and even the precise plant or animal, and the conditions in which these were grown or bred.
This level of information is not only important for consumer safety, and confidence about food
quality and integrity, but also so that contamination or infection outbreaks, environmental
issues, and localisation targets can be monitored and managed.
Pharmaceutical/medical devices
In common with the food industry, the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors have
strict labelling and traceability requirements, largely because of safety considerations. The
implications of product recalls can be severe. In July 2013, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay a
£14 million settlement following claims that it had misled investors about quality control failures
leading to recalls.
Industry regulations are being added to all the time. For example, the introduction of the
Falsified Medicines (FM) Directive in June 2011 tightened the regulation around the supply of
drugs within the EU. This was in response to estimates that about 1% of drugs sold within the
EU through legal channels were ‘fake’ - either not working or containing harmful substances.
The FM Directive introduces new rules to regulate the supply chain more rigorously and reduce
any risk to the public.

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In parallel sectors such as cosmetics, transparency is also needed to ensure controls over animal
testing are observed right along the supply chain. There has been a recent clampdown here too,
with a series of additional requirements introduced under a new EU Directive.
If adverse effects are found in medical products, it is vital that the affected products are recalled
swiftly, and origin information and supply chain traceability ensure that this can happen. Medical
devices are subject to similar controls to those governing drug supply. In this sector, the PIP
breast implant scandal has been one of the contributors to new traceability requirements which
will soon be introduced across Europe. Stricter monitoring and certification procedures will
be required to ensure full traceability of medical devices. The aim ultimately is to establish a
standardised unique device identification (UDI) with global application.
In a life sciences context, traceability involves being able to pinpoint the original batch a
product came from, and the same for all of its source components. Information needs to be
captured and made accessible on expiry dates, quality assurance (QA), supplier controls and
conformance, and the audit trail preserved across branding variations, and any changes in
packaging. Continuity must be preserved and time-specific information captured for each touch
point along the processing and supply chain.
Electronics & hi-tech manufacture
Now that almost every aspect of life and work is automated and controlled by electronics, the
reliability of those machines and gadgets is more critical than ever.
For the manufacturer, quality control is vital to maintain the customer experience and reduce
risk to the business through brand damage and costly recalls if defects appear in finished
products due to faulty components. In some cases, failing electronics can be a safety hazard; at
the very least they are an annoyance and an inconvenience, and no manufacturer wants to see
business drain away as their brand suffers poor online reviews or a public blasting over social
media.
In December 2013, TVs produced by the now defunct US electronics manufacturer Coby had to
be recalled after electronic components were found to fail, catch fire and ignite nearby items,
posing fire and burn hazards. As the company had gone out of business, eight retailers stepped
up to voluntarily recall the televisions. Earlier that year in the UK, Hotpoint had to recall 71,000
dishwashers, also following fire fears after consumer association Which? identified electrical
component failings in a small number of cases.
Staying competitive in an aggressive global market means maintaining high levels of quality,
while keeping costs under control. But if components are being sourced from the other side of
the world, maintaining consistent standards isn’t straightforward. Traceability not only enables
the compliance needed to gain quality stamps, it also helps to maximise supply-chain efficiency
by keeping production lines flowing, while minimising product issues.
In the electronics sector, traceability has direct application in:
• Parts tracking;
• Reverse logistics (returns, etc);
• Warranty information/serial tracking of raw materials and finished goods;
• QA clearance;
• Packaging (ensuring that items are packed in suitably protective packaging);
• Safe storage, handling and transport of high-risk/temperature-sensitive items.

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Automotive industry
The automotive industry is highly controlled too, and traceability’s role again is to ensure quality
and reduce risk, through close monitoring of everything that goes into making and testing a new
car. No car brand wants to be associated with driver safety concerns, and product recalls can be
a costly and logistical nightmare.
In early 2014, respected British car manufacturer Aston Martin was forced to recall a staggering
75% of all cars it had built over the previous five years after it came to light that a Chinese
supplier had used fake materials in its vehicles’ accelerator pedals.
In the automotive sector, traceability has particular application in the following areas:
• Parts control, for example when multiple suppliers provide same parts at different times;
• Part versioning, which can lead to obsolesce;
• Supplier QA conformance;
• Production line history (including information about which finished products components
have been used in);
• Recall data.
Transforming traceability with technology
Given the costly implications for companies that aren’t on top of supply chain traceability, it is
surprising that improving this capability isn’t an urgent priority. Yet too many organisations still
see this as an expensive cost that adds no value to the business. They also perceive end-to-end
traceability as an onerously complex challenge to overcome, because of the different parties
involved.
Where companies have no choice but to make significant improvements, for the sake of
regulatory compliance and/or to win back customer confidence, one approach is to employ Six
Sigma style process changes to ensure a comprehensive approach to quality control. If they
get their own house in order, they will be in a stronger position to fight their own corner in the
event of a problem, and to work with partner organisations along the supply chain to extend any
improvements.
To combine reliability with efficiency, however, companies need joined-up technology: an
optimum blend of systems and software that can capture and record the right information at
each stage, so that it can form part of a holistic, traceable record of an individual product’s
journey.
Start with what you have
It is a misconception that achieving traceability automatically requires new systems. Often, a lot
of the information required for product traceability already exists; it is just that it is distributed
across a number of disparate systems and cannot be easily consolidated to create the holistic,
bigger picture that is now needed. If an investment in new software is needed, it may only be to
pull all of the fragmented data streams together in a central place (unless any manual processes
remain which also need automating).

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More often the barriers or gaps appear between organisations, up and down the supply chain. In
a food supply chain, a market garden farm may be attentively recording information about each
lettuce it takes from the ground, recording information about where it was grown, when it was
harvested, tracking each plant from the soil to a tray, pallet, and the particular picking machine
and operator involved. Unfortunately, though, weaker links along the onward supply chain could
undo all this good work.
At this point of origin, product information is at its richest. But once the produce leaves its
source, the traceability line often gets weaker as detail is lost. Advanced shipping notifications
(ASNs) typically only pass on basic information about the type and quantity of products on a
pallet. And with each subsequent process – for example as the product passes to a wholesaler
and is repackaged – more information is separated from the item, and lost forever. As the
product moves on to a shop or production environment (where it is used to make something
else), only the tiniest level of detail is carried forward with it. If a problem is discovered down
the line, or the consumer has a complaint, the issue becomes hard to trace because the
information chain has been broken in several places.
What’s needed to overcome this is a flow of information between systems and between the
different parties along the supply chain so that data richness is preserved on an end-to-end
basis and traceability isn’t compromised.
All parties need to work more closely too. A more controlled and compliant supply chain will be
achieved if there are fewer relationships, each of which is more tightly bound. This will help pave
the way for the integration of systems and sharing of information – not just for the purposes of
product traceability but to keep suppliers abreast of trends and projections that will help them
predict demand.
An integration specialist will be able to knit together a wide range of different systems so that
they can interact and exchange information. An effective way to achieve this is using web
services that preserve the integrity of existing systems but allow these to be interrogated
remotely over a secure network, on demand.
Purpose-built tools exist too, to enable reliable supply-chain data exchange between different
systems, allowing ASN or production information to be converted for use in an overarching
supply chain management system – one that maintains complete tables of data across the
entire cycle of a product’s creation and delivery to market.
Although use of the cloud isn’t essential to bring all of this together, managing all of this
consolidation and end-to-end traceability via a remotely accessible central resource can help
reduce administrative processing. This could enable correct labelling to be printed locally in
China at the point of manufacture and put straight onto pallets, so that all of the providence
information is shipped with the product, embedded in the label or radio frequency identification
(RFID) tag. This could cut inbound processing work by as much as 80% as the goods are
received, because all of the ‘paperwork’ has already been taken care of electronically.
Other technology developments aiding supply chain traceability are standards such as
universally recognised GS1 barcodes, and the XML format for exchanging and displaying data
electronically. In due course, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are expected to become
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The options for data capture are broadening all the time too, making it easier for companies to
create rich information directly at each touch point – for example through the use of ever more
sophisticated mobile devices, voice recognition and portable document scanning (for capturing
driver notes, etc at the point of receipt, for example).
Specific functionality aiding traceability
To establish a comprehensive picture of a product’s journey that will fulfil operational, regulatory
and consumer requirements for traceability, manufacturers, suppliers and distribution partners
should be looking to develop and join up capabilities in all of the following areas:
Pre-receipt and receipt
• Generation of source data at the point of creation in the supply chain eg. factory, farm,
processing etc - providing labelling and pre-advice data for shipment. This could include
country, region, factory/farm, and machinery ID data, for example
• Transport information – e.g. detail about the voyage, vessel, shipment, container, vehicle
etc, with information from each point of contact
• Receipt-of-goods information, created using mobile devices along with pre-advice data,
maintaining links to the point of origin (which alone could enable up to 80% reduction in
administration effort and time)
• General receipt – the ability to capture multiple references including batch codes, lot
references, use-by date, best-before date, manufacturing date, etc
• Capture of temperature at receipt and put-away, creating an audit of environmental control
• Time- and date-stamped information about all movement, complete with operator identity,
allowing full contact information to be maintained
• Capture of serial details for each item, including all constituent parts.
• In-house actions
• Quality control, covering hold and release processes, grading, quarantine periods,
certificate/reference capture, each activity being date-stamped so that the quality process
can be reliably audited
• Stock adjustments, allowing variations in units to be captured with references and
reasons, and details of who ordered and made the adjustments
• Scrap/disposal details – the recording of full ‘who, what, why, when, where’ information
related to the destruction of any items
• The ability to maintain origin information throughout any reassembly or repacking of a
product for onward use or to create a new brand profile.
Allocation and assignment
• Tracking of orders placed, and of the stock required to fulfil the order - as determined by
the client or the ERP/sales order processing system. Allocation criteria might be based
on default settings, a requirement to use only items from a specific batch or area of the
warehouse, measures to ensure stock rotation by expiry dates, and so on
• The ability to complete and record tasks and allocations with time and user information, so
handling information is complete
• The ability to record information about alternatives/exceptions when selected and allowed,
enabling operators to make informed operational decisions while ensuring that the data
remains accurate and that controls are safeguarded – so that if it’s acceptable to swap in
another item where this would make sense, this is permitted and recorded, but an alert is
issued if this action would breach the requirements for the current task.

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Consumption
• The ability to ensure that items issued to production are time- and user-stamped, and that
this information is recorded along with information about the point of consumption, e.g. a
machine or process
• Time- and user-stamped recording of items selection for despatch, along with details of
the vehicle the products are loaded onto, the route being taken and the delivery address
• A means of re-scanning items returned from production back into store, maintaining their
origin and history information, including details of the machine they have been returned
from
• The ability to record and reconcile items returned from a despatch attempt, matching
information to original despatch and other historic data
Crucially, each of these processes needs to be recorded against the individual item as well as
every item, vehicle, person, machine, process, location, etc that it is in contact with throughout
its journey along the supply chain.
Next steps
While the technology to achieve a comprehensive line of sight along a product’s path from
original source to the end customer does not need to be anything revolutionary, success will
require skilled integration so that all of the selected data sources contribute to the bigger picture
- in a way that’s consistent, secure, reliable and of real business value. If the information being
compiled does not aid traceability at the point and time this is needed, all of the effort involved
in creating the audit trail will have been worthless.
Because wider supply chain traceability depends on the involvement of multiple parties,
individual companies may find it difficult to drive and effect all of the changes needed to deliver
a step change in visibility and compliance. Again it may be useful to engage the help of external
specialists, for example industry-sector advisors and software integrators. They will be able to
apply known best practice, and piece together fragmented systems so that they can exchange
data and create an uninterrupted flow of related information.
As ambitious an undertaking as all of this might seem, many companies already have the
necessary building blocks; it’s just that they aren’t yet working in harmony to deliver the insight
needed.
A logical progression of stages to work through might look something like this:
1. Begin by looking at the current and then the required capture and management of data.
As such activities grow, so must the knowledge of how to use the data to achieve the end
results needed.
2. Next, consider information openness across your company’s own supply chain. By making it
easier for partners to access information, companies will start to improve transparency and
foster a culture of collaboration, reducing the danger of cover-ups.
3. Establish a clear audit trail, whether system or paper based, along the supply chain – one
that can be used practically, ie. which yields usable insight in a reasonable timeframe.
4. Employ good, sound processes for quality control, such as Six Sigma or the equivalent.
5. Play an active role in relevant industry organisations where you may pick up useful advice,
and benefit from peer experiences. Communication and ideas-sharing is invaluable. Explore
how other industries handle traceability too, especially if they are further down the line.

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Developing a business case for supply chain traceability initiatives will first involve an
assessment of the negatives being avoided – i.e. the potential cost of the risks of non-compliance,
the impact on future sales if products are sub-standard, and the cost to the
business if large-scale recalls are ever required. Then there are the positive efficiencies and
controls that will be introduced if there is a clearer line of sight across production and along the
supply chain. Ultimately, waste should go down and productivity up.
Greater operational visibility provides an opportunity to challenge decisions, consider options
and make new choices. Administration efficiency alone could drive down operating costs and
help get products to market faster. Until companies are better able to see and measure what’s
going on, their scope for improvements will be limited. Once information is rich, reliable and
connected, on the other hand, the potential to improve quality and increase sales will grow.
At the very least, simply knowing the information chain is robust will lift market and customer
confidence, and if customers are more confident they are more likely to buy.
Conclusion
Running a tight, auditable supply chain isn’t rocket science, but getting it right is something of
an art. Waiting for legislation to create the catalyst for improvements will be inevitable in some
sectors, but taking this as the sole influence is likely to drive up the cost of products to the
consumer. Looking for the strategic internal benefits from traceability is the key to maintaining
competitive pricing – through stronger supply chain relationships (allowing negotiation of better
terms), tighter quality control (reducing risk and waste), and improved productivity and speed
to market.
If companies wait until they are forced to undergo transformation, they jeopardise their ability
to plan for these benefits. The advantage of taking steps while time is still on their side means
they get to gear the new measures to their own advantage as well as that of regulators and
customers.
But even now the clock is ticking as traceability rises up the agenda for governments and
industry authorities, so there is no time to lose.

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Source & resources
European Traceability Institute (ETI), February 2014: http://www.traceability-institute.eu/news.
html
Reports suggesting that food source controversies continue following the horsemeat scandal
uncovered in January 2013:
• The scale of the problem, BBC News online, April 2013: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
21335872
• ‘British’ pork found to be Dutch at Tesco: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
uknews/10312182/Its-all-Double-Dutch-at-Tesco-as-British-pork-chops-come-from-overseas.
html
New measures follow the crisis: Horsemeat: one year after - Actions announced and delivered,
European Commission, 2014: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/horsemeat/
UK food imports 2012 to June 2013: www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/
system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208436/auk-2012-25jun13.pdf
UK food imports, Global Food Security: http://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/issue/uk.html
Supply Chain Management in the Agri-Food Industry/Investing in Traceability, research report,
Queen’s University Management School, Belfast: http://www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/
ASSET/FileStore/Filetoupload,170541,en.pdf
Traceability in the Food Chain, A preliminary study, Food Chain Strategy Division, Food
Standards Industry, March 2002: http://multimedia.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/
traceabilityinthefoodchain.pdf
It’s time to scale traceability in the seafood industry, Guardian Supply Chain Hub, September
2013: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/scale-traceability-seafood-industry
Existing EU rules on food traceability, EU fact sheet/Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-
General, 2007: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/foodlaw/traceability/factsheet_trace_2007_en.pdf
Ethical product guide to Supermarkets, from Ethical Consumer: http://www.ethicalconsumer.
org/buyersguides/food/supermarkets.aspx
New EU law on food information to consumers and actions relating to origin labelling, European
Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/foodlabelling/proposed_
legislation_en.htm
J&J Agrees to Pay $22.9 Million to Settle on Drug Recalls, Bloomberg.com, July 2013: http://
www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-17/j-j-agrees-to-pay-22-9-million-to-settle-case-over-drug-
recalls.html
An update on the EU regulatory developments in the life sciences industry, Lexology.com,
November 2013: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=2b305acb-f5b8-4d8f-b812-
2a9873efce27
New rules on product transparency in the cosmetics industry, Speciality Chemicals Magazine,
December 2013: http://www.specchemonline.com/articles/view/new-rules-on-product-transparency-
in-the-cosmetics-industry#.Ux8EJM6O1rY

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Medical implants: better controls and traceability to ensure patients’ safety, European
Parliament News, October 2013: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/
content/20131021IPR22721/html/Medical-implants-better-controls-and-traceability-to-ensure-patients%
E2%80%99-safety
Research support for an informal expert group on (non-food) product traceability, Final Report
Prepared for the European Commission Directorate General Health and Consumers (DG SANCO),
October 2013: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/projects/docs/20131023_final-report_
product-traceability-expert-group_en.pdf
Can we handle the truth about the supply chain of our consumer goods?, Guardian Supply Chain
Hub, August 2013: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/truth-supply-chain-consumer-
goods
Eight Retailers Recall 32” Coby Flat Screen Televisions Due to Fire and Burn Hazards, PR
Newswire, December 2013: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eight-retailers-recall-
32-coby-flat-screen-televisions-due-to-fire-and-burn-hazards-235583641.html
Hotpoint recalls dishwashers due to fire risk, Which?, April 2013: http://www.which.co.uk/
news/2013/04/hotpoint-recalls-dishwashers-due-to-fire-risk-317231/
Traceability essential to bearing manufacture, Engineer Live: http://www.engineerlive.com/
content/traceability-essential-bearing-manufacture
Aston Martin recalls 75% of the cars it has built since 2008, Financial Times, February 2014:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cc250af8-8e7e-11e3-98c6-00144feab7de.html#axzz2veyQswDr
Manufacturers’ Guide to Recalls in the UK Automotive Sector, Vehicle & Operator Services
Agency (VOSA), gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
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