PakSense and YottaMark partner on new Ultra T3 label
PakSense and YottaMark partner on new Ultra T3 label
Imagine a device that would allow for farm-to-fork traceability with integrated temperature monitoring and country-of-origin labeling capabilities.
Impossible?
Not for PakSense Inc. and YottaMark Inc., whose new Ultra T3 label, powered by HarvestMark, accomplishes all three.
"We've partnered with YottaMark to integrate our temperature-monitoring solution with their HarvestMark traceability solution that provides three food- safety tools in one product: farm-fork traceability with instant traceback to point of origin; integrated temperature monitoring as the product moves forward through the supply chain from shipper to distribution center to retailer that shows the environmental conditions that affected the product quality; and recordkeeping as required to maintain COOL compliance," Theresa Willerup, business development director at PakSense, told The Produce News.
Elliott Grant, founder and chief marketing officer of YottaMark, told The Produce News that both firms have been working on the new product for a year.
"We wanted to make sure the technology was really ready before we announced it, as there is a significant amount of development behind it," Mr. Grant said. "We are thrilled to have a relationship with PakSense. They have a terrific product and we think there are a lot of synergies between our companies. It leverages our expertise in secure data centers and their expertise in time and temperature tags. Previously, companies had to go to many different sources to put together a solution. Now the technology has matured enough to put all these capabilities together in one package. It really combines in a single solution some of the key capabilities that are necessary in the produce industry right now."
Mr. Grant noted that the PakSense label "generates a tremendous amount of data that was previously available only at the receiving docks. But by combining our capabilities to generate this new solution, we're able to upload that data to our secure servers so that it's available anytime and anywhere in the supply chain" using a secure data center that allows a client to type code in from any tag and get access to those data.
He said that "very often, companies don't want access to all the data, and the system provides different levels of authority to see different views of the data."
Ms. Willerup said that the traceability portion of solution allows for increased reaction time during a food-safety incident.
"If someone has a problem with a product, all they have to do is provide the unit-level code or bin-level [code] for a bulk product, and [the information] goes all the way back to point of origin where it was harvested or processed, and you can get all the information associated with that product including time, date, crew, field, ranch and all the other product along with it," she said. This reduces costs during food-safety incidents as users are able to identify and isolate the implicated product very quickly, and can distinguish non- implicated product and inform consumers and retailers which products are safe to consume, she said.
"We feel this tool will really give retailers and brand owners something that will let them establish themselves as leaders in food safety," Ms. Willerup added.
The temperature-monitoring tool allows users to monitor the quality of the product as it moves through the supply chain.
"When a load of product shows up suffering from poor quality, they can go back in and see the temperature conditions during transport and start to troubleshoot and isolate problems in the supply chain that are affecting product quality," she said.
"With respect to COOL compliance, because we are capturing the harvest info and shipping info as product moves through the supply chain, we address the requirements for COOL compliance both at origin and the final point of display through electronic records kept on product," she added. "This alleviates that worry and hassle that shippers, distributors and retailers are going to face as they go to implement COOL."
All records are maintained by YottaMark and are accessible via a secure on- line web portal that is password-protected. Since records are instantly accessible, firms can very easily comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's five-day rule if undergoing an audit or if there is a food-safety incident, she said.
"We can customize the product to clients' existing workflows so they won't have to change their processes just to be able to work with this solution," she added. "We want to be very low infrastructure and fit with their existing processes. This is very much a customized product, and clients can choose what portions they want to allow their customers to view."
"HarvestMark provides instant access to harvest data to anyone in the supply chain in a controlled fashion," Mr. Grant said. "Since this traceability information is instantly available, this makes it a value-creating capability, not a cost and a burden that companies have to bear. We've created applications that create value for the business, enhancing their brand with consumer trust and providing an on-demand, complete traceability solution."
Impossible?
Not for PakSense Inc. and YottaMark Inc., whose new Ultra T3 label, powered by HarvestMark, accomplishes all three.
"We've partnered with YottaMark to integrate our temperature-monitoring solution with their HarvestMark traceability solution that provides three food- safety tools in one product: farm-fork traceability with instant traceback to point of origin; integrated temperature monitoring as the product moves forward through the supply chain from shipper to distribution center to retailer that shows the environmental conditions that affected the product quality; and recordkeeping as required to maintain COOL compliance," Theresa Willerup, business development director at PakSense, told The Produce News.
Elliott Grant, founder and chief marketing officer of YottaMark, told The Produce News that both firms have been working on the new product for a year.
"We wanted to make sure the technology was really ready before we announced it, as there is a significant amount of development behind it," Mr. Grant said. "We are thrilled to have a relationship with PakSense. They have a terrific product and we think there are a lot of synergies between our companies. It leverages our expertise in secure data centers and their expertise in time and temperature tags. Previously, companies had to go to many different sources to put together a solution. Now the technology has matured enough to put all these capabilities together in one package. It really combines in a single solution some of the key capabilities that are necessary in the produce industry right now."
Mr. Grant noted that the PakSense label "generates a tremendous amount of data that was previously available only at the receiving docks. But by combining our capabilities to generate this new solution, we're able to upload that data to our secure servers so that it's available anytime and anywhere in the supply chain" using a secure data center that allows a client to type code in from any tag and get access to those data.
He said that "very often, companies don't want access to all the data, and the system provides different levels of authority to see different views of the data."
Ms. Willerup said that the traceability portion of solution allows for increased reaction time during a food-safety incident.
"If someone has a problem with a product, all they have to do is provide the unit-level code or bin-level [code] for a bulk product, and [the information] goes all the way back to point of origin where it was harvested or processed, and you can get all the information associated with that product including time, date, crew, field, ranch and all the other product along with it," she said. This reduces costs during food-safety incidents as users are able to identify and isolate the implicated product very quickly, and can distinguish non- implicated product and inform consumers and retailers which products are safe to consume, she said.
"We feel this tool will really give retailers and brand owners something that will let them establish themselves as leaders in food safety," Ms. Willerup added.
The temperature-monitoring tool allows users to monitor the quality of the product as it moves through the supply chain.
"When a load of product shows up suffering from poor quality, they can go back in and see the temperature conditions during transport and start to troubleshoot and isolate problems in the supply chain that are affecting product quality," she said.
"With respect to COOL compliance, because we are capturing the harvest info and shipping info as product moves through the supply chain, we address the requirements for COOL compliance both at origin and the final point of display through electronic records kept on product," she added. "This alleviates that worry and hassle that shippers, distributors and retailers are going to face as they go to implement COOL."
All records are maintained by YottaMark and are accessible via a secure on- line web portal that is password-protected. Since records are instantly accessible, firms can very easily comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's five-day rule if undergoing an audit or if there is a food-safety incident, she said.
"We can customize the product to clients' existing workflows so they won't have to change their processes just to be able to work with this solution," she added. "We want to be very low infrastructure and fit with their existing processes. This is very much a customized product, and clients can choose what portions they want to allow their customers to view."
"HarvestMark provides instant access to harvest data to anyone in the supply chain in a controlled fashion," Mr. Grant said. "Since this traceability information is instantly available, this makes it a value-creating capability, not a cost and a burden that companies have to bear. We've created applications that create value for the business, enhancing their brand with consumer trust and providing an on-demand, complete traceability solution."
