Application of RFID in food production management

Malaysian Bird’s Nest Traceability Management

For many years, bird's nest has been considered a high-end tonic, especially the bird's nest from Malaysia, which is even more famous. However, since the incident of excessive nitrite in blood bird's nests in my country in July 2011, the identity and source of bird's nests on the market have also been questioned, seriously affecting the interests of regular bird's nest manufacturers. At present, the bird's nest market is experiencing a crisis of trust due to the rampant counterfeit and shoddy bird's nest products on the market, and there is no effective anti-counterfeiting mechanism in place, making it impossible for consumers to effectively differentiate between bird's nests produced by regular manufacturers. Moreover, the traditional bird's nest production and processing processes have not formed unified standards, making management inconvenient and production efficiency low.

In order to prevent illegal manufacturers from counterfeiting and substandard goods, Malaysian bird's nest manufacturers have applied RFID technology to establish and improve the bird's nest product traceability system. Consumers can obtain bird's nest raw materials, production, import and export and other information through the unique "Bird's Nest Code" query. ;Standardized the production, processing and sales process of bird's nest products, improved production efficiency, and guaranteed product quality; the establishment of a traceability mechanism enabled the company to regain the trust of the market, enhance the corporate image, and expand the company's influence; Bird's Nest Key information on production, processing and other processes is recorded into the information management system, which facilitates the management of the enterprise and helps improve the management efficiency of the enterprise.

In the process of importing bird's nests, a tear-off UHF RFID tag with a two-dimensional barcode is affixed to the outer packaging of each box of bird's nests. In retail Stores, consumers can inquire about product information through inquiry; when purchasing goods, they can return At home, you can use your mobile phone reading device to capture the QR code to verify product authenticity.

RFID technology can help monitor animal health and meat storage

German food industry company Livestock's business unit has developed an ultra-high frequency (UHF) system for tracking pigs using passive RFID tags and readers and its own software to manage the collected data.

Tracking the entire life cycle of pigs

In the recent RFID pilot, the focus was on the growth process of pigs to help the basic supply chain. This data will be shared with breeding pig companies, piglet companies, slaughterhouses and marketing agencies. For producers, this data can help them understand the entire life cycle of a pig and therefore understand how to improve the production or finishing process. Livestock can use this information to ensure the health of the animals.

The RFID pilot used UHF RFID ear tags and a handheld RFID Reader provided by Agritech. Cloud software is provided for managing RFID read data.

First, a few days after the birth of about 1,000 piglets, staff attached button-type UHF tags to the ears of each piglet. Each tag's unique ID number binds information about a specific piglet. This information is stored within the software. In addition, staff also use a handheld reader to read tags from 2 meters away, and then the software will bind it to the pig ID Card. When weighing, feeding or administering medicine, workers will use a card reader to read the ear tags and then transmit them to the server through a WiFi connection. Pigs are placed on trucks when transported to the slaughterhouse. A fixed RFID reader and antenna are installed on the truck to read the pigs on board. When slaughtered, the tag is read again, creating a complete life cycle.

Livestock management manager Heiner Strmer said that after slaughter, this information can be accessed by producers and other stakeholders. This way, they can analyze and adjust their production processes, such as the amount of feed or medicine used. Strmer reports that pilot results show that RFID technology is more efficient than traditional manual methods. He said: "First of all, each pig has a unique identification, which contains all life cycle data. The data will help relevant parties make improvements." Elmerhaus said that the pilot process encountered many challenges. The environment in which pigs are raised can cause damage to labels. This is also the reason for choosing UHF RFID tags. This kind of tag is more durable than HF RFID tags and barcodes. Strmer said that if the system works well, the company will deploy it permanently and share the technology with farmers. At the same time, Tnnies also plans to introduce new partners in the pig food chain, such as wild boar farms, sow owners and pig farms.