Benefits Of Traceability Research Articles

What you see is what you trace: a two-stage interview study on traceability practices and eye tracking potential

The benefits of traceability have widely been discussed in research. However, studies have also shown that traceability practices are still not prevalent in industrial settings due to the high manual effort and lack of tool support. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using eye tracking to automatically detect trace links to reduce manual effort and thereby increase practical applicability. We conducted a two-stage interview study in industry. In Stage 1 we interviewed 20 practitioners to provide an overview of how traceability is established in practice and how an eye tracking approach would need to be applied in order to be useful. In Stage 2 we conducted interviews with 16 practitioners from one project context to elicit role-specific workflows and analyzed which activities are suitable to obtain useful traceability links based on gaze data. As there is no one-fits-all solution to traceability, and technical limitations of eye tracking still exist, we collected information on used artifact types, tools and requirements management practices to adjust an approach to actual traceability stakeholders’ needs. We report on perspectives from different roles in software projects and give an overview of traced artifacts, current traceability experiences, as well as benefits and doubts concerned with using eye tracking to obtain links automatically. We discuss the implications for the evaluation and implementation of an automatic tracing approach in practice and how eye tracking can support requirements engineering activities.

Achieving Environmental sustainability through the adoption of industry 4.0: an exploratory case study within the information technology industry

Abstract In the present-day competitive business landscape, integrating Industry 4.0 has transitioned from a choice to a necessity for companies striving to maintain their edge. Given the automation functions of IoT, the data management and transformation capabilities of AI, and the traceability benefits provided by Blockchain, this imperative is now more evident than ever. While widespread interest in Industry 4.0 is prevalent, the uncertainties surrounding the implementation process pose notable challenges. For this reason, in this paper, we present a single case study of a firm that operates in the information technology market to showcase the implementation process and how they overcome the challenges of digital transformation. Furthermore, the effect of this implementation on environmental sustainability experienced by the company and three of its customers was discussed.

Fishers' communication as a critical factor for tuna catches and potential benefits of traceability draws small-scale Fishers to program

Traceability is the ability to determine the path of a product from purchase to consumption to determine when and where it originated. This paper aimed to determine the factors influencing fish catch among small-scale fishers in Davao Gulf and fishers' decision-making to participate in a tuna traceability program. This study was conducted in seven selected coastal municipalities around the Davao Gulf (Governor Generoso, Lupon, Malita, Santa Maria, Samal, Sta Maria, including Mati City) using semi-structured questionnaires with a total of N = 264 respondents. Survey results showed that socioeconomic (household size, years in community and fish catch sold and communication of fishers) and fisheries factors (number of fishing trips) influenced fishers' daily catch (P ≤ 0.05). While perceived benefits [β = 1.217 (S.E. = 0.572), X2 = 4.17 df = 1, P = 0.041] of tuna traceability to small-scale fishers could also influence the decision of fishers to participate in the implementation of a tuna traceability program. This study showed that the fishers were willing to be part of a traceability program that can sustain and increase the value of their fish catch (94% agreed) and help them export to premium markets. An important lesson from this study is that fishers’ communication may increase catch success which can then be documented under a traceability program. While perceived benefits of traceability can incentivize fishers to join such programs by having livelihood assistance (e.g. farm implements, fishing gear replacements, cash for work). This program has the potential to contribute to ongoing efforts to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and improve fisheries management.

A Traceability Framework to Enable Circularity in the Built Environment

The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) has been receiving an increasing amount of attention in the built asset industry. One of the key aspects of CE is traceability, which can enable the identification and tracking of materials, products, and their associated value throughout their entire lifecycle. However, achieving traceability has been challenging in the built asset industry due to the complex nature of construction projects and a lack of awareness about the benefits of traceability in achieving the circularity of building products and materials. Despite recent studies and efforts, a limited number of frameworks or guidelines exist to support traceability in the built asset industry. In many cases, several of the existing traceability standards, strategies, and guidelines must be identified and framed to support development and implementation of theories and models applicable within the built asset domain. This paper proposes a traceability framework consisting of five key components covering: the main purposes of traceability enabling CE principles, the role of traceability across asset lifecycle stages, the type of data needed to support traceability, the value of collaboration and coordination among industry stakeholders, and key enablers and drivers of traceability from technological and organizational perspectives. The proposed framework developed in this paper contributes to the effort aimed at framing the knowledge domain of CE through the traceability of products and materials in the built environment.

Traceability adoption in dry fish supply chain SMEs in India: exploring awareness, benefits, drivers and barriers

The illegal harvesting of seafood and the mislabelling of dry fish products have become more prominent in recent years. Traceability in the dry fish supply chain deserves research attention, especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a developing country like India. To implement the traceability system, it is necessary to identify the variables and their inter-relationships that influence traceability in a food supply chain. This research aims to identify the awareness, benefits, drivers, and barriers that affect traceability adoption in the dry fish supply chain. Data were collected from 226 dry fish supply chain stakeholders through a cross-sectional survey (both online and offline) in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, two central maritime states of India. A conceptual model is developed, and the inter-relationship among the factors underlying the traceability implementation is analysed through correlation matrices and multiple regression modelling. The results show that the Indian dry fish stakeholders moderately understand the traceability system. Product safety and quality are identified as the primary benefits of traceability, while quality concerns and food safety regulations are observed as primary drivers. The significant barriers are the cost of a traceability system, lack of a co-ordinator and lack of government support.

APPLICATION OF TRIPLE-ENTRY BOOKKEEPING WITH BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AS AN EFFORT TO PREVENT ACCOUNTING FRAUD

This study aims to find out how blockchain technology which is very popular in the world of cryptocurrencies can be applied to accounting as an effort to prevent accounting fraud. Where blockchain technology is packaged as a triple-entry recording system so that the level of security of recording transactions becomes more transparent and makes audit trails easier. The research method in this study is by descriptive and qualitative analysis methods, namely by collecting, presenting and analyzing the information / data obtained so that a fairly clear picture of the problem discussed can be obtained. The results of this study show that the application of triple-entry bookkeeping with blockchain technology offers the benefits of traceability, punctuality, protection against manipulation and high transparency. Triple-entry bookkeeping is a solution to solve transparency issues and fraud activity problems that have not been completely resolved so far.

Supply chain traceability: a review of the benefits and its relationship with supply chain resilience

There has been considerable recent growth in supply chain (SC) traceability research due to increased Industry 4.0 solutions and the potential of traceability systems to enable SCs to bounce back from a crisis, thereby having a long-term impact on firm/SC performance. However, to date, the relationship between SC traceability and SC Resilience (SCRes) has not been fully explored. Using a systematic literature review, this paper first provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art understanding of traceability to enable an appreciation of the inherent benefits of its implementation and its role in the improvement of SCRes. Building on this understanding, a conceptual framework is developed showing that there is a direct relationship between traceability benefits, such as improved risk awareness, and SCRes. The framework also demonstrates indirect relationships between these benefits and four enablers of SCRes: flexibility, velocity, visibility and collaboration. Finally, a future research agenda is proposed, including further development of this conceptual framework.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice on livestock traceability among cattle farmers and cattle traders in peninsular Malaysia and its impact on disease control.

The ability to trace the movement of animals and their related products is key to success in animal disease control. To ensure that a traceability system is optimized, livestock farmers and traders must have good appreciation and understanding about animal tracing. The present study examined the traceability of cattle in Malaysia vis-à-vis the domains of knowledge, attitude, and practice among cattle farmers and traders. A total of 543 farmers and traders in Peninsular Malaysia were interviewed. The results revealed that over 60% of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge and attitude about cattle movement and traceability. A lower proportion of the respondents (49%) were involved in appropriate practice that facilitated traceability of cattle. We found that the type of husbandry system and stakeholders' participation in livestock management-specific short courses were positively associated with satisfactory knowledge, attitude, and practice. A structured education and training program should be formulated to improve these domains so that the benefit of traceability becomes clear, paving the way to a successful traceability program.

Collaborative traceability management: a multiple case study from the perspectives of organization, process, and culture

Traceability is crucial for many activities in software and systems engineering including monitoring the development progress, and proving compliance with standards. In practice, the use and maintenance of trace links are challenging as artifacts undergo constant change, and development takes place in distributed scenarios with multiple collaborating stakeholders. Although traceability management in general has been addressed in previous studies, there is a need for empirical insights into the collaborative aspects of traceability management and how it is situated in existing development contexts. The study reported in this paper aims to close this gap by investigating the relation of collaboration and traceability management, based on an understanding of characteristics of the development effort. In our multiple exploratory case study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 individuals from 15 industrial projects. We explored which challenges arise, how traceability management can support collaboration, how collaboration relates to traceability management approaches, and what characteristics of the development effort influence traceability management and collaboration. We found that practitioners struggle with the following challenges: (1) collaboration across team and tool boundaries, (2) conveying the benefits of traceability, and (3) traceability maintenance. If these challenges are addressed, we found that traceability can facilitate communication and knowledge management in distributed contexts. Moreover, there exist multiple approaches to traceability management with diverse collaboration approaches, i.e., requirements-centered, developer-driven, and mixed approaches. While traceability can be leveraged in software development with both agile and plan-driven paradigms, a certain level of rigor is needed to realize its benefits and overcome challenges. To support practitioners, we provide principles of collaborative traceability management. The main contribution of this paper is empirical evidence of how culture, processes, and organization impact traceability management and collaboration, and principles to support practitioners with collaborative traceability management. We show that collaboration and traceability management have the potential to be mutually beneficial—when investing in one, also the other one is positively affected.

Preventing Defects: The Impact of Requirements Traceability Completeness on Software Quality

Requirements traceability has long been recognized as an important quality of a well-engineered system. Among stakeholders, traceability is often unpopular due to the unclear benefits. In fact, little evidence exists regarding the expected traceability benefits. There is a need for empirical work that studies the effect of traceability. In this paper, we focus on the four main requirements implementation supporting activities that utilize traceability. For each activity, we propose generalized traceability completeness measures. In a defined process, we selected 24 medium to large-scale open-source projects. For each software project, we quantified the degree to which a studied development activity was enabled by existing traceability with the proposed measures. We analyzed that data in a multi-level Poisson regression analysis. We found that the degree of traceability completeness for three of the studied activities significantly affects software quality, which we quantified as defect rate. Our results provide for the first time empirical evidence that more complete traceability decreases the expected defect rate in the developed software. The strong impact of traceability completeness on the defect rate suggests that traceability is of great practical value for any kind of software development project, even if traceability is not mandated by a standard or regulation.

Food supply chain: are UK SMEs aware of concept, drivers, benefits and barriers, and frameworks of traceability?

Purpose In this paper the degree of understanding of traceability concept, drivers, systems’ characteristics, benefits and barriers, and frameworks is tested with focus on UK small and medium businesses (SMEs) that operate in the food supply chain (FSC). Design/methodology/approach This study employs a survey strategy by means of a questionnaire that was sent to food and drink companies operating in the FSC. 164 SMEs answered the questionnaire. Answers were analysed by means of frequency distributions, coding, and pattern matching. Findings UK SMEs appear to have a moderate understanding of the definition of traceability. The main drivers for traceability implementation are product safety and quality, even more than regulation. It is also found that SMEs do not consider technology as driver to implement traceability. In term of frameworks employed, about half of the SMEs stated that they were regulatory compliant, and followed industry standards. Furthermore, in term of traceability systems’ characteristics, one out of three companies have a basic system in place (only regulatory compliant), while two out of three have a more sophisticated system, with many companies voluntarily tracing the material during the production process, while chain traceability appears not to be widely implemented. Finally, it is felt that the benefits of traceability outweigh the barriers/disadvantages, with the main benefits found in the area of crisis management. Nonetheless, it appears that many benefits are still unknown to SMEs, especially in relation to the firm’s operations/strategy. Some implications for government and managers are suggested. Originality/value This study fills the gap found in the literature where few recent academic papers focused attention on SMEs awareness of traceability in the FSC.

Consumer Attitudes Toward Mandatory Traceability and Labeling Systems for Farmed Atlantic Salmon

The food incidence of polychlorinated biphenyls in farmed Atlantic salmon in Canada and its subsequent effects on the demand for farm-raised salmon has induced policymakers and stakeholders to develop new policies on food safety. This article analyzes consumer attitudes toward mandatory traceability and labeling systems for farmed Atlantic salmon in Newfoundland and Labrador. It identifies factors affecting consumers' decisions to purchase the product. Results show that consumers, on average, perceive the benefits of traceability and labeling systems on farm-raised Atlantic salmon in spite of its driving up the product price.

Perceived Traceability Costs and Benefits in the Italian Fisheries Supply Chain

The paper proposes a model in which it is hypothesized that firm characteristics influence both costs and benefits of traceability. The proposed model differentiates between aggregate measures and specific categories, as well as between expected costs and benefits on the one hand and perceived actual outcomes on the other, and is tested in a series of regression analyses based on a survey sample of 60 Italian fish processors. The findings indicate that firm characteristics are not strongly associated with any specific cost or benefit measure. However, expected overall benefits are highly significantly impacted by firm size and the number of quality management systems certified, while actual overall benefits only by firm size. Finally, the study also finds considerable discrepancies between expected and actual costs and benefits. The managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Benefits of traceability in fish supply chains – case studies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how the seafood industry perceives benefits of traceability implementation. Furthermore, ex ante cost‐benefit analyses (CBAs) of adopting new traceability systems are conducted for two firms, operating at different steps of the seafood supply chains, to obtain preliminary knowledge on the net benefits of the project and on how costs and benefits are distributed among the actors.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case‐based study.FindingsThe surveyed companies perceive improving supply chain management as the most important benefit of traceability. Other benefits are increase of the ability to retain existing customers; product quality improvement; product differentiation; and reduction of customer complaints. However, the quantifiable benefits are perceived differently by the actors at different steps in the supply chains, e.g. implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on pallets in the seafood trading company case study shows tangibly quantifiable benefits.Originality/valueThe paper is useful for both practitioners and academics regarding perceived benefits of traceability in fish supply chains. The research provides initial insight into seafood companies' perspectives on the benefits of adopting RFID‐based traceability solutions. The paper suggests that the financial burden of implementing traceability may be borne by the processing firms, while gains are reaped by firms in the distribution business closer to the end consumer. This could provide a partial explanation as to why traceability has been slow to gain ground as a visible value‐adding marketing tool, and is mainly being driven by food safety regulations.

Traceability and management of dispersed product knowledge during design and manufacturing

Product development processes comprise highly creative and knowledge-intensive tasks that involve extensive information exchange and communication among geographically distributed teams. Due to the geographical and institutional separation between the different systems involved in the product lifecycle, product knowledge sharing is becoming a key issue in the information systems of extended enterprises. This paper addresses the issue and challenges of product knowledge traceability during the product development. The aim of this research effort is to enhance the sharing and use of product knowledge acquired during the development process using traceability information. A standardized approach is proposed to trace and share product knowledge and key constructs to support traceability during the product development process are identified and formalized. This research effort is based on the premise that an important step towards achieving product knowledge sharing is providing traceability across various product knowledge elements that are used in product development phases, i.e. design and manufacturing. Two disjointed but complementary case studies illustrating the benefit of traceability are presented. The potential role of traceability is described, first to support the decision making process during engineering change management (ECM), and second to support product-oriented modelling for knowledge sharing and exchanging to meet the quality requirements. The proposed approach has been implemented using the MEGA Suite tool and applied to each of the case studies and could be integrated to PLM systems currently in use.

Benefits of traceability in food markets: Consumers’ perception and action

Abstract Food traceability is generally considered as a tool which provides consumers with targeted information and which can facilitate the withdrawal and recall of food and feed products. The aim of this research is to examine Italian consumers’ perception of traceability. Two different products, chicken and honey, were examined in order to evaluate the main drivers of attitude and behaviour towards traceable food. The theory of planned behaviour was used as a theoretical framework to identify main attitude–behavioural relations. Scores on factor analysed and multi-dimensional concepts were used to segment consumers into clusters with different profiles of attitude, perception, trust and habit with regards to food traceability. The resulting segments were investigated for differences in willingness to pay and intention to purchase traceable chicken and honey. The findings could help to design targeted public and private interventions.