Traceability Process Research Articles

Research on a Traceability Process of Sand Core Information by Printing QR Code on Sand Core Surface in the Casting Production Process

The quality of the sand core directly affects the quality of the casting during the casting process. The establishment of an information link between the sand core and the casting can realize the traceability of sand core production and process data in the casting production. The technology can be used when casting defects related to the sand core occur and quickly respond to the causes and optimize the manufacturing process of the sand core making process. This article describes the necessity of establishing a traceability process for sand core making information and introduces a traceability process of sand core information in casting production to ensure that each sand core has its own production process information, which is for product quality management and process optimization. It provides information supervision and promotes the development of intelligent casting manufacturing technology and management technology.

Could the new dairy policy affect milk allocation to infants in Kenya? A best-worst scaling approach

Milk is an important food item in the diet of Kenyans, especially infants. During the last two decades, the dairy sector in Kenya has witnessed important growth in production and improvements in milk quality. The informal marketing channel still prevails, and the Kenya Dairy Board, the regulator of the dairy sector, is currently introducing new regulations to increase registration and licensing of smallholder producers and dairy business operators, improve product hygiene and quality, and safeguard the health of consumers. These new regulations encompass, among others, the requirement to pasteurize milk before it is sold and adopt traceability processes and quality tests; most of these will probably result in higher milk prices at retail level. Using the best-worst scaling approach in this study, we analyzed the potential effects of milk price increase on household milk purchase and allocation to infants (6–48 months of age). The results indicate that an increase in milk price will decrease milk allocation to and intake by children. Households will replace the lost infant milk intake by fruits or porridge that might not be of equivalent nutritional value to milk. Any reforms to policies and regulatory systems aimed at streamlining the dairy sector should account for impacts on milk prices, responsiveness of consumers to price variations and infant nutrition. We recommend that regulatory and development agencies consider interventions that do not increase price for consumers and facilitate access to affordable and safe milk for children and entire households.

Research on quality traceability of cigarette by combining PDCA quality cycle with information strategy based on fuzzy classification

For the weak part of the quality traceability ability of cigarette logistics and products, this paper proposes a quality traceability method which integrates PDCA quality cycle with information strategy. This method firstly establishes the quality cycle process of cigarette logistics through PDCA quality cycle process, and then constructs IS-PDCA process based on information strategy (IS) to analyze the quality traceability process of cigarette products. The key links are determined according to the traceability process of cigarette logistics, and the traceability resource scheduling function is determined through the product. Then, according to the determined scheduling function and RFID technology, the optimal allocation strategy is constructed to complete the feature extraction and classification identification of cigarette quality labels. For assessing the quality of cigarette evaluation, classification based on fuzzy is proposed and artificial neural network are utilized for calculating the grade of cigarette. Finally, a process of cigarette quality traceability combining PDCA quality cycle and information strategy is formed, and the quality traceability results are constructed by means of QR code technology, so as to realize the process system of cigarette quality traceability and improve the quality control ability of cigarettes. The simulation results show that the cigarette quality traceability method constructed in this paper can obtain the cigarette quality control with good adaptive performance, and the control process shows a strong ability, which improves the feasibility and effectiveness of the cigarette quality traceability.

Searchable Encryption with Access Control in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

The technological advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies lead to revolutionary advancements in many sectors. One of these sectors, is the industrial sector red that leverages IoT technologies forming the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). IIoT has the potential to enhance the manufacturing process by improving the quality, trace‐ability, and integrity of the industrial processes. The enhancement of the manufacturing process is achieved by deploying IoT devices (sensors) across the manufacturing facilities; therefore, monitoring systems are required to collect (from multiple locations) and analyse the data, most likely in the cloud. As a result, IIoT monitoring systems should be secure, preserve the privacy, and provide real‐time responses for critical decision‐making. In this review, we identified a gap in the state‐of‐the‐art of secure IIoT and propose a set of criteria for secure and privacy preserving IIoT systems to enhance efficiency and deliver better IIoT applications.

Adopted topic modeling for business process and software component conformity checking

Business processes and software components, especially class diagrams, have a firm connection. Considering software components support the business process in providing an excellent product and service. Besides, business process changes affect on software component design. One of them usually appears on the label or name of the software component or business process. Sometimes, a related business process and software component appears in the different label but the same meaning rather than using the same label. This situation is problematic when there are many changes to be made, in which the software component's modifying process becomes quite long. Therefore, the software maintainers should obtain an efficient procedure to shorten the modifying process. One solution is by using conformity checking, which helps the software maintainers know which software component is related to a specific business process. This paper compared two leading topic modeling techniques, namely probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA) and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), to determine which one has a better performancefor process traceability.

Focusing tube operational vibration as a means for monitoring the abrasive waterjet cutting capability

Abstract Abrasive waterjet cutting is a competitive manufacturing technology in the aerospace, defense and automotive industries which, as power users, require state of the art process performances in terms of stability and product assurance, due to their demanding quality standards. Meeting such requirements is a relevant technical challenge for abrasive waterjet cutting, due to insufficient monitored data and intrinsic process instability. The present paper describes an innovative approach based on non-invasive vibration sensors, for monitoring the jet cutting capability. This result is allowed by the experimental evidence proving that the operational vibration monitored by means of two accelerometers installed at the tip of the focusing tube is well related to the kinetic power of the abrasive particles, i.e. the only portion of the jet power that is responsible for the material removal in abrasive waterjet cutting. The approach is validated by means of an experimental investigation, in which the abrasive waterjet is fired at different water pressures and abrasive mass flow rates, providing different kinetic powers. The information delivered enriches the process knowledge, thus paving the way to significant improvements ranging from closed-loop control strategies for the water and abrasive feeding systems to actions for supporting operators in compensating drifts of the jet cutting capability. The expected impact is an improvement of process automation and stability, as well as an enhanced process traceability.

Towards a blockchain-based framework for traceability in compliance with GS1

Traceability not only meets the social needs of product information transparency and reinforces the trust of consumers, but also meets the needs of enterprises for brand protection and enhances the competition in markets. Since a traceability system collects every necessary information at every stage in a supply chain, it is also an efficient tool for monitoring and optimizing the production procedure. Adopting information technology to digitalize the business process is an inevitable trend to improve the efficiency in information management and especially quickly detect fraud problems. However, with the digitized process via a computer software system, the challenge remains as to whether digitized data is real. The reality shows that changing digital data is easier than paper-based data. Thus, it is necessary to have a digitalized process and a secure mechanism for ensuring transparency, correctness, and consistency of data leading to more efficiency in incidents detection and trace problems tracing. An emerging technology, Blockchain, has attracted more attention after its great success in finance due to various dominant features in preventing data changes even from the internal system. Technically, Blockchain is a ledger that records the entire transaction history publicly on a network of peer-to-peer computers of the time. One common ledger will be shared among all collaborative organizations in an ecosystem to ensure data immutability and undeniable responsibility, thereby enhancing data transparency. Therefore, applying Blockchain technology in agriculture will improve the current traceability process, aiming to increase the responsibility of the objects in the process and transparency of information for consumers. In this paper, we propose a framework that utilizes Blockchain to robustize traceability systems. Additionally, our proposed framework is compliant with the GS1 standard to achieve high reliability and compatibility on a global scale.

Traceability of Ready-to-Wear Clothing through Blockchain Technology

Traceability and monitoring of industrial processes are becoming more important to assure the value of final products. Blockchain technology emerged as part of a movement linked to criptocurrencies and the Internet of Things, providing nice-to-have features such as traceability, authenticity and security to sectors willing to use this technology. In the retail industry, blockchain offers users the possibility to monitor details about time and place of elaboration, the origin of raw materials, the quality of materials involved in the manufacturing processes, information on the people or companies that work on it, etc. It allows to control and monitor textile articles, from their production or importing initial steps, up to their acquisition by the end consumer, using the blockchain as a means of tracking and identification during the whole process. This technology can also be used by the apparel industry in general and, more specifically, for ready-to-wear clothing, for tracing suppliers and customers along the entire logistics chain. The goal of this paper is to introduce the more recent traceability schemes for the apparel industry together with the proposal of a framework for ready-to-wear clothing which allows to ensure the transparency in the supply chain, clothing authenticity, reliability and integrity, and validity of the retail final products, and of the elements that compose the whole supply chain. In order to illustrate the proposal, a case study on a women’s shirt from an apparel and fashion company, where a private and open blockchain is used for tracing the product, is included. Blockchain actors are proposed for each product stage.

Ten simple rules on how to write a standard operating procedure

Research publications and data nowadays should be publicly available on the internet and, theoretically, usable for everyone to develop further research, products, or services. The long-term accessibility of research data is, therefore, fundamental in the economy of the research production process. However, the availability of data is not sufficient by itself, but also their quality must be verifiable. Measures to ensure reuse and reproducibility need to include the entire research life cycle, from the experimental design to the generation of data, quality control, statistical analysis, interpretation, and validation of the results. Hence, high-quality records, particularly for providing a string of documents for the verifiable origin of data, are essential elements that can act as a certificate for potential users (customers). These records also improve the traceability and transparency of data and processes, therefore, improving the reliability of results. Standards for data acquisition, analysis, and documentation have been fostered in the last decade driven by grassroot initiatives of researchers and organizations such as the Research Data Alliance (RDA). Nevertheless, what is still largely missing in the life science academic research are agreed procedures for complex routine research workflows. Here, well-crafted documentation like standard operating procedures (SOPs) offer clear direction and instructions specifically designed to avoid deviations as an absolute necessity for reproducibility.Therefore, this paper provides a standardized workflow that explains step by step how to write an SOP to be used as a starting point for appropriate research documentation.

Design and development of quality traceability system for circulation of Chinese herbal medicine based on blockchain and NB-IOT

The safety of traditional Chinese medicine is an important issue of people's livelihood in China. The traceability process on the quality of traditional Chinese medicine is characterized by long duration, many links, and complex circulation process of traditional Chinese medicine, so the establishment and improvement of traceability system is key to the modernized development of traditional Chinese medicine. The circulation traceability system of Chinese medicinal materials, as an important part of traceability system for Chinese traditional medicine, is built according to the GSP standard by using the block chain technology to ensure the security of information circulation and the low energy consumption of NB-IOT technology, build a safe and reliable system with wide coverage and low cost technology, and provide safe and reliable technical support for the data collection and transmission. The Internet and cloud platform are used to collect, fill in and review the information in the circulation process of medicinal materials in real time. The third-party real-time validation is carried out by relying on the matter-linked sensing equipment to improve the accuracy of source information. The big data are fully used to build a portrait of integrity, crack down on counterfeit products, and maintain the brand image of authentic medicinal materials. System objects include medicinal materials distributors, government regulatory agencies and consumers, etc. By controlling each link of the drug circulation at different levels, the system strictly complies with the supply standard of traditional Chinese medicine, so as to form the information loop of the drug circulation and realize the whole-process supervision of the drug circulation. The system has user-friendly operation interface, comprehensive functions, simple and easy to use, with good portability and expansibility, which can promote all the people to participate in tracing the source, so as to develop a green and ecological chain for Chinese medicinal materials.

Industrial Internet of Things Systems for Tracking and Traceability of Production Business Processes

Abstract The article presents the results of research on the use of measuring devices based on RFID tags and graphic tags to track the increase in production. The conducted research experiments were made in a real production company, which is characterized by an average degree of digitization of its business processes and significantly uses the human factor in production. The conducted research allowed us to show the usefulness of measurement methods in tracking business processes, and to analyze the method of obtaining production data to achieve the traceability of manufactured components. The study also presents selected examples of IT systems in solving traceability problems (traceability and traceability of production).

Системный подход к информационному моделированию интеллектуального управления временными ресурсами в предметно-ориентированной области (на примере управления расписанием занятий университета)

Introduction. The paradigm of digital transformation of resource management in production systems is based on the intellectual integration of virtual and real processes with production objects (their attribute models). In this case, the platform (environment) for intellectual integration of virtual and real processes is the information environment of the subject-oriented domain. The functions of specialists (in this case) are reduced to the role of experts who implement the formal predicate knowledge prescribed in the relevant methods and job descriptions (documents). This ensures the properties of identifiability, traceability, and repeatability (complete rollback) of processes. Time resource is the most important factor in the organization of management of subject-oriented areas (VET). Automation of the organization's processes, planning and monitoring of time resources in real and virtual aspects is an important and urgent task. A schedule is one of the main components of organizing any process. It should be noted that the scheduling process is quite time-consuming and objective. Purpose of research. Consider a system model (system description) of the transformation of the schedule management process using a digital information platform that meets the requirements of the 4th level of maturity, allowing to solve current problems in a given aspect in VET. Develop a methodology for implementing this system model. Research methods used in the work: principles of system engineering methodology (process approach, life cycle, etc.); integrated approach and structural analysis of the design process using the SADT methodology (Structured analysis and Design Technology); functional modeling (in IDEFO notation). Results. A method of system modeling (system description of VET) of processes associated with time resources is proposed from the condition of formalized identifiability and traceability in the attribute model of VET. Using the example of UGATU, it is shown that this intellectualized system model (system description of VET) can be implemented in the form of a digital software analytical platform in the information space of the functional divisions of the educational institution specified in the description of electronic documents. Conclusion. The developed approach of system functional modeling based on a digital platform that meets the requirements of the 4th level of maturity allows solving actual problems of intellectualized management in a subject-oriented area.

Digital twin-based assembly data management and process traceability for complex products

Complex products such as satellites, missiles, and aircraft typically have demanding requirements for dynamic data management and process traceability. The assembly process for these complex products involves high complexity, strong dynamics, many uncertainties, and frequent rework and repair, especially in the model development stage. Achieving assembly data management and process traceability for complex products has always been a challenge. A recently proposed solution involves one-to-one mapping of the corresponding physical entity, also known as the digital twin method. This paper proposes a digital twin-based assembly data management and process traceability approach for complex products. First, the dynamic evolutionary process of complex product assembly data was analyzed from three dimensions: granularity, period and version. Then, a framework of digital twin-based assembly data management and process traceability for complex products was constructed. Some core techniques are: 1) workflow-based product assembly data organization and version management; 2) synchronous modeling of the product assembly process based on digital twin; and 3) hierarchical management and traceability of product assembly data based on digital twin. On this basis, an algorithm flowchart for generating a product assembly data package was created, which includes product assembly data management, assembly process traceability, and generation of a product assembly data package. Furthermore, the Digital Twin-based Assembly Process Management and Control System (DT-APMCS) was designed to verify the efficiency of the proposed approach. Some aerospace-related assembly enterprises are currently using DT-APMCS and achieving satisfactory results. Finally, a summary of our work is given, and the future research work is also discussed.

Peptide pools for target antigen identification, immune monitoring, and cellular therapy

Background & Aim Background There is an increasing need for peptide tools in experimental and clinical immunology, particularly for personalized immunotherapies. The most important applications include target protein identification, epitope mapping/optimization, and T-cell response monitoring. Clinical-grade peptides are essential for (neo-)epitope based vaccines and immunotherapies. A multitude of available specifications can make it difficult to choose the best peptide format for a specific application. Methods, Results & Conclusion Methods Peptide pools were produced at different specifications. Purities ranged from crude (for discovery) to highly purified (for clinical applications). Crude peptide pools for antigen target discovery were produced by high-throughput peptide synthesis allowing the assembly of tens of thousands of peptides covering whole antigen families or even entire pathogens. Peptide pools for immune monitoring, by contrast, were manufactured using traditional peptide synthesis methods with added measures that avoid contamination that either impedes T-cell stimulation or causes stimulation independently. Clinical grade peptides representing tumor-associated (neo-)antigens or pathogen-derived antigens were produced to meet the highest specifications in terms of purity and absence of contaminants. Results While no peptide format is universally applicable, several tailored formats were developed that proved useful in key applications requiring T-cell stimulation. For example, unpurified but well-characterized peptide pools and individual peptides were used to measure T-cell responses against known target proteins, to discover new target proteins, and to identify stimulating peptides from a large number of candidate peptides. Only purified peptides and fully characterized pools, by contrast, provided the robust assay data needed for cell-based immune monitoring. For clinical applications, peptide and pool manufacturing were performed under line clearance in a low bioburden environment with full analytical coverage. In addition, full process traceability and documentation, as well as stability testing, were performed to fulfill regulatory requirements. Conclusions When deciding which peptide pool format to use for a specific purpose, the following aspects need to be considered: peptide length, number and amount of peptide(s), purity, avoidance/elimination of contaminations, stability, QC/QA measures, and last but not least cost.

The incorporation of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in health institutions and the determining aspects of adoption

The process of traceability by radio frequency identification system (RFID) is considered one of the biggest contributions of the last years in the health sector. This article aims to study the academic contributions that this technology has brought to the segment in question and the consequent difficulties resulting from the implementation of this technology in the ambit of hospital and outpatient facilities. To carry out this work, we proceeded to survey and literature review in order to select the research related to the topic of RFID in the context of traceability. The data obtained clearly show that the benefits of this tool are numerous, ranging from drug screening to the correct availability of patient data. Although it is imbued with all these advantages, RFID still represents a visible difficulty of insertion in the hospital environment due to economic and security problems in terms of information privacy. However, this new reality is undeniable and its implementation is increasingly present in the medical environment, being a necessity rather than a technological advance.

A Novel Visual Analysis Method of Food Safety Risk Traceability Based on Blockchain.

Current food traceability systems have a number of problems, such as data being easily tampered with and a lack of effective methods to intuitively analyze the causes of risks. Therefore, a novel method has been proposed that combines blockchain technology with visualization technology, which uses Hyperledger to build an information storage platform. Features such as distribution and tamper-resistance can guarantee the authenticity and validity of data. A data structure model is designed to implement the data storage of the blockchain. The food safety risks of unqualified detection data can be quantitatively analyzed, and a food safety risk assessment model is established according to failure rate and qualification deviation. Risk analysis used visual techniques, such as heat maps, to show the areas where unqualified products appeared, with a migration map and a force-directed graph used to trace these products. Moreover, the food sampling data were used as the experimental data set to test the validity of the method. Instead of difficult-to-understand and highly specialized food data sets, such as elements in food, food sampling data for the entire year of 2016 was used to analyze the risks of food incidents. A case study using aquatic products as an example was explored, where the results showed the risks intuitively. Furthermore, by analyzing the reasons and traceability processes effectively, it can be proven that the proposed method provides a basis to formulate a regulatory strategy for regions with risks.

Case Study on Non-Functional Requirement Change Impact Traceability for Agile Software Development

Currently, it is crucial to develop a complex software on time. Agile software development methodologies provide methods to develop a system in term of time and cost-saving but it has been criticized for software quality management. In this paper, a case study is used to find out the need of NFR change impact traceability approach in most of Agile software methodology. This case study was conducted in an undergraduate course that trained the students on how to develop software using Agile process model.This case study has been conducted for 4 months in an undergraduate-level course, Application Development. The samples of this case study are among Year 3 undergraduate students. The case study shows the lack of traceability techniques in the existing Agile process model (SFDD- Secured Feature Driven Development) that result to non-awareness of NFR change impact during development. Based on the case study mentioned the main objective of the case study conducted in survey is to empirically test the theoretical constructs and the hypothesized relationships of the research issues that concern on the lack of change impact management towards NFR in Agile Software Methodology. TANC (Traceability for Agile Non-Functional Requirement Change Impact) model offered techniques in tracing change impact during the agile development process. Therefore, the result of the case study, a traceability process model needs to design in order to tackle the NFR change impact issues in Agile software development.

Optimize the Management and Effectiveness of Orthopedic Spare Loaner Instrumentation and Implants in Central Sterile Supply Department

Objective: Loaner Instrumentation due to various comprehensive factors, the equipment often can not be delivered to the disinfection supply center according to the prescribed time, which not only affects the handling quality of the equipment, but also affects the timely supply andusage of the equipment. The study aims to explore the managing method of orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants in Central Sterile Supply Department of the hospital (hereinafter referred to as CSSD). Methods: 418 orthopedic operations use orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants in 2018 were selected as per-implementation. The routine methods were used to manage the orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants. 437 orthopedic operations use orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants in 2019 were selected as the implementation. Using the optimized method to manage the orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants is to compare the changes of timely supply rate, double closed loop management execution rate and doctor satisfaction before and after the implementation of orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants in our hospital. Results: After the implementation of optimized management measures, the timely supply rate of orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants reached 100%; the implementation rate of double closed-loop management increased from 69.86% to 100%; and the doctor satisfaction increased from 77.78% to 97.22%. Conclusion: By optimizing the management measures of orthopedic spare loaner instrumentation and implants, we can improve the timely supply rate, achieve the whole process trace ability and improve the doctor's satisfaction, further improve the safety of the instruments, reduce the surgical infection, and ensure the safety of patients.

ENSURING THE MAINTENANCE OF THE AUTOMATED INFORMATIONAL SYSTEM “STATE ANIMAL REGISTER” IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

The goal of this work is to analyze and reflect the importance of developing the Integrated Agricultural Register for the Republic (IAR) of Moldova, which is based on the implementation of the process of Electronic Transformation of Government through the e-Agriculture principle, storage and maintenance of information systems in the agro-industrial sector, management and processing of required data from existing electronic registers in order to streamline the development and implementation of development policies in agriculture. The Animal Identification and Traceability System (AITS), later referred to as the State Animal Register (SAR), is only a component part of the IAR and has as its primary objective the food security and consumer assurance with products of animal origin. AITS is one of the basic subsystems as an integral part of the traceability process of animal products. The SAR Automated Informational System is a set of elements and procedures that allow the identification and registration of animals and holdings, ensuring compliance of the traceability principle. All animals belonging to the bovines, sheep, goats, swine, horses, donkeys and descendant species obtained by crossing them, all holdings in which these animals are kept or handled, either farm, sheepfold, fair, slaughterhouse, will be identified. [1]

A decentralized application for the traceability process in the pharma industry

With the growth of a global market, new regulations aiming at preventing the fraud of counterfeiting drugs have been released all over the world. In the pharma industry, an innovative technology named serialization is becoming more and more popular as it allows to implement a packaging process based on a hierarchical aggregation. This guarantees that each box entering in the distribution network is marked with a unique identifier for an easy traceability by a central regulatory in charge to follow the life cycle of the product until given to the final patient.In this scenario, the blockchain might offer a breakthrough proposing a decentralized and immutable traceability mechanism able to increase the security of the data and to reduce the success of a fraud attempt. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this technology, in this paper, a DAPP based on the Ethereum blockchain has been coded and tested as prototype in a pharma industry.