Traceability Regulations and Standards

What is traceability?

The traceability of a product is a management system that makes it possible to identify and track each product from its production to its distribution through a process of marking, reading and data management.

If you are interested in knowing the traceability systems that exist and the methods of product and material identification, we recommend that you visit our page dedicated to this topic.

Next, we will focus on the more bureaucratic and legal side of product traceability:

Spanish traceability regulations Spanish

Implementing a code without at the same time establishing regulations would mean that many companies would decide to ignore this code and thus end the transparency of the sector.

Complying with traceability regulations by implementing commonly established standards will allow compliance with current Spanish, European and Global legislation.

Steps to establish a traceability system

The following are the 4 steps to follow according to the AESAN to establish a traceability system correctly:

Define how the products are to be grouped
Define scope (forward, backward or process)
Define the required documentation
Establish system verification mechanisms

Benefits of implementing traceability standards

Nowadays, there is no single company in the world that is capable of carrying out the entire chain of supply, manufacturing, creation… Every company is part of a chain made up of many “partners”. Products or goods and the legislative responsibility for them (products) are distributed among the different companies.

Due to the dependence on each other, building a unique identification system will be seen as a problem and the company will most likely be excluded if it does not decide to use the traceability system agreed upon by all parties involved. This exclusion would be due to the waste of time and money involved in deciphering a system different from that of all the others.

Following globalized traceability regulations has the following advantages:

System based on existing business practices
Use of common language
Provides a global vision of the chain
Allows for a global yet independent relationship between companies
It is flexible and independent of the sector
They are designed to comply with the laws and regulations of every country in the world.
It will make it easier for management companies to perform traceability audits.

In short, it is a language that everyone can understand while saving time and not wasting extra money.

Most common traceability standards

Although there are a multitude of traceability standards, the most widely used ones are listed below:

GTIN (Global Trade Item Number): unitary product
GLN (Global Location Number): product localization
SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code): serialization of freight shipments
GS1-128: Sharing information with barcodes
EPC (Electronic Product Code): information sharing with RFID
GPC (Global Product Classification): classification of a product

How to comply with Spanish traceability regulations

At Sivart, we can offer you different solutions to implement traceability and marking of your products, below you can find the option that best suits your conditions:

Industrial marking machines: at Sivart we offer laser, micro-percussion and scratch marking machines to engrave the necessary codes on products or materials.

Code readers and verifiers: once we have marked our products, we will need reading and verification methods to correctly read the codes and process their information. Compatible with the main codes: barcodes and 2D Datamatrix and QR codes, etc.
Software for product traceability: SiTraza is a data management software for industrial traceability, a modular solution for traceability control in industrial sectors that require the management and control of their products from the entry of the Raw Material, control of the F.O., processes, operators, to the exit and shipment of the finished products to the customers.

If you have any questions or are interested in acquiring any of our traceability machines, contact us without obligation and we will be happy to help you find the option that best suits your needs.