Digital Technology for Collecting and Handling Traceability Information in A Fish Meal Factory : A Qualitative Grounded Theory Study

Abstract: As science are growing and new technology emerges in combination with joined rules and laws between countries and unions industries and supply chains are forced to explore and adopt new systems to keep up with this ongoing process. Without modern solutions the information flow can be the Achilles heel that makes companies products less attractive on the market as lack of information sharing can cause tension in questions regarding traceability and sustainability. The food industry can be seen as one of the most important sectors regarding traceability as people want to know what they are buying and putting up on our plates. Other industries are also getting more regulated and forced to act regarding to traceability and the implementation of technology to assist in this process, studies show there is still gaps regarding traceability and the use of technology especially in domain specific industries, like fish meal industry. Studies on and around the concept of traceability shows that even while focus before have been based mostly from a quality point of view, newer studies are placing traceability in a wider spectrum were studies in other research field get more adopted, as both the decision-making process in industry management as for the technology and informatics approach as there is a need to put the concept of traceability into systems and technology to be able to comply with industry related requirements in an effective way. With a qualitative, grounded theory approach, the study investigates traceability requirements based on on-site observations conducted in a fish meal factory. The data or requirements found from the observations have then gone through a coding process according to grounded theory. To form an idea or concept on how technology can be used in relation to traceability data collecting and handling.  The concept has then been analyzed in accordance with the research question and discussed with the concepts emerged from the literature review. The result of this master’s thesis can be seen in the investigation and presentation of traceability requirements within the field of fish meal and how certain technologies can be used to automate, make more reliable and effective traceability systems. Based on the result the proposed concept is that when planning and building a traceability system for a fish meal factory one should build it around the organizations ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and use a variety of technology depending on the need as this will help the system to collect data to one place and have it more easily available for further analysis and handling for sharing within the supply chain. Organizations interested in updating and acquiring a new traceability system can based on this study get some insights in the thought process regarding traceability, understand the requirements and explore and understand the use of modern technologies to build up comprehensive traceability systems around the ERP.