Lawrence Mallia, vice president of digital transformation of Inteligistics, sat down with The Packer to share the highlights of the company’s high-tech solutions for optimizing cold chain and supply chain management in the perishable food industry.
Despite the Food and Drug Administration’s delay in implementing the Food Traceability Rule, known as FSMA 204, the gathering and sharing of data is a critical step in preparation. Mallia says Inteligistics’ InteliView has its own applications and a mobile app that it can customize to help fresh produce industry businesses gather data.
InteliView works with systems such as GAC (Grower Accounting Systems), ERP, API and WMS, he adds.
“You can have data in one place, and then you can make actionable decisions,” Mallia says. “And that, of course, also enables, FSMA traceability, and being able to share that data and keep that data, you know, in case of any recalls.”
Mallia says Inteligistics also offers a 1-Click end-to-end solution which takes a GTIN number or a case and lot number to create a FSMA-compliant report. he says this will help produce industry become FSMA compliant while also getting some additional insights.
“We’re already collecting all that data, whether it’s through our system, whether it’s through ASNs, and if you’re a distributor, then you need that grow or shipper data,” he says. “We can grab that data, but whatever it is, once we have it, we can parse it.”
These additional insights include dwell times and sell-through reports, Mallia says.
Mallia says pairing the insights Inteligistics gathers from its cooling data and other key data elements (KDEs) can help users track any critical tracking events needed for FSMA 204.
And in terms of produce industry businesses’ interest in FSMA 204 readiness, he says he’s noticed a slight step back, but many retailers are already moving forward with the need for compliance, regardless of when FSMA 204 will go into effect.
While some produce industry businesses rely on paper tracking of warehouse management, there’s a need to digitize those records moving forward. Mallia says companies he’s talked with have begun the FSMA 204 journey with a warehouse management system first. He says other companies, though, still see the time between now and 2028 as an exercise in preparedness.
“For a lot of those companies, it’s an eye-opener to say, ‘This isn’t just a couple-of-months project, this might be a yearlong or even a two-year effort to fully, you know, get us compliant again,” he says.
And while some grower-shippers already use PTI and GS1 standards, Mallia says he sees a strong need for education.
“Our methodology has always been we’re willing to share the data with them as long as the customer comes in and says, ‘We want you to share the data,’” he says.
