Tracking processes and phases in an enterprise is an important thing that provides you insights into the quality of services and products. Traceability is a technology that makes tracking easy with its solutions. This allows enterprises to track their process and product quality so that they can improve the weak part. However, many medium and small-sized enterprises are not able to afford high-quality traceability solutions or costly traceability systems. They need something according to their budget so that the implementation of traceability does not affect their business too much. Since enterprises are an important part of the global market and GDP. There is a report that says that Globally, 90% of all companies are small businesses and they account for 50% of jobs and there are 400 million small businesses in the world.
Stats show that small businesses are more than big enterprises so it is necessary to know about the cost-effective traceability solutions. In this article, we will see the cost-effective traceability solutions for small and medium enterprises and also see some details about the traceability solutions.
What are Traceability Solutions and Cost-Effective references?
Generally, Traceability refers to the ability to trace all processes from procurement of raw materials to production, consumption, and disposal to clarify “when and where the product was produced by whom.” traceability solutions are those solutions that can execute using devices to trace processes details and quality of the products. With high-quality and costly traceability solutions, it is also necessary to introduce some cost-effective solutions for small and medium enterprises. Cost-effective solutions refer to providing the best services without wasting a lot of money. So traceability solutions should be cost-effective so that everyone can afford them.
Also Read: How Traceability Solutions Are Reshaping Industries In 2024?
How Cost-Effective Traceability Solutions could be Beneficial for Medium-Sized Enterprises?
Medium and small-sized enterprises haven’t too much revenue for the implementation of high traceability systems and powerful IOT devices to trace processes and get data. With cost-effective traceability solutions, small enterprises can implement useful traceability monitoring systems that help them to improve the quality of products and increase customer satisfaction towards the business. This overall results in an increase in revenue generation. With all these things, small businesses and enterprises can match the quality of products with the large businesses and enterprises and also there will increase in competition for good things for the market.
Benefits of Traceability Solutions in an Enterprise
Traceability solutions bring many advantages to the enterprise that increase productivity. Here are some advantages of the traceability solution mentioned below.
Tracing of supply chain
Supply chain tracing allows you to get details about the products from source to consumer. It connects all the points in your chain together, keeping you in control of your brand. It can know in an instant which companies, products and processes your whole supply chain comprises, how they relate to each other, and how they perform.
Increases consumer confidence
With good traceability solutions, product quality gets improved day by day, and overall a good quality product is supplied to the consumer. This increases consumer confidence in the enterprise and results in profit.
Sustainability
Traceability can also play a role in promoting sustainability in the supply chain. By tracking and monitoring the movement of goods and services, businesses get sustainable results, such as an increase in profit without too much expenditure.
Brand reputation maintaining
Traceability solutions play an important role in maintaining a brand’s reputation if there are any defects then with the help of IOT devices defects can be detected immediately and recall the workers. This does not allow bad quality products to the consumer increasing the brand’s reputation.
Also Read: The Importance of Traceability in Manufacturing: An Overview
Best Cost-Effective Traceability Solutions Examples
With high-cost traceability solutions, there are some cost-effective traceability solution examples available. Here are some cost-effective traceability solutions mentioned below.
Barcoding and scanning
A barcode reader and scanner can be a cost-effective traceability solution that can be used to read barcodes and scan codes to get details about specific products. Each product has its unique codes to scan or read.
Use case examples-Supermarkets have been using this for ages. It helps them keep track of stock, sales, and even the origin of a particular batch of produce.
GPS and Geolocation tracking
GPS can be a low-cost traceability device that can be used to trace the product’s location that the products are on their way to the consumer. Geolocation tracking refers to the identification of the geographic location of a computing device using a variety of data collection mechanisms so it can be used to get the location of other traceable devices.
Use cases example- Many logistics and shipping companies use GPS to monitor and provide real-time updates on shipment locations, ensuring timely and accurate deliveries.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
Similar to barcoding but with an added advantage, FID tags can be read from a distance without needing direct line-of-sight. This is also cost-effective whether the places of implementation matter.Use cases example clothing retailers use RFID to manage inventory and ensure timely restocking.
Challenges with Traceability Solutions for Small and Medium Enterprises
There could be some challenges for small and medium enterprises while using a cost-effective traceability system. Here are a few challenges mentioned below.
- Since traceability solutions work with data mostly data management and storage can be a solution at a large level.
- Turning data into valuable insights and predictions can be a challenge as it requires artificial intelligence. The implementation cost is too high and we are here talking about a cost-effective system.
- Complexity of data and overload of data can be a risk for the system as the whole system could be crashed and data could be lost.
Also Read our trending blog: Traceability Solutions for Supply Chains with Examples
Conclusion
Traceability solutions are a critical aspect of product and system development that enables organizations or enterprises to ensure product quality, compliance, and accountability. But not only traceability solutions, a cost-effective traceability system could be a better choice, not only for small and medium enterprises but for large enterprises too because everyone wants to save their money. Overall traceability is a necessary tool for modern enterprises if they want to compete in this crowded world.
