Each year, an estimated 48 million Americans get sick — sometimes mortally — from an all-too common source: foodborne pathogens. Even as the industry looks for ways to curb outbreaks, a new University of Notre Dame study finds that just being able to trace a product through its supply chain is at once critical, and difficult.
“Tracing Bad Products in Supply Chains,” forthcoming in the Journal of Business Logistics by Kaitlin Wowak, assistant professor of management at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, supports the need to manage traceability from a nuanced approach.
“Our study reveals that traceability is hindered by three things: time pressures, supply chain permeation and product characteristics that create confusion about what to trace,” Wowak says. “We suggest ways firms can overcome these barriers, enhancing their ability to identify and recall tainted products.”
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