Can Serialisation and Traceability help fight the war on terror

Back in November 2015, I was fortunate enough to spend 2 days at the Movilitas “We Track” conference where I was introduced to the SAP’s new offering to the Supply Chain industry – SAP Advanced Track & Trace (SAP ATTP).

Movilitas are a Specialized Global SAP consulting company for Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Track & Trace and Mobility Solutions. It has been the market leader for over 10 years and now partners with SAP for Global Implementations with clients such as GSK, Merck, BAT, Orica and Roche providing them full end2end solutions.

But, what does it have to do with terrorism?

It is well known and documented that terrorists like ISIS fund their activities through the sale of illegal drugs and oil reserves, as well as through food and medical supplies which they take from charitable organisations.

The global market for counterfeit drugs and tobacco results in the profit of billions of pounds. It is the responsibility of the global businesses who are being counterfeited to limit the amount of fake products sold to consumers.

So, what are they actually doing to limit this and how does SAP bring it to reality?

Across the globe, measures are being put in place to create a transparent supply chain where products can be tracked from production (factories) to the end retail client (Chemists / Pharmacies). Having a readable barcode that is scanned every time goods are being exchanged will allow governments to continuously trace each product. For example, if a packet, box or pallet of antibiotics cannot be shown to have come from an authorised source, it will be taken out of the supply chain and destroyed. This places more ownership and accountability on the agents in the supply chain, obliging them to purchase and sell only approved products. Therefore limiting the amount of counterfeit drugs entering into the supply chain.

SAP ATTP is the link between the governing bodies who randomise the chitin number (unique code) for each batch of drugs, the manufacturers and their barcoding machines and the ERP (not brand specific) systems.

Serialisation and Traceability is one element of SAP which can help the world fight against terrorism - not with weapons, but with systems that can limit their income, which in turn will limit their power and influence.

To understand more about traceability and serialisation please visit www.movilitas.net.