The US FDA is soliciting comments on its  approach to "A New Era of Smarter Food Safety" [Docket No. FDA-2019-N-4187]. ). One of the key issues is how best to implement automatic identification technologies for the identification and tracking of food products in the supply chain. AIM NA's Food Safety Committee chair, Jeanne Duckett,  submitted AIM North America's comments drafted by members. 

The deadline to submit comments is TODAY - Thursday, December 5. Members are encouraged to utilize the AIM NA comments as a template for their own organization's submission. To review AIM NA's comments, download here.
To submit your own comments on the FDA docket, visit here.  

AIM North America board member Jeanne Duckett and senior staff members Mary Lou Bosco and Mike Allen, traveled to Washington DC on Monday October 21 to provide comments at the FDA Public Meeting “New Era of Smarter Food Safety.” This event kicked off an initiative that focuses on food traceability, digital technology, and evolving business models that will foster a culture of food safety. Download the association's comments here.

According to Deputy FDA Commissioner for Food Policy & Response Frank Yiannas, “Smarter food safety isn’t just a slogan or a tagline. It’s much more than that. Instead, it’s a new approach to food safety, a new mindset, one that recognizes and builds on the progress made in the past but incorporates the use of new technologies that are being used in society and business sectors all around us, such as blockchain, sensor technology, the Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence.”

“AIM North America was honored to have the opportunity to share our knowledge of how AIDC technology is a proven, reliable and cost-effective component in food supply chain transparency and visibility,” stated Mary Lou Bosco, COO, AIM North America.

AIM members Avery Dennison, FoodLogiQ, and GS1 US were also selected to provide comments.

The deadline to provide public comments ends November 20, 2019. Complete details on the FDA Request for Comments period on a New Era of Smarter Food Safety can be found at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-4187-0001.  

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | September 24, 2019 | AIM North America (AIM NA), as the trusted industry association for the automatic identification industry, providing unbiased information, educational resources and standards, announced  it has named NATO Allied Command Transformation as the recipient of the 2019 Organization of the Year Award. 

Established in 2013, this award is presented to an organization in recognition of outstanding contributions and service that have furthered the growth of the industry.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) founded an Asset Tracking Working Group (ASTWG) to standardize the use of automatic identification and data capture techniques across the Alliance to track the movement of critical material and equipment. This effort has been chaired and lead by the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) located in Norfolk, Virginia.

The task had its challenges as no nation wanted to establish 27 separate and distinct communications channels all with different protocols.  Under ACT guidance and leadership, the ASTWG was able to establish a communications hub at the NATO Supply and Procurement Agency in Luxembourg supporting a single protocol and communication channel.  This hub is now capable of receiving and routing both barcode and RFID tracking reads. These efforts are a unique achievement in that it required all of the NATO nations to agree to handle the cargo of other nations and reporting their movement.
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AIM North America announced the selection of NATO Allied Command Transformation last week during meetings in Europe.  The award was presented by Chuck Evanhoe, AIM NA board member. and CEO of Aware Innovations, Inc., an AIM North America member.

For more information, contact AIM North America Headquarters by email or phone (724.742.4473).

VARTECH | September 16 – 17 | Paradise Island, Bahamas
Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Traceability Systems
In this session, AIM North America industry experts will discuss blockchain and its relevancy to the supply chain, predictions on the technology’s future, the standards that surround it and use cases of successful implementation of the blockchain.
Speakers: Elizabeth Sinclair, Bartender by Seagull; John DiPaulo, ACSIS; Travis M. Wayne, PMP, TEKLYNX

PACK EXPO | September 23 – 25 | Las Vegas, Nevada
Reusable Packaging Containers in the Blockchain Era
​In this session, one of AIM North America’s traceability experts will discuss how to get transparency throughout the supply chain and what the role of reusable packaging containers is in that process.
Speaker: Jeanne Duckett, Avery Dennison

Food Safety Consortium | October 1 – 3 | Schaumburg, Illinois
Supply Chain Transparency Panel Discussion
Speakers: Marianne Alvarado, Metalcraft; Julie McGill, FoodLogiQ; Jeanne Duckett, Avery Dennison; Elizabeth Sinclair, Bartender by Seagull 

FoodLogiQ
Independent Software Vendor | Durham, North Carolina | Julie Brown - Delegate | www.foodlogiq.com
Since 2006, FoodLogiQ has been on a mission to change the food industry by developing solutions that meet the increasingly complex global food chain issues and vast web of regulations that face all modern food companies.
 
With a leadership team that brings rich expertise in food safety, traceability, SaaS business growth and operational excellence, FoodLogiQ Connect allows food companies to efficiently manage their supply chain, capture all the data needed for a transparent and FSMA-compliant supply chain, and stitch together critical tracking events to achieve real farm-to-fork traceability to quickly identify and address food safety issues.
 
FoodLogiQ’s Track + Trace food traceability software stitches together the critical tracking events of products and ingredients at the batch-lot level to provide a real-time visualization of the food supply chain.  Utilizing automatic identification and data capture via mobile devices is a critical enabler of their technology platform.

ACSIS
Systems Integrator | Marlton, New Jersey | David Perrine | www.acsisinc.com

For more than 20 years, ACSIS has been helping organizations build more agile and responsive supply chains to improve efficiencies, increase profits, and deliver better experiences—for employees, partners, and customers.
 
ACSIS Cloud Solutions for the Intelligent Supply Chain connect local, regional, and global networks for a real-time view across the supply chain. We help you transform data from edge devices, legacy systems, and new technologies into the actionable insights for more strategic decision-making, new efficiencies, and higher levels of service.
 
What makes ACSIS different? We provide the solutions you need for a real-time view of supply chain execution—connecting legacy systems, partner networks, and assets on the edge for better insight and smarter forecasting.

 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | July 31, 2019 | AIM, the trusted worldwide industry association for the automatic identification industry, providing unbiased information, educational resources and standards for nearly half a century, has announced the ratification and release of the revised International Symbology Specification – DotCode.

DotCode, introduced in 2009, is a unique, variable size, variable shape, matrix (2-D) symbology specifically designed for high-speed marking applications where alignment or connection of individual dots is problematic. Because DotCode decoding does not rely on finding continuous lines, DotCode offers a practical method to provide unique item identification at full production line speeds. The revised (version 4.0) DotCode specification defines expanded symbology-specific print quality assessment (verification) parameters based on a more granular (1/10 of a point) scale. Most importantly, the new specification defines a revised encoding algorithm to prevent rare but significantly flawed dot patterns that could have been produced under the original DotCode encoder.

George Wright, IV, a member of AIM’s Technical Symbology Committee and lead for the project, shared this comment on the relevance of the release, “This fundamental enhancement to DotCode defines a significant encoding improvement based on extensive new testing of the original encoder algorithm and real-world experience in printing and reading DotCode in anti-counterfeit and traceability implementations in the European tobacco industry over the past several years.”  A podcast interview with Mr. Wright on DotCode is available here.
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The revised DotCode specification (Rev. 4.0) and associated encoding and mask scoring source code files are available for purchase from the AIM Store & Knowledge Resource Center.

For more information, contact AIM Headquarters via email (info@aimglobal.org) or phone (+1.724.742.4470). 

 RFID: Progress, Trends & Where Next | Raghu Das, IDTechEx
 Monday, July 22 | Noon ET 
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This webinar from analysts IDTechEx will provide an overview of the current state of the RFID industry, with detailed analysis of NFC and RFID markets and their medium term opportunity. Key applications driving growth will be covered. The webinar will also look at the increasing range of RFID sensors becoming available and the radical change in the active RFID segment.

Recording is available upon request.

AIM North America to Sponsor the 2019 UDI Conference
June 11 & 12 in Baltimore, MD!!

The 11th annual UDI Conference is following the evolution of UDI and the expanding use cases and applications. We encourage you, as an industry stakeholder, to join us as a crucial contributor to the progress and expansion of the important developments in UDI implementation around the globe.

The UDI Conference is THE annual industry gathering for medical device manufacturers, distributors, and hospitals to convene, discuss, understand and enhance the value of UDI implementation; the Global UDI Database (GUDID); worldwide regulations; patient safety & provider momentum; and the evolving technology and applications activities.

New this year:

• Understand the influence of UDI across the healthcare eco-system; from point of manufacture, to point of consumption, and downstream to the clinical registries
• Be part of the in-depth conversations on data hygiene, scalability and sustainability to streamline and harmonize your master data management processes, systems & standardization efforts
•   Learn about global UDI-related standard & regulation activities, with specific guidance on the imminent EU MDR & IVDR Regulations
• Hear how the data within the GUDID is defining new activities and discoveries
• Two Pre-Conference Workshops will be offered on June 10th to enhance your training and knowledge

AIM North America Members Receive $100 Savings:
Simply enter “AIM” in the discount code field during registration to instantly save $100! Team registrations are always encouraged. If 2 or more from the same company are planning to attend, contact nicole@clariongroupinc.com to get a discount code. (Please note: only one discount code may be applied per registrant.)

Register today at http://www.udiconference.com/UDI_Conference/registration/
 
For additional conference details and the most up-to-date information, please visit http://www.udiconference.com/UDI_Conference/
 
For information on the FDA UDI Regulation & GUDID Guidance, visit www.FDA.gov/UDI.