FR2929029A1 - TRACEABILITY DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a traceability device implementing a traceability database comprising data representative of physical objects, said database being shared by a plurality of users involved in the processing of at least one batch comprising less a physical object. The users are distributed over at least two distinct geographical sites, such a device implements, for the treatment of a batch: means for generating, on at least one of said sites, at least one document relative to said batch; means for creating, in said database, at least one datum representative of said at least one generated document; means for associating, in said database, said at least one datum representative of said datatype; at least one document to at least one data representative of said batch, so that said generated document can be traced as an object belonging to said batch of physical objects.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is that of traceability. More particularly, the invention relates to the optimization of the traceability of the exchanges of physical objects and associated commercial documents, for example in commercial transaction contexts. 2. PRIOR ART The traceability of the physical objects exchanged in the context of commercial transactions is a crucial issue for each actor of a transactional chain, from the manufacturer to the carrier, through the distributor, or any other intermediary. Indeed, this traceability not only makes it possible to meet regulatory and / or security requirements for goods and people, but also allows precise tracking of the physical objects exchanged, in particular by virtue of the identification tags carried by these objects. For example, these identification tags are in the form of bar code, one or two dimensions, or RFID (for Radio Frequency IDentification) type chips, also called electronic tags. A number of physical object traceability systems have been developed and are used internationally, such as the EPC-Global network, or the Ubiquitous ID Network, which implement such RFID chips. A disadvantage of these networks lies in the fact that they do not allow the tracking of the commercial documents also exchanged in relation to the transactions of the physical objects. Indeed, most transactions of physical objects involve exchanges of commercial documents, such as a purchase order, a voucher, a delivery note, a customs declaration. an invoice, a payment, etc. Business documents that are part of a single business transaction can be grouped into a scenario, a formal IT process that processes the sequence of business-to-business transactions. There are networks, including traditional e-commerce networks, that offer such reliable and centralized document tracking. For example, Business To Business (B2B) networks or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) networks provide standards for structuring document information exchanged for transactions. There are also dedicated systems, used by a large number of companies, to manage the company's internal resources, and in particular to track the documents involved in the company's commercial transactions. Such systems are called ERP for Enterprise Resource Planning. In these document tracking systems, commercial documents are generated, managed and stored in the information systems of companies and exchanged between several companies involved in a commercial relationship, via a network linking the information systems of the different companies in question. However, a major disadvantage of these document tracking systems lies in the fact that they do not provide a link with the tracking of the physical objects exchanged to which are linked the scenarios and commercial documents drawn. Thus, within a company for example, to access both the tracking of one or more physical objects that have been the subject of a transaction and the scenario or one or more commercial documents relating to this transaction, it must first put in place a system of link between the exchange of physical objects and documents. For example, the information systems of certain companies must ensure this link, internally, in the company, by recovering information available on the one hand via a traceability network of physical objects, and on the other hand, via a document tracking system.

However. there is no consolidation between the traceability of the physical objects exchanged and the follow-up of the commercial documents relating to these exchanges, the two monitoring systems being independent. It is currently not possible to have a global, efficient and simultaneous view of the physical objects exchanged and commercial documents generated relative to these exchanges in the same community of commercial partners, most often geographically distant. 3. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The invention proposes a new solution that does not have all of these disadvantages of the prior art, in the form of a traceability method implementing a traceability database comprising data representative of physical objects, said database being shared by a plurality of users involved in the processing of at least one batch comprising at least one physical object ,.

According to the invention, said users being distributed over at least two distinct geographical sites, such a method comprises, for a batch: a step of generating, on at least one of said sites, at least one document relating to said batch; a step of creating, in said database, at least one datum representative of said at least one generated document; a step of associating, in said database, said at least one datum representative of said at least one document with at least one datum representative of said batch, so that said generated document can be drawn as an object belonging to said batch; of physical objects.

Thus, the invention is based on a new and inventive approach to the traceability of physical objects and associated documents, based on the creation, in a traceability database of objects, of a virtual object representative of at least a document relating to a batch comprising one or more physical objects plotted in the database. This virtual object is also called representative data of a generated document.

The method according to the invention allows each of the users of the database, involved in a batch processing step, to simultaneously and indifferently access all the information relating to this batch, including information contained in the ) document (s) generated.

According to one embodiment of the invention, said generating step comprises, for at least one generated document, a step of creating an instance of an object class representative of a document-specific object category. , called document class. Thus, to create data representative of documents to be plotted in the database, a specific object class is defined, distinct from the object classes associated with the plotted physical objects, and subsequently called document class. According to one aspect of the invention, said document class comprises on the one hand information shared with class instances associated with physical objects corresponding to a given batch, and secondly information specific to said at least one generated document. . For example, at least one of said specific information belongs to the group comprising: - a specific attribute; - a specific value; Thus, the document class includes information similar to that of the other object classes representative of the physical objects, and also specific information, to specifically define the representative data of a document.

For example, the specific information is specific attributes, and / or specific values (for these specific attributes, or for existing attributes, common with classes representative of physical objects). According to a particular characteristic, at least one specific operation is associated with said document class instance representative of said generated document, said specific operation being distinct from operations associated with the class instances of the physical objects constituting said batch and executable by each of said users since at least one of said sites. This has the advantage that any user involved in a transaction chain implementing a traceability of physical objects of the same batch of physical objects, can now access and manipulate the different documents generated in relation to said batch of objects, throughout the transactional chain, from the only data contained in said shared database. For example, said at least one specific operation belongs to the group comprising: opening a document; reading at least one piece of information contained in a document; writing at least one piece of information contained in a document; closing a document; printing at least a portion of a document; displaying at least part of a document; - issue of a document; receipt of a document; - routing of a document; - control of a document; duplication of a document; archiving a document; - erasing a document. Thus, the document representative data (s) generated, specifically created for the documents, are associated with specific operations, distinct from the operations conventionally associated with the physical objects. For example, specific operations correspond to common operations associated with document management, such as opening, reading, editing, printing, displaying, and so on.

According to one embodiment of the invention, said generation step takes account of at least one predefined parameter representative of a generation scenario of at least two documents relating to said batch or to one of said objects of said batch.

It thus becomes possible in a supply chain platform to anticipate the automatic generation of documents associated with batches of objects, as and when these batches are processed and processed. of objects on the entire industrial chain. For example, when a batch of objects is ordered, a purchase order and a delivery note can be automatically generated and associated to said batches of objects automatically, relying on a representative document generation model said scenario. According to a particular aspect of the method of the invention, the data manipulated in said database conform to the EPC-Global standard.

Indeed, it appears particularly advantageous in such a possible embodiment of the invention to create a new object class conforming to the EPC-Global standard, which is both representative of the documents that will be generated in a transactional chain involving different users and that also allows the simple and efficient management of these different generated documents, in a centralized manner and similar to the management of physical objects whose monitoring is ensured by an instantiation of physical objects categorized using the EPC standard -Global. The invention also relates to a traceability device implementing a traceability database comprising data representative of physical objects, said database being shared by a plurality of users involved in the processing of at least one batch comprising at least one physical object. According to the invention, said users being distributed over at least two distinct geographical sites, such a device comprises, for a batch: generation means, from at least one of said sites. at least one document relating to said batch; means for creating, in said database, at least one datum representative of said at least one generated document; means for associating, in said database, said at least one representative datum of said at least one document with at least one datum representative of said batch, so that said generated document can be drawn as an object belonging to said batch; of physical objects. The invention also relates to a computer program product downloadable from a communication network and / or recorded on a computer readable medium and / or executable by a processor, comprising program code instructions for implementing the method of traceability previously described. 4. List of Figures Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a particular embodiment, given as a simple illustrative and non-limiting example, and the accompanying drawings, among which: - Figure 1 shows an example of system in which is implemented the method according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates the main steps of the method according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 describes an example of aggregation according to one embodiment of the invention. 5. Description of an embodiment of the invention 5.1 General principle The general principle of the invention is based on the creation, in a traceability database of objects, of a virtual object representative of one or more documents (and / or scenario) relating to one or more objects plotted in the database.

This virtual object, called data representative of a generated document, makes it possible to track the document (s) and / or the scenario it represents, in the same traceability system as that where the objects to which the document is bound.

Thus, it is possible to consider a batch of objects, which conventionally comprises physical objects, present in a given place at a given moment, and information, or virtual objects, present on documents and / or scenarios, which do not are not physically present on or in the batch of objects, but which are associated with it by the mechanism of the invention. 5.2 Description of an embodiment In relation with FIG. 1, an example of such a traceability system is presented in which an embodiment of the traceability method of the invention is implemented. Two companies X and Y are in commercial relation, for example to exchange goods from X to Y, as well as associated documents, such as a purchase order, an acknowledgment of receipt of an order, an invoice, an invoice regulation etc. Other documents may also be exchanged in the context of this commercial relationship, with other actors, such as a carrier for example, who is responsible for the transportation of the exchanged goods.

Documents can be exchanged between the company X and the carrier (request for transport of the goods, document of assumption of responsibility of the goods ...) and between the carrier and the company Y (reception of the delivery of the goods, invoice. ..). Each of the two companies X and Y has a database, respectively 10 and 11, allowing them to store all their documents internally. The exchanges, or transfers, of commercial documents between X and Y, denoted T10 and TI 1, are done via an exchange network of documents R1 (for example EDI or B2B type mentioned above).

The method according to the invention implements a centralized database 14 for tracking objects and associated documents exchanged between several trading partners. All events relating to the goods exchanged between X and Y are transferred (T13) to the centralized database 14, which receives them and processes them. These events are for example: - the goods are put in parcel (date and time, place, identification of each goods, identification of the parcel ...); - the parcel is taken in charge by the carrier (date and time, place, identification of the parcel ...); - the parcel has passed the customs (date and time, place, identification of the parcel ...); - The package is delivered (date and time, place, identification of the package ...) ... Similarly, all events related to documents exchanged between X and Y are transferred (T12) to the centralized data base 14, which receives them and processes them. These events are, for example: - buyer A of company Y generates and issues a purchase order for goods to company X (date and time, place ...); - the salesman B of the company X registers the order and issues an order acceptance to A (date and time, place ...); - A transmits a transport voucher to the chosen carrier C to ensure the delivery of the goods ordered (date and time, place ...); A sends the order to the warehouse of X for preparation of the goods in a package (date and time, place ...); - C takes care of the package at warehouse X (date and time, place ...); - a confirmation of the handling of the parcel by C is transmitted to A (date and time, place ...); - C issues a delivery slip when unloading the package in Y (date and time, place ...); - A sends a receipt to C on receipt of the package; - Issuing a goods receipt to B at the time of verification of the goods contained in the parcel; - B issues an invoice to A; - C issues an invoice to B; - A sends a payment order to B; B sends a payment order to C ... The centralized database 14 thus traces all the events related to the exchanges of goods between X and Y, as well as all the document exchanges between the various actors involved in the transaction (here A , B and C). The method according to the invention allows the restitution 15, for any actor involved in the transaction, all these events related to objects and documents exchanged, as well as the return of specific information related to documents. For example, the refund 15 offers the possibility to the user to view one or more of the documents exchanged, for example to compare the date of the delivery slip with the date of the event corresponding to the delivery of the package. Or, the user can view the order form to compare the identification numbers associated with each parcel goods with the identification numbers actually present on each merchandise received. With reference to FIG. 2, the main steps of the traceability method according to one embodiment of the invention are presented in a system as illustrated in FIG.

So we place ourselves in a context of exchanges of goods, or objects, between the company X and the company Y. These objects, as indicated above, are put in parcels, so as to be exchanged in batches. As also indicated above, a certain number of documents are generated and exchanged during the entire duration of the transaction, from the order to the delivery.

In addition, the objects exchanged between X and Y are all plotted in a database managed by the traceability method of the invention, for example by using RFID tags affixed to each object. Thus, at each step of the transaction, the involved actor (the seller, the carrier, the customs, the buyer, the insurer, the banks ...) can identify each object. For example, at the time of packing, the seller identifies each object in the batch. then the batch itself, through the reading of information on each of the labels carried by the objects. Then, the same identification operation can be performed at the time of customs clearance if the goods are exchanged via several countries, and at the time of receipt of the delivery by the buyer. The first step 20 of the method corresponds to the generation of a document relating to all the goods or objects of the transaction. For example, this document may be a purchase order issued by the company Y to the attention of the company X, concerning the purchase of several objects, forming a lot. The purchase order is then associated with the lot in question. The document may also be a customs bond for the lot, or a lot delivery note to the buyer. This generated document can be stored at its issuer (either in an electronic form or in a scanned form, from the paper version of the document) and then sent to its recipient. For example, the purchase order is stored in the company's database Y, and then transmitted to the company X, via a network of trade document exchanges. The document can then also be stored, and / or completed, by its recipient, for example in the company's X database. In order to be able to ensure the traceability of this document, a representative datum of the generated document is created, when of a step 21, in the traceability database of the exchanged objects. Thus, the document is referenced in the database, just like a physical object.

During a step 22, the representative data of the generated document is associated with at least one data representative of the batch. For example, the representative data item of the document can be aggregated, in the database, with the data representing the batch of objects to which the document is associated. In this way, the tracking of the lot of physical objects exchanged will also include information on the document or documents relating to this lot, also exchanged, even if these documents are not physically exchanged at the same time as the objects of the batch. Indeed, a purchase order, for example, can be exchanged electronically between the buyer and the seller, and not physically at the same time as the goods. To ensure the traceability of the goods exchanged and documents relating to these goods, all the information relating to the goods exchanged during the transaction are retrieved and processed in the database. Thus, in this example, each time the RFID tag of one of the objects of the package is read, an event is generated to report the situation of the object at the time of reading the label. For example, at the time of the parceling of the objects before the transport, an event is generated for each object of the parcel, indicating its identification, the parceling action, the place, the date and the time of this action, etc. Such events are also generated for the documents exchanged, and represented by representative data of document generated in the database. For example, the creation of a document generates an event associated with the document, indicating the date and time of the creation, the place, the title of the document and its identification, and so on. In addition, events are also generated each time a document is exchanged between two parties in the transaction. A modification of the document (confirmation of receipt, for example) may also lead to the generation of an event.

Events specific to the data representative of documents can be generated, for example when a document is edited and modified, or when two documents are aggregated, etc. All these events are made accessible by the traceability method of the invention to all the actors involved in the commercial relationship between the companies concerned. For example, these events are rendered on a screen of a user, as well as information contained in the traced document (s). Thus, if the buyer wishes to know where the goods he has ordered are located, he can find this information thanks to the events returned by the traceability method according to the invention. In fact, if the goods were taken over by the carrier, an event related to this support was generated, likewise for a customs clearance, etc. In addition, once this information is found, it can check if the goods identified, for example during the loading by the carrier, are the ones he ordered, by accessing the corresponding order form, or even the transport slip generated by the seller to the carrier. Thus, all the information concerning the goods is accessible, together with the information relating to all the commercial documents associated with these goods, including the contents of the documents themselves. The traceability method according to the invention makes it possible for example to avoid errors in the reconciliation between a commercial document and an event relating to a physical object, insofar as it offers the possibility of aggregating documents to one or more objects. physical, or to a lot of physical objects. The method also makes it possible to simply relate information relating to objects of commercial transactions and information contained in commercial documents relating to these transactions. 5.3 Example of application An example of application of the traceability method according to the invention, integrated in a known system of traceability of physical objects, called EPC Global, is now presented. This system is based on a codification, noted EPC for Electronic 5 Product Code in English, or electronic product code. This unique code associated with each object managed by the EPC-Global system can be created from the existing European Article Numbering (EAN) coding, comprising the following main numbering systems: GTIN (for Global Trade Item Number), which corresponds to an object class an identification of a business unit; SSCC (for Serial Shipping Container Code), which corresponds to an identification of a logistics unit. The GTIN code is composed as follows: -Code EAN 13: 3FFFFFFPPPPPPC, where: 3: country prefix (3 = France); - F (5 to 10 digits): CNUF (Unified National Supplier Code assigned by GS1 France or company code), - P (1 to 6 digits): CIP (Product Interface Code assigned by the 20 creator of the product); - C: Control key (calculated by the company). It is used to make the optical reading more reliable following the translation of the figures into bar codes. It is calculated according to the twelve digits. In contrast to the EAN-13 codes described above, the SSCC code 25 uniquely identifies any "logistic object". Thus, three identical standard objects all have the same EAN-13 code, but have three different SSCC codes. The SSCC code is composed as follows: E (between 0 and 9): extension character that increases the coding capacity of the SSCC. It is attributed by the creator of the SSCC code; - P: prefix of the country; - CNUF: Unified National Code Supplier of the member; - Sequential number: part of the free code. It is strongly advised to manage this part as a counter. This zone is 7, 8, 9 or 10 digits, depending on the length of the CNUF; - Key: Control key. The EPC coding makes it possible to uniquely identify each object traced by a unique number, for example contained in an RFID tag. This unique number includes: -a description header, denoted EPC Header, which describes all the embedded data in the label; - a prefix, noted EPC manager, which identifies the company that will be in charge of defining who owns the embedded data in the label (the manufacturer, the carrier, the distributor ...); - a product reference; a serial number, noted EPC Number, which corresponds in part to the GTIN code previously described. As a first step, each object to be traced in the traceability system is therefore provided with a label comprising a unique number as described above. . Then, as the transaction unfolds, each reading of the label corresponds to an event recorded in the traceability system. All events related to the life of an object or batch of objects are logged in EPC Information Service (EPCIS) via a standardized capture interface. By schematizing, these EPCIS contain information about What, When, Where and Why. These EPCIS can be queried via a standardized query interface to retrieve the stored events.

These events are described in more detail in the paragraph below. 5.3.1 Identification of documents in the traceability system According to the invention, a codification of the commercial documents exchanged during transactions between several entities is defined, so as to ensure the follow-up of these documents, at the same time as the tracking of the exchanged objects. . This codification, noted by the inventors Electronic Document Code or EDC, is based on the EPC code described above, and includes: - a header that indicates the size, type, structure and version of the EPC ; - a Manager Number indicating the company at the origin of the document; an object class (Object Class) specific to the commercial document; - Serial Number, which specifies the instance of the document class being traced. Like the plotted objects, the documents then have a universal identifier. An example of identifying objects according to the EPC coding and an example of identifying commercial documents according to the EDC coding is presented in Appendix A, which forms an integral part of the present description. For the plotted objects, the information contained in the EPCIS makes it possible to know: - What: the subject objects of the event (via the EPC code); - When: the date and time of the event (via a stamp); - Where: the location of the event (via a BusinessLocation, location of an event linked to a business transaction); - Why: the context (via BusinessSteps, steps .7 of the business transaction). For the documents drawn, this information is similar for When and Where. In contrast, the information What is obtained through the EDC code, and the Why information corresponding to the document processing context uses specific BusinessSteps, denoted BusinessStepDoc (stage of the business transaction in which the document is located ). An example of an EPCIS event structure for objects and documents plotted in the traceability system of the invention is presented in Appendix B, forming an integral part of this description. Moreover, in the traceability system according to this embodiment of the invention, based as previously described on the EPC-Global system, document-specific computer objects are created, including specific attributes for document tracking, common attributes. with those of the computer objects representing the physical objects drawn, as well as specific values (such as for example the identification number of the class representing the class of the documents). Finally, specific operations are also implemented for document tracking, for example for the management of the specific computer objects described above, and for the joint management of the two types of computer objects (document type and physical object type). . 5.3.2 Aggregation The traceability method according to the invention in this embodiment also makes it possible to use the possibility of aggregating several traced objects in order to aggregate objects and related commercial documents. The aggregation of several physical objects is represented by an aggregation event (denoted Aggregation Event in English), which concerns one or more objects identified by an EPC code, grouped physically at the same place, at the same time. For example, at the time of placing several cartons to be transported on a pallet, the cartons can be aggregated to the pallet. In this case, the notion of content corresponds to the threads (cartons) and the notion of "container" corresponds to the parent (palette). In the same way, one or more commercial documents can be aggregated to one or more physical objects, for example a delivery note with the delivered objects. The commercial documents are like threads, like the boxes in the previous example, and associated with a parent (the palette in the previous example, which itself is associated with the boxes). In relation to FIG. 3, an example of aggregation of documents and physical objects is presented.

The objects 30, for example milk bricks, are the subject of a control 32. The method according to the invention makes it possible to trace the objects 30, individually or in batches when they are made of cardboard 31, as well as the control document 32, through two aggregation events, E1 and E2.

The event El makes it possible to aggregate the objects 30 to the cardboard 31, and the event E2 makes it possible to aggregate the document 32 to the cardboard 31. During the preparation operation of the order, the objects 30 (milk bricks), as well as the commercial documents 32 (the order) are considered as threads associated with the carton 31 (parent) through the aggregation events.

El and E2. In addition, some commercial documents (an order, an invoice ...) are often integrated in a scenario of the company, representing a commercial process involving these documents. With the invention, it is possible to uniquely identify each scenario and to aggregate the scenario and the commercial documents that comprise it. 5.3.3 Interface for document information capture Currently, in the EPC-Global traceability system, events are captured, by reading RFID tags on the objects, and stored as EPCIS, as previously indicated.

The events related to documents being of different types from these events related to physical objects, their capture and management within the traceability system according to the invention are specific. Thus, an interface for capturing document-related events is implemented, to enable the management of these specific events as the events related to the traced physical objects are managed. For example, this module, integrated with the EPC-Global traceability system, makes it possible to: - control or / and make compatible the data related to documents with the EPC-Global standards; - to provide data made compatible with the EPCIS database; - coordinate the multiple sources of data related to documents. Thus, the object movement information is entered into the EPC-IS database directory by reading an RFID tag, followed by a filtering and retrieval operation, labeled Filtering & Collection, and then an operation. EPC-IS capture, denoted EPC-1S capturing. Information about a document comes from an application (for example the internal information system of a company or an operator, or a commercial document transfer network), and not from the reading of an RFID tag . The interface described above thus makes it possible to transform this information coming from an application into information of the type of those coming from the reading of an RFID tag. 5 APPENDIX A Example of identification of objects according to the EPC coding and an example of identification of commercial documents according to the EDC coding: Electronic Product Electronic Document Code (EPC) for Code (EDC) for Objects _ Documents Header 01: Coding standard 01: Coding standard Management number 0 000 A89: Company A 0.000 A89: Company A Category of object 000 16F: Telephone 000 01A: Mobile order X 000 01B: Invoice 000 01C: Delivery note 000 01D: Acknowledgment of receipt of order 000 01E: Acknowledgment of receipt of delivery Etc ... Serial number _ 000 000 AAO: Instance 1 000 000 COD: Instance 1 of the document Ordering of the mobile phone X For example, for ordering a mobile phone X associated with the document command Y, for the company A:

EPC of Mobile Phone Instance X: 01 0 000 A89 000 16F 000 000 DC 10 EDC of associated Control Document Instance Y 1: 01 000 A89 000 01A 000 000 AAO APPENDIX B Sample EPCIS Event Structure for objects and documents traced in the traceability system of the invention: EPCIS event size EPCIS events product document _ What use of the EPC use of the EDC When? Stamp Stamp Where? BusinessLocation BusinessLocation Why? BusinessStep: BusinessStepDoc: - shipping - sending - preparation - receiving - etc ... - checking - etc ... 5

Claims (7)

1. Traceability device implementing a traceability database (14) comprising data representative of physical objects, said database being shared by a plurality of users involved in the processing of at least one batch (31). ) comprising at least one physical object, characterized in that, said users being distributed over at least two distinct geographical sites (X, Y), said device implements, for the treatment of a batch: - generation means, at least one of said sites, at least one document (32) relating to said batch; means for creating, in said database, at least one representative datum of said at least one generated document (32); means for associating, in said database, said at least one datum representative of said at least one document (32) with at least one datum representative of said batch, so that said generated document (32) can be mapped as an object belonging to said batch of physical objects. 2. traceability device according to claim 1, characterized in that said generating means comprises means for creating an instance 20 of an object class, for at least one generated document (32) representative of a object category specific to said document, called document class. 3. Traceability device according to claim 2, characterized in that said class of document comprises on the one hand information shared with class instances associated with physical objects corresponding to a given batch, and secondly information specific to said at least one generated document (32). 4. Traceability device according to any one of claims 2 and 3, characterized in that it comprises means for associating at least one operation specific to said document class instance representative of said document (32) generated , said specific operation being distinct from operations associated with the class instances of the physical objects constituting said batch (31) and executable by each of said users from at least one of said sites (X, Y). 5. traceability device according to claim 4, characterized in that said at least one specific operation belongs to the group comprising: - opening of a document; reading at least one piece of information contained in a document; writing at least one piece of information contained in a document; closing a document; printing at least a portion of a document; - displaying at least part of a document; issue of a document; - receipt of a document; - routing of a document; - control of a document; duplication of a document; - archiving a document; - erasing a document. 6. Traceability device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said generating means take account of at least one predefined parameter representative of a generation scenario of at least one document (32) relating to audit lot (31) or to one of said physical objects (30) of said lot. 7. Traceability device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the data manipulated in said database are in accordance with the EPC-Global standard.