Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
  • G06Q10/087—Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and a systems for tracking items purchased by a consumer to the manufacturer through the customers payment means and further to provide information regarding the processing of the items.
• a customer loyalty program is disclosed in US2004193485, where the retailer performs all of his credit card transactions through a program network administrator, such as a bank or a local chamber of commerce.
• the system generates customer data which may be shared with other small retailer in a program or collaboration.
• the customer holding identification means such as a card with a magnetic strip.
• the customer is identified when purchases are made and the information concerning the purchases can be stored in a suitable database, which can keep track of the identity of the items purchased, the number of such items and other relevant information for the retail establishment.
• the retailer may then devise a program whereby, for every purchase, the customer obtains a pre-selected number of reward points at a given establishment.
• US6460019 discloses a system and method for retail establishments to reward customer loyalty and encourage a regular frequency of consumer visits by offering a progressive discount on their purchase.
• the system has an input device and a signal processing system, where the input device generates an identifier signal indicative of a customer's identification and the signal processing system is responsive to the identifier signal on the product.
• the value of the discount is dependent upon the customer visiting the retail establishment on a regular basis.
• a customer's visits are tracked, and the customer is provided with a discount that is incremented by a predefined value if the customer visits at least once every pre-defined period.
• US5628530 discloses a method and system for collectively tracking demographics of starter drug samples dispensed to a plurality of patients from a plurality of different dispensing locations.
• a multipart product specific sample drug voucher is used by each of the plurality of physicians at the prescription locations for prescribing the starter drug sample for a given patient in the plurality of patients at one of the prescription locations, where the first portion of the voucher contains marketing, advertising or patient education information and the second portion comprises a variable drug prescription for the drug sample to be completed by the physician for prescribing a variable starter drug sample quantity and dosage for the advertised starter drug sample for the given patient whose patient demographics are also entered in the second portion.
• the marketing information is then separated from voucher by the pharmacist in order to provide the completed drug prescription at the dispensing location.
• the patient demographic, sample quantity, and dosage information at each of the dispensing locations is then electronically retrievably stored from each of the drug prescription portions.
• EP1003119 discloses a system for product location information to a retail customer, where the retail customer enters a request for the location of a selected retail item into a retail self-service terminal and is connected to an in-store computer system having product location information stored thereon. The customer can further get additional product location through interfaces between the computer system and the retail self-service terminal.
• the present invention relates to a tracking system for tracking or tracing a product from the raw material or ingredients, which make up the product, and to the end user.
• the product is labeled or tagged and the label comprises information stored in a database comprising the raw material used in the product, such as food items, or a batch of a prescription drug and further information on the process of making the product.
• a retail store or service provider such as a restaurant, registers the product along with information regarding a distributor, a whole sale, retail or service provider, and stores the information in a data base.
• the product being purchased is registered together with details regarding the customer identifiable payment means, such as a debit or a credit card, membership card, a check, a mobile instrument including a mobile phone, or an IP or NIC number when purchasing through the internet.
• the customer identifiable payment means such as a debit or a credit card, membership card, a check, a mobile instrument including a mobile phone, or an IP or NIC number when purchasing through the internet.
• the system of the present invention stores historical information of a product with information on customer identifiable payment means in a centralized database, which allows for tracing items from its origin through processing, packing and distribution to the customer through the purchase. This allows for quick tracing of products such as contaminated food items when a consumer gets a food poisoning or drugs, if a prescription drug causes undesirable effects.
• FIG 1. is a flow chart illustrating the system and the method of the present invention for tracing retail products through distribution to the consumer.
• FIG 2. is a flow chart illustrating the system and the method of the present invention for tracing products from raw material to the end of the processing line.
• FIG 3. is a flow chart illustrating a tracking system from the beginning of a production line of a single product to the consumer.
• FIG 4. shows a specific embodiment of tracking a product from cattle from the farm and to the consumer.
• FIG 5. shows a specific embodiment of the information registered to the labels on a packed product and tracking of the product through two separate databases.
• a method and a system which enable tracking items purchased by a customer to the manufacturer through the customers identifiable payment means, and further to provide information regarding the processing of the item and the origin of the raw material or stock which the item comprises.
• a system for tracking retail products from consumer to the manufacturer.
• the system comprises a first labeling means, a first data storage means and a store registration means, for registration of a labeled product in the first data storage means.
• a label is attached to the product after processing the product and then the product is registered in the first data storage means, such as a data base, together with information regarding the distribution chain of the product from the producer through distributor being whole sales or ware houses, as well as transportation to a retail or service provider.
• the system further comprises a store purchase register means and customer identifiable payment means, wherein a purchase of the labeled product is registered in the data storage means and the registered product is linked to a customer identifiable payment means as the labeled product and the customer identifiable payment means are identified by the store purchase register means during purchase.
• the system can further comprise tracing a product such as a retail product from the raw material or ingredients, which make up the product, to the consumer. This is obtained through storage of historical information of the product from obtaining of raw material, through processing, packing and distribution of the product. Therefore the system may also comprise a processing means, a second data storage means, a second labeling means and a second registration means, for registration of a labeled product in the second data storage.
• the product is then registered in the second data storage means, such as a data base, together with historic information regarding the process of making and/or packing the product, such as the stock, raw material or ingredients in the product, the process of producing the product, date of process, date of packing, and location of processing and packing.
• the information in the second data storage means is linked to the information in the first data storage means and both sets of information can thereby be connected to the consumer (2) through the customer identifiable payment means.
• tracing of items through a packing process is included in the tracking of products, comprising the steps of transferring said items one-by-one from the in-feed line to the packing machine; supply said transfer means with information regarding placement of each item in the packing machine; pack said item; produce identification tag with traceable information for the packed product; attach said identification tag to the packed product; wherein the tag attached to said packed product contains information to retrieve historic information of said items.
• the product is a consumable selected from food items, drugs, including prescription drugs, sanitation or cleaning products, cloths, toys etc, and the label is selected from the group comprising, but not limited to bar code, RFID, sequence number etc.
• a method for tracking retail products to a consumer comprises the steps of labeling the product with a first label, and registration of a product in the first data storage means together with information regarding the distribution chain of the product such as, but not limited to; a distributor, a whole sale, retail or a service provider, and a producer.
• the method further comprises the steps of identifying the labeled product and the customer identifiable payment means by the store purchase register means, registration of a purchase of the labeled in the data storage means and linking the registered product to a customer identifiable payment means in the first data storage means.
• the retail product can be tracked or traced to the consumer in the first data storage means through the customer identifiable payment means.
• the method can even further comprise obtaining a product, tagging/labeling the product with a second label and registering and storing the product in a second data storage means.
• the product is then registered in the second data storage means, such as a data base, together with information regarding the process of making and/or packing the product such as, but not limited to; the stock, raw material or ingredients in the product, the process of producing the product, date of process, date of packing and location of processing and packing.
• the information in the second electrical storage is linked to the information in the first data storage means and both set of information can thereby be connected to the purchaser through the customer identifiable payment means.
• the use of the method and system claimed is used by retailer to track which customers have bought some specific products.
• the use of the system and method claimed is used by a retailer to track which distributor delivered some specific product.
• the use of the system and the method claimed is used by the consumer to track which retail business sold some specific product.
• the use of the system and method claimed is used by governing body (such as department of health or agriculture, or anyone else appointed to such task) to track the origins of contaminated food bought by consumer backwards down the supply chain. From the customer to the retail business, to the distributor, to the processing plant, to the slaughterhouse and so on.
• the first label can comprise information regarding the prize of the product and the second label can comprise information regarding the processing of the product.
• Retail establishments may be, for example, a retail store such as a warehouse, a supermarket or grocery store, a department store, or any other retail or merchandising establishment. Retail establishments may further be for example any service providers such as restaurants, car repair establishments, etc.
• product refers to any items, objects, consumable or service provided by the retail establishments or the service provider.
• customer In the present context, the terms "customer”, “consumer” and “purchaser”, are intended to refer to any person, group of people, or other entity that visits or otherwise patronizes a retailer and who purchases products from the retailer.
• the terms “whole sale” and ware house” refer to establishments in the distribution chain for a product and do not exclude other establishments of a distribution chain such as other storage facilities, storage and product hotels, transport vehicles, etc.
• label refers to any tag or label attached to a product or an item such as a bar code, radio frequency (RF) tag, serial number, etc.
• labeling means refers to any device or apparatus for labeling items or products such as bar-code labeling device, serial number labeling device (printer), and RF labeling device.
• data storage means refers to means for storing data such as a data base or digital memory devices such as hard drives.
• the term "registration means” refers to any device which can identify and register a label on products or items such as a scanner or a detector and a computer.
• a scanner can be a bar code scanner, a serial number scanner and a detector can be an RFID detector.
• the identified labels are registered by a data processing means such as a computer and further stored in a data storage means such as a hard drive or a data base.
• the registration means of the present invention can be a scanner and a computer for registering products taken into a warehouse, whole sale, a retail establishment or a restaurant.
• the registration means of the present invention can also be a registration means in a processing line, which registers information associated with a single product and stores the information together with a label in a data base.
• purchase register means refers to means for identifying products being purchased, registering the sale and registering the payment means used by the customer to pay for a product.
• a purchase register means of the present invention can be a regular cash register in a retail establishment with a function to identify payment means such as shopping cards, credit cards, debit cards, company cards etc, as well as checks.
• customer identifiable payment means refers to any payment means directly linked to the customer such as, but not limited to shopping cards, credit cards, debit cards, company cards etc, as well as checks, mobile phones, internet shopping etc.
• processing means refers to any processing of a product destined for distribution and sale.
• tracking and tracing refers to following a product through one or more of the following steps through labeling or tagging: obtaining raw material, processing, packing, distributing and sale of a product.
• the system of the present invention for tracking retail products 1 to a consumer 2 is illustrated in FIG 1.
• the products that enter the tracking system of the present invention are individually labeled and optionally packed.
• the term "individually labeled” refers to a label which identifies a product from other products in a product category. This is to separate one pack of items from other packs of items from a same batch or processing line.
• the system comprises a first labeling means 3 for labeling the product with a first label, which can be identified during sale for prize information f. ex.
• the system further comprises a first data storage means 4, such as a data base, and a store registration means 5, for registration of a labeled product in the first data storage means 4.
• the first label can for example be a number, represented as a bar code, RF tag or by any other encoding means, representing a record in a database containing information regarding one or more of the following:
• the system registers the sale of the product or service through a store purchase register means 10 into the first data storage means 4 together with a customer identifiable payment means 11 used by the consumer to pay for the product.
• the store purchase register means 10 identifies both the first label as well as the individual label (second label) and stores this information as a pair linked to the identified customer identifiable payment means 11 in the first data storage means 4. This provides the possibility to track a certain product to a single customer, which is beneficial if a product needs to be reclaimed due to a defect or contamination.
• the plurality of information 6-9 which may comprise information such as, but not limited to a distributor 6, a whole sale 7, a retail or service provider 8, and a producer 9 may be entered into the data base 4 when the product is received by a retail establishment or at each stop depending on if the distribution chain is connected to the same data base.
• the system of the present invention further includes tracing, tracking or monitoring a product from the start of the processing and until it has been delivered from the producer to a whole sale or a distributor is illustrated in FIG 1.
• the processing means 12 of the present invention may refer to any processing line, which processes a product from tasks such as selection of stock or raw material 16 and to a packed and labeled product.
• the system further comprises a second data storage means 13, such as a database, second labeling means 14 and a second registration means 15, such as a computer system.
• the second labeling means provides the product with the second label after packaging, where the second label is an individual label as discussed above.
• the second label may be selected from the group of, but not limited to a bar code label, number sequence label or a radio frequency (RF) label.
• the labeled product 1 is then registered in the second data storage means 13 together with information regarding one or more of the following information from the processing: - the stock, raw material or ingredients in the product 16
• the database 13 may therefore comprise information on the content of a package of f. ex. chicken breasts, such as from which farm and animals the breasts in the package came from, which slaughterhouse was used, the factory and processing line in the factory, the name of the processor/worker, date of processing 18 and date of packing.
• the information in the second data storage means 13 is linked to the information in the first data storage means through the first and second label and both set of information can thereby be connected to the consumer 2 through the customer identifiable payment means 11.
• Such documented information enables a rapid tracing of a product to the consumer, not only if a product needs to be reclaimed due to a defect or contamination but also to trace a product backwards all the way to the origin of the stock or raw material used in the product. This will further allow the manufacturer to isolate a default or contamination in the production and a reclaim process might not need to include all the production, but only one or few batches produced.
• FIG 3. illustrates how the system operates through two databases 4 and 13 allowing tracking of a product from the consumer all the way back to the producer of the raw material.
• Processing information 16-20 from the processing means 12, relating to production of the product 1, is registered by the second registration means 15 and stored in the second data storage means 13.
• the product 1 is labeled with an individual label by the second labeling means 14 and the label is registered by the second registration means 15 and linked to the processing information 16-20 in the second data storage means 13.
• Information 6-9 relating to the distribution of the product 1 is registered in the store registration means 5 and stored in the first data storage means 4.
• the product 1 is then labeled with a first label by the first labeling means 3 and the label is registered by the store registration means 5 and linked to the distribution information 6-9 in the first data storage means 4.
• the store purchase register means 10 registers the purchase linking the customer identifiable payment means 11 to the product in the first data storage means 4.
• An operator which has access to the second data storage means 13, can identify the producer of a purchased product.
• Another or the same operator having access to the first data storage means 4, can track the product through the whole processing line and compare the sold product to other products of the same origin or batch.
• Cattle 101 for meat production are raised on a farm 102 before sent to a slaughterhouse 103.
• the raw material is transferred to a meet factory 104 for processing 105 and packaging 106.
• the products 107 are individually labeled, in that the label is specific for each product and each label is stored in a database 108 together with information from the processing.
• the processing information may comprise data, such as to which cattle 101 the meat pieces in the package belong, which slaughterhouse 103 handled the cattle from this particular farm 102, which meat factory 104 handled the meat, the processor and the date the meat was processed etc.
• the label is attached to the product after packaging, so if the pieces in the package originate from different cattle 101, that information will also be stored in the database 108.
• the product is distributed and in this specific embodiment, the product is distributed by a concern which handles the product from the time it leaves the producer and until it is sold off the shelf in a retail establishment such as a supermarket.
• the product is now labeled with a second label, indicating the category of the product and optionally determining the price for that particular category.
• the product 107 is identified by a scanner, which identifies the first and the second label, and registers the product together with a new location of the product in a distribution database 111.
• the product is again identified by scanning both labels and registering the purchase together with information related to the customer, such as the ID of the credit card used. This information is stored in the distribution database 111.
• the concern which distributes the product, can track a certain product to a certain customer through the payment means, and then by looking at the first label tracking the processing of the product back to the origin of the cattle from which the meat in the product originates from.
• a pack of chicken wings is distributed to retail establishments.
• the set of information registered together with the labels is illustrated in FIG 5.
• An RF tag is attached to the pack of chicken wings after processing and packing the product.
• the pack contains five wings from three chickens.
• the processing line keeps track of all the pieces originating from each chicken and registers the chicken and the farm from which the wings originate, which slaughterhouse was used as well as which processing line and the ID of the worker(s) at the processing line. All this data is stored in a product information database together with the RF tag used to label this particular package of chicken wings.
• the package When the package enters the distribution, it is labeled with a bar code label and the package is scanned as it enters and leaves the ware house, and as it enters the supermarket. This information is registered in the distribution database together with a bar code label, which also is associated with the price of the package.
• a bar code label which also is associated with the price of the package.
• both the bar code and the RF tag (dotted line) are identified at the store register as well as the credit card used to pay for the package.
• the RFID is identified when the package is sold, no information regarding the product needs to be registered in the distribution database.
• the distribution database stores the credit card data together with the bar code ID and the RFID.

Landscapes

• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Economics (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Marketing (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Development Economics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
• Human Resources & Organizations (AREA)
• Operations Research (AREA)
• Quality & Reliability (AREA)
• Tourism & Hospitality (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
• Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=36950483

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (1)

• 2006
  • 2006-08-17 WO PCT/IS2006/000018 patent/WO2007020662A2/fr active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events