InSync Software Collaborates With IBM To Improve Food Safety

InSync Software has signed an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement with IBM that will allow the company to integrate IBM open technology into its own Radio Frequency Identification and sensor-driven food safety and asset management products. InSync will offer IBM’s InfoSphere Traceability Server software as part of its food safety solutions for customers worldwide.

Food safety is a top-of-mind issue around the world today. Aimed at companies in the fresh and processed foods, meat and poultry, construction, and chemical industries, InSync’s products use sensor technologies to locate and track assets and processes, improve efficiencies, and manage risk.

The software integrates and makes sense of data collected from networks of sensors including Radio Frequency Identification or bar code readers, and mobile handheld devices. The software helps businesses reduce costs by identifying and eliminating logistical bottlenecks in areas such as shipping and receiving, warehousing and more. InSync’s products can report on an item’s location and its condition in real-time, and automate time consuming and error-prone manual processes. Under this OEM agreement, IBM enables InSync to decrease development time and speed time to market by providing software that serves as a key building block of the InSync solution.

“Our collaboration with IBM allows us to offer our customers a complete and standards-based smart food traceability solution they can use with their trading partners,” said Ravi Panja, CTO of InSync Software. “Using IBM’s traceability software, we can reduce complexity for customers, who want to get up and running in quickly and at a cost that makes sense for their business while ensuring consumer safety, a key challenge in the market today.”

To enable food producers to share information with trading partners outside their four walls, InSync is embedding IBM’s InfoSphere Traceability Server into its applications. InfoSphere Traceability Server is software that allows trading partners to track their products as they move through the global supply chain. The product is fully compliant with GS1 EPCglobal’s Electronic Product Code Information Services standard for capturing and sharing information on a product’s location, temperature, and other relevant data. The IBM software will allow companies to use InSync’s software to share information concerning food origins or other important information with any trading partner that is also using an EPCIS compliant solution.

“Our software gives each food item or pallet a unique serial number for easy traceability at any point in the supply chain,” said Christian Clauss, director of sensor network solutions, IBM. “Together, InSync and IBM can help food producers use innovative sensor solutions to boost efficiency while creating a smarter, safer food supply for all of us.”