Optimisation of traceability and operations planning: an integrated model for perishable food production

The food industry has been under pressure regarding improving food safety, implementing efficient risk management, and managing quality 'from farm to fork'. Individual parties in a food supply chain must make appropriate strategic and operational adjustments, enhance product quality and increase operational efficiency and profits. In this paper, an optimisation model is developed integrating traceability initiatives with operation factors to achieve desired product quality and minimum impact of product recall in an economic manner. A case study with numerical example is provided to illustrate the theory. Sensitivity analyses are conducted. A comparison between the proposed model and the existing model operating in the case company is also presented.