BANANA SUPPLY CHAIN TRACEABILITY MODEL BY DOLE COMPANY

The banana supply chain has always been complex and geographically fragmented,

and with more distant suppliers and ever-more demanding customers, the unique

characteristics of this supply chain bring challenges to implementing an effective

traceability system. The Dole Company account for a significant percentage of

the industry and have significant product identification and bar coding technology

requirements. In contrast, the upstream part of the supply chain.

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Dole Company vary greatly in their technical capabilities:

from paper, phone and fax based transactions, through robust bar code, EDI1 and

other internal systems. Their ability to perform product tracking and tracing in an

accurate and timely manner is directly related to their managerial and technical

capabilities.

KEY AREA 1: GROWER

The grower is responsible for the production, harvesting and despatch, as well as

record keeping of appropriate information about the field and products sent to the

packing station. Field management records are available on request.

KEY AREA 2: PACKER

The packer receives the bananas from the grower or another packer, packs them into boxes, and may pallet them. He then dispatches them to a third party (e.g.

service provider) or the loading port. The packer is responsible for keeping records

of the origin of the products packed, labeling their identification and how and where

they were dispatched.

KEY AREA 3: TRANSPORT AND RECEIVING

The transporter receives the bananas from the packer. This may be loose boxes or

pallets. He transports the boxes or pallets from the

packer to the port or other 3rd party service provider.

KEY AREA 4: LOADING PORT

The port facility receives transport storage units, which are sent either to storage,

 labeling, quality control and or to the ship. The port facility is responsible

for keeping records about the handling process.

KEY AREA 5: UNLOADING PORT

The port facility is responsible for unloading the ship and allotting the pallets and/or

containers to storage, road and/or rail transport vehicles.

KEY AREA 6: RIPENING

The ripening company is responsible for receiving the pallets, storing them in

ripening chambers, repacking, order picking and dispatching.

KEY AREA 7: DISTRIBUTION

The retail distribution center receives pallets from the ripening company and stores or

cross-docks them for dispatch to the retail points of sale. The store orders are

picked and existing or newly created pallets are delivered to them.