The seafood supply chain can be anything from a fisherman catching fish in the sea, or the DNA history of the fish eggs at a fish hatchery, throughout breeding, feeding, environmental conditions, harvesting, processing, distributing, retailing, preparing and recycling. The SeafoodChain™ system enables data-capturing and -monitoring from all parts of the supply chain; from a fisherman’s smartphone app or extracting data from fish egg production plant, to automatic IoT sensors, Computer Vision, ERP-Plugins, Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning.
Captured information is securely stored and managed by ‘Smart Digital Twins’ (SDT) that resides in the Global Data Lake. When the real-life physical object, such as a fish, changes owner and location its Smart Digital Twin and its captured information also changes owner and ‘location’ in the Global Data Lake.
Roe / Hatchery
Information regarding DNA and environmental conditions about the roe is captured and stored in Smart Digital Twins by the roe producer. The hatchery sequentially continues to add important information such as transfer dates, fertilization data, water PH, nutrition and ecological circumstances, etc.
Breeding
At breeding facilities information such as the feed brand/quality, environmental conditions, mortality rates, energy consumption is captured and added to the Smart Digital Twins. At the growth facilities information about weights, sizes, medical conditions, water temperatures and feeding events can be captured down to individual fish levels.
Harvest
When the fish is harvested, information such as time, locations, batches, weights, vessel id’s, methods, returns, waste, etc. can be captured and registered to their corresponding Smart Digital Twins.
Processing
Important information about the received raw biomaterials is useful for the processor to effectively plan and efficiently handle the production. Production plants consequtively add information about time, locations, processes, temperatures, energy consumptions and waste materials to the respective Smart Digital Twins.
Distribution
Transportation is a phase where cold chain management is critical for maintaining the quality and value of the products. Information such as temperatures, locations, times and energy consumptions are securely stored in the Smart Digital Twins from for example IoT sensors, Transport Management Systems and Mobile Apps.
Retail
The retailer now has access to valuable product information such as Sustainability, Provenance, Quality and Brand information. They can add additional information about their handling of the products such as storage temperatures, processes, energy consumption, waste, etc. This information can be important feedback to the producer as well as the consumers.
Consumer
By connecting every single product package with its Smart Digital Twin by a unique QR code or RFID chip, consumers can get detailed, verified information about the Ingredients, Quality, Provenance, Sustainability and Brand for the specific individual package they are holding in their hand.
Recycling
To close the complete product life cycle, information about recycling, waste management and reuse can be stored in Smart Digital Twins to enable life cycle-traceability, life cycle-management and sustainable reuse of resources and materials.
THE DIGITAL THREADS
The combination of Smart Digital Twins in a Global Open Data Lake enables all actors to securely exchange and trade valuable information across company borders. The Digital Threads break the current 1-up/1-down blinder situation, enabling a real-time feedback loop back to producers enabling them to fine-tune their production methods to maximize quality, efficiency and sustainability.
