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PurposeIncreased focus on safe and healthy food has resulted in the need for implementing electronic chain traceability. This poses challenges both regarding technical solutions and business processes. The purpose of this paper is to report from a research project where implementation in a value chain for farmed salmon is used to investigate these challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe first step in the project was to establish a complete value chain for farmed salmon as a basis for further study. The second step was to use theoretical concepts of internal traceability and chain traceability as a basis for analyzing the status of each company regarding readiness to implement electronic chain traceability. The third step was to compare the final level of implementation in each company with the level of implementation readiness at the start of the project.FindingsImplementation of electronic chain traceability may involve changes both in work processes and software systems. This study shows that a set of criteria regarding implementation readiness can be used to assess the challenges and risks involved. Coherence between implementation readiness and the final level of implementation is indicated.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited to companies in a specific food sector. The generalization of the results for use in other sectors needs to be investigated.Practical implicationsBecause of the increasing demand for improving chain traceability, it can be expected that implementation readiness regarding electronic chain traceability solutions will be an important factor in selecting partners in food value chains.Originality/valueThe large number of companies involved in this study is a good basis for evaluating the complexity of implementing electronic chain traceability. This paper describes guidelines and assessment criteria for companies planning to implement such solutions.

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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -New technology for equipping returnable transport items (RTI) with unique identification (e.g. RFID) give food industry companies new opportunities for improving business processes. The efficient exploitation poses new demands on the information technology systems in general and on the underlying information models in particular. This paper aims to introduce a generic information model where functionality for handling RTIs with unique identification is included. Design/methodology/approach -Functional requirements are analysed based on process descriptions and use case examples from a real production environment. Detailed information modelling was then done in several iterations using entity-relationship diagrams. Validation of the model was done based on use cases typical for the food industry. Findings -The model described is developed within the broad scope of looking at opportunities for using wireless technology to improve business processes and traceability. This includes RFID, RF based sensors, sensor networks and real time location system (RTLS). It is vital that these large amounts of data are linked to identifiable entities for later retrieval and analysis. Unique identification of RTIs can be utilised to ensure that sensor data can be linked both to the RTI and to the content of the RTI. The links between the RTI and the content of the RTI are a basis for improving traceability. Research limitations/implications -Based on the information model, the next step is to develop a detailed specification for the implementation of the model. The results from the implementation will be used for further evaluation of the model, and might lead to improvements and changes in the model. Practical implications -Enabling technologies like RFID often lead to changes in existing processes and systems. This work is a contribution to developing more stable and application-independent information models in food processing companies. Originality/value -The paper shows that leveraging unique identification of returnable transport items to provide a finer meshed granularity and increased operational visibility of traceable units will not only improve traceability but will also give...