From Batch Manufacturing to Serialized Manufacturing: A Track & Trace System

Francesco Nicastro

G.D. SpA
Via Baltindorno 91, IT- 40133 Bologna, Italy
Tel: +39. 51 6474730   Fax:

Email: francesco.nicastro@gidi.it

 

  

 

  
 

Biography

Francesco Nicastro graduated in Engineering at the University of Bologna and, after a period of specialized training at Washington University in St. Louis (USA), developed a career as a software analyst mainly at IBM, at the Program Product Development Center in Italy.

After joining Accenture, he spent long years as a consultant, primarily in manufacturing.

Coesia is a holding group controlling a multinational portfolio of leading automated packaging machinery businesses in a variety of industries, including pharma printing and packaging security through vision inspection.  Within Coesia, G.D operates in the tobacco industry as a leading manufacturer of high-technology, top-speed (1.000 packs per minute) packaging machines.

In his role as Chief Information Officer, Francesco Nicastro is also in charge of a software Business Unit dedicated to developing software products for Coesia customers, in the highly specialized system area where software applications require the closest, real-time integration with the packaging machines and devices in the factory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Abstract

Coesia is a holding group controlling a multinational portfolio of automated packaging machinery business, with consolidated sales in the range of € 800 mil. and 4.000 employees, featuring a leading position in different industries, including Pharma printing and packaging security through vision inspection.

The Coesia Track & Trace System (C-TTS) was developed in response to mounting regulatory and anti-counterfeiting concerns in the pharmaceutical industry, and in consumer goods in general.

C-TTS provides:

  • A comprehensive and-to-end solution for the serialized tracking of individually identified products throughout the manufacturing packaging process, and, if required, logistics operations including serialized stocking up to shipping;
  • Full, real-time, unified control of all the elements of the serialized tracking process in the factory;
  • A “Cell-based” architecture, for a very high level of modularity, flexibility, and performance, in order to meet a wide variety of packaging requirements with various combination of standard modular components, configurable by parameters.

C-TTS aggregates the product serial codes into data structures that describe the packaging configuration of the products, and its evolution throughout the packaging line, warehouse and shipping, in a flexible manner, that allows to handle the various stages of the process and the operations that the products undergo.

The completely modular architecture of C-TTS, allows it to be easily integrated in the existing system map of the factory, at the level that best suits the customer specific needs.