Education in traceability – next step to increase awareness
Swedish companies and organisations are facing a significant challenge due to upcoming legal requirements for traceability. To better equip Swedish stakeholders for the future, the Trust4Value project is in the process of developing easily accessible educational materials on traceability.
The Trust4Value project has identified a need for increased knowledge about traceability among Swedish companies and organisations. Since future legislation imposes requirements on product traceability, a knowledge boost is needed. To increase awareness, Trust4Value plans to create simplified educational materials on traceability. The goal is to compile a course package that explains what traceability is, how it works and why companies need to adapt to it. Since the level of knowledge is still relatively low, the educational materials will consist of concise and straightforward information to steer companies in the right direction, towards a traceability mindset.
– The change is urgent, so it is important to de-dramatise and provide clear instructions on how to meet the new traceability legislation. We want to show companies that taking the first step doesn’t have to be so difficult, says Marie-Louise Lagerstedt Eidrup, project manager at Chalmers Industriteknik and part of the Trust4Value project.
Providing clear instructions on the next steps is crucial. The educational materials will not only explain concepts and terminology to establish a common language for traceability, but also contain concrete solutions to the challenges that companies will face in the future. For example there will be suggestions on which product information that is important to include and how to tailor information based on the target group.
Create motivation
Jörgen Ekblad, Ulf Asklund and Gunilla Elmenius from QCM are involved in developing the educational materials. They emphasise the importance of motivating companies and showing them that complying with the new directives can benefit their business. Having traceability to information linked to the product can allow a company to impose clearer requirements on product development, manufacturers, and suppliers, for example on information related to sustainability and social conditions. Traceability can also help companies’ customers make informed choices in their consumption, which can be a competitive advantage.
The educational materials on traceability will be released by the end of 2023. The materials will be free and accessible to everyone.
Want to get in touch with Trust4Value? Contact sophie.charpentier@chalmersindustriteknik.se
About Trust4Value
The purpose of the project is to gather strength in the field of traceability by increasing organizations’ knowledge and understanding of how data generated in the traceability chain can be used to meet the requirements of existing and future legislation, and how these affect their operations as well as the upstream and downstream.
The project is led by Chalmers Industriteknik, which carries out the work together with GS1 Sweden, RISE, the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS), TCO development, QCM, and Axfoundation.
Trust4Value runs until the end of 2023.
