PurposeThis paper aims to study the main requirements of traceability and examine how the technology of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can address these requirements. It further seeks to outline both an information data model and a system architecture that will make traceability feasible and easily deployable across a supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThe design research approach is followed, associating traceability requirements to a proposed system design.FindingsThe technological approach used has great implications in relation to the cost associated with a traceability system and the ease of its deployment.Research limitations/implicationsValidation of the proposed information data model and system architecture is required through practical deployment in different settings.Practical implicationsThe paper provides practitioners with insight on how RFID technology can meet traceability requirements and what technological approach is more appropriate.Originality/valueFood quality has become an important issue in the last decade. However, achieving end‐to‐end traceability across the supply chain is currently quite a challenge from a technical, a co‐ordination and a cost perspective. The paper contributes by suggesting a specific technological approach, exploiting the new possibilities provided by RFID technology, to address these issues.

Purpose -The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the challenges when developing a common performance measurement system (PMS) in the context of a collaborative supply chain. Design/methodology/approach -The paper utilizes qualitative and quantitative data from a case study. The qualitative data refer to the assessment of collaborative performance measures based on interviews with experts, while the quantitative data demonstrate the use of two performance measures in a collaborative supply chain network. Findings -The development of a collaborative PMS is a challenging task. Through the systematic study of two significant performance measures for a supply chain, it was found that the one could not be supported due to reliability restrictions, while the other requires the development of a complex information system. Based on these, a discussion of specific challenges follows.Research limitations/implications -The paper has the general case study limitations. Practical implications -Companies operating in supply chain networks need to synchronize existing business processes and data before the design of a new PMS. Selecting the measures and the measurement method is not a trivial task. Important challenges reveal when dealing with, underlying data, business processes and the evaluation method of a PMS in supply chains. Originality/value -The management control function usually focuses on the design and development of PMSs for a single organization. Limited knowledge exists when more than two companies require the development of a PMS for a jointly agreed business process.

Purpose -This paper aims to give an overview of supply chain collaboration practices and the way the underlying enabling technologies have evolved, from the classical EDI approach, to web-based and RFID-enabled collaboration. Design/methodology/approach -The paper discusses alternative technological approaches and the role they play in supporting collaboration. The research presented in this paper is empirical in nature, based on three different case studies from the grocery retail sector depicting different aspects of implementing supply chain collaboration practices. Findings -From the examination of these cases, interesting lessons are derived regarding the suitability and criticality of the technological approach used to support collaboration, especially regarding the use of a centralized web-platform as compared to the classical EDI approach and to a decentralized solution based on web services. Research limitations/implications -Research is limited to the specific case studies and further validation of the research findings through qualitative and quantitative methods would be appropriate. Practical implications -The paper provides support to practitioner regarding the selection of the appropriate technological approach to support collaboration. Furthermore, it gives insight regarding the maturity of current technologies in relation to collaboration requirements and to what extent can the technology be an enabler or a barrier in a collaboration initiative. Originality/value -The paper links the technological and the supply-chain collaboration perspective in order to derive interesting conclusions relevant to both academics and practitioners. The cases presented are quite unique and have not been widely studied, representing interesting and novel approaches to the way that technology has been employed to support collaboration practices.

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