Food Fortification Quality Management System

The Food Fortification Quality Management System (FFQMS) is a digital platform designed to ensure the quality and traceability of fortified food products. It integrates various modules to support comprehensive quality control (QC), quality assurance (QA), traceability, and compliance with industry and government regulations. It is built with scalability and configurability in mind, allowing the system to adapt to different commodities and regional standards. The application is customizable for any commodity; currently, FFQMS has been developed using rice as the primary use case.

About

At its core, food fortification entails enriching staple food items with essential micronutrients to alleviate deficiencies and promote well-being. This evidence-informed intervention, endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), stands as a pivotal strategy in the global fight against malnutrition. From adding iodine to salt to fortifying milk with vitamin D, the process of food fortification manifests in various forms, each tailored to address specific nutrient gaps within populations.

Configurability

  • Customizable Workflows: FFQMS is designed to support customizable workflows, making it adaptable for any food fortification industry. The platform allows users to define specific quality assurance protocols and quality control procedures for different stages of the fortification process.
  • Industry-specific Adaptation: The system can be tailored to meet specific industry norms and regulatory requirements. For example, it can be adapted for rice, dairy, or other food products, ensuring it fits into local and global fortification guidelines.
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Built in Lab module

The Food Fortification Quality Management System (FFQMS) includes an integrated lab module designed to handle all quality assurance (QA) and testing processes. It enables:

  • Sample Testing: It allows manufacturers and suppliers to submit product samples to the lab for testing at various stages of production.
  • Automated Results: Once manually entered, results under lab module get auto populated into the fortification module.
  • Batch and Lot Approval: Based on the lab results, batches and lots are approved or rejected before proceeding to the next stage.
  • Detailed Lab Reports: Administrators can view detailed lab reports, including pass/fail statistics, to ensure that products meet regulatory standards before distribution.
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Built-in Inspection Module for Manufacturers

The inspection module within the FFQMS delivers comprehensive oversight of manufacturers, ensuring they comply with established quality and safety standards. Key features include:

  • Inspection Scheduling: Enables inspectors to plan routine and ad-hoc inspections of manufacturers, to ensure timely completion of assessments.
  • Customizable Checklists: Supports inspectors with tailored checklists based on food fortification standards, allowing them to evaluate manufacturers against specific regulatory and quality criteria.
  • User-Based Reporting and Administration Oversight: Each inspector generates individual inspection reports, which can be presented to administrators on a separate dashboard, ensuring centralised view to administrator about inspection activities and findings
  • Real-Time Compliance Tracking: Give data to the decision makers on compliance of standard manufacturing practices thereby allowing quick and pin point actions.

Interoperability

  • Support for on demand data transfer and subscription based event broadcasting to achieve Interoperability with the existing platforms that are up and running.
  • OpenAPI Specification has been exposed for facilitating on demand data push and pull.
  • Event driven architecture is in place for accommodating webhook based event broadcasting for registered clients
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Quality Assurance (QA)

The FFQMS includes an in-built lab module designed to uphold rigorous QA processes by enabling users to submit samples for lab testing, track sample status, and view test results. This ensures that each batch meets the necessary quality standards before moving through the supply chain. Additionally, the system supports the creation and tracking of samples from batches and lots, integrating quality assurance processes directly into production workflows. This ensures that each batch is tested for compliance with food fortification standards, embedding quality control at every stage of the manufacturing process.

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Quality Control (QC):

  • Inbuilt Validation Mechanisms: The system incorporates robust QC mechanisms that validate each stage of production, from raw material acquisition to final product dispatch. These validation steps ensure that the quality of the input materials and the finished products meets predefined industry standards.
  • Customizable for Commodities: FFQMS allows users to customize QC parameters based on the commodity being fortified. For example, in rice fortification, the system ensures that the correct levels of micronutrients (e.g., iron, folic acid, vitamin B12) are added and validated before distribution.
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Batch History Tree

Traceability:

  • End-to-end Traceability: FFQMS offers complete traceability for any commodity from raw materials to the final product. It tracks each step of the production process, ensuring that each lot and batch can be traced back to its source, including details like the batch number, lab tests, and supplier information.
  • Representative Images: The system captures representative images at key manufacturing stages, such as from raw material acquisition to warehouse storage, allowing users to visually track product movements and confirm compliance with standards.

QR Code Generation:

The system generates unique QR codes for each batch and lot, simplifying the process of tracking and identifying products throughout the supply chain. These QR codes can be scanned to instantly retrieve detailed information about the batch and the vendor, such as the manufacturer's name, license number, manufacturing date, expiry date, total quantity, batch number, and raw materials used. This comprehensive tracking system ensures transparency and facilitates efficient quality control across the entire supply chain.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Dashboards: FFQMS includes a dedicated monitoring module that provides a user specific dashboard for real-time monitoring and evaluation. This feature supports evidence-based decision-making by providing near to real time insights on production progress, quality control status, and potential bottlenecks in the process.
  • Super Monitor Features: Designed for high-level oversight, the super monitor module allows administrators to view comprehensive metrics across different regions, facilities, or production units, enabling effective evaluation of the entire supply chain.
  • Geographical drilldown: Dashboards are supported by geographical map layout and drilldown to multiple levels inside with detailed information with respect to manufacturers and batch data

GIS based Spatial mapping of manufacturer, producers, suppliers, testing agencies:

This GIS-based spatial mapping shows the locations of manufacturers, producers, suppliers, and testing agencies involved in the fortified food supply chain. Color-coded markers represent each entity, with flow paths illustrating product movement. It enables real-time tracking of raw materials and finished products, ensuring traceability and quality control. This system helps visualize connections between supply chain stages, from suppliers to manufacturers and testing labs, enhancing efficiency and transparency.

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Production Analytics:

Performance Metrics: The system offers detailed, color-coded data on production quantities, quality control pass/fail rates, lab testing results, and more. These details are color-coded based on different parameters, making it easy for users to distinguish key metrics. The dashboard data is customized according to user roles and specific geography, enabling administrators and supervisors to optimize production and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements tailored to their region or responsibility.

REST based design:

FFQMS is designed with a RESTful API structure, allowing users to access the platform from mobile devices. This is especially valuable for field officers or inspectors who need to use the system when away from their desktops.

Configurable approval workflow
  • Structured Approval Process: FFQMS supports an automated approval workflow where batches and lots move through predefined checkpoints before approval. For instance, a batch of fortified rice might need to pass through a lab test, approval by a QA officer, and a final validation before dispatch.
  • Role-based Access Control: The approval workflows are tied to user roles, ensuring that only authorized personnel can approve or reject batches at different stages of the process.
Admin module

Super Admin Module: The platform includes a dedicated super admin module that handles all user-related functionalities. It manages user roles and it is crucial for managing and ensuring smooth operational workflows. Administrators can assign different roles to users, such as manufacturers, lab technicians or warehouse managers, each with specific access rights tailored to their function in the system.

Immutable Database:
  • Blockchain-based Immutability: FFQMS uses immutable database built on blockchain principles for maintaining traceability , ensuring that once data is entered, it cannot be tampered with or altered. This feature is critical for maintaining the integrity of data, particularly in regulatory environments where audit trails are mandatory.
  • Secure Data Logs: The system stores tamper-proof logs for each action taken on batches and lots, ensuring that any changes or updates are fully traceable and verifiable.
SSO (Single Sign-On):
  • Seamless Access Control: FFQMS integrates with Single Sign-On (SSO) systems using Keycloak, enabling users to access multiple applications and services using one set of login credentials. This simplifies user access while enhancing security by centralizing authentication and authorization processes.
  • Enhanced Security: By using industry-standard authentication protocols such as:
    • OAuth 2.0
    • OpenID Connect, and
    • SAML
    SSO ensures secure access control across the platform. This feature is crucial for large-scale deployments where many users, such as manufacturers, lab personnel, and administrators, need role-based access to specific features.
Real-time Notifications:
  • Event-driven Alerts: FFQMS sends notifications to alert users to key events such as the approval or rejection of a batch, the results of lab tests, or the dispatch of products via email. These notifications ensure that users remain informed and can act accordingly.
Data Privacy and Security:
  • Data Security: The Food Fortification Quality Management System complies with the Indian IT Act, including:
    • SPDI rules
    • the Personal Data Protection Bill (2023)
    • the IT Act (2000)
    It ensures data privacy and security by embedding privacy-by-design principles, adhering to Indian data protection laws, and following OWASP security practices. The system uses encryption, secure access controls, and risk management strategies. Regular audits, such as penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, are conducted to maintain and enhance security measures, ensuring the ongoing protection of personal data.
  • Access Control: The platform uses strict access control mechanisms, ensuring that only authorised users can view or modify sensitive information.
Microservices-based architecture:
  • Scalability and flexibility: The system is built on a microservices architecture, allowing individual services (such as lab testing, approval workflows, and user management) to be deployed and managed independently. This ensures that FFQMS can scale to handle larger workloads or be customized for specific use cases without overhauling the entire system.
  • Technology stack: The core services are implemented in Java, leveraging:
    • Spring Boot for microservice development
    • Keycloak for authentication
    • MySQL for relational data storage
    • ImmuDB for audit and traceability data
    Each of the above technologies contributes to the robustness and reliability of the platform.