Toward Dynamic Expiration Dates: An Architectural Study

Abstract

The durability of perishable food varies due to different storage and handling conditions during the supply chain as well as final consumer activities. If the durability of the individual products can be estimated, dynamic expiry dates may be developed and used to prevent food waste, ensure quality, and improve supply chain activities etc. Depending on the system architecture used for such a service, different qualities can be obtained in terms of usability, accuracy, security etc. This paper presents a novel approach for how to identify and select the most suitable system architectures of a dynamic expiry date service. The approach is illustrated by focusing on one of the potential user groups, the supply chain managers. The approach consists of three steps: (i) identify the potential architectures, (ii) filter out the least relevant candidates by applying a specified set of principles, and (iii) perform an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on a set of quality attributes.