Strategy for establishing a traceability system for a cottonseed oil production unit in Côte d'Ivoire

Initially defined as a quality management tool, traceability is succeeding in improving the performance of industrial production systems throughout the world. However, in Côte d'Ivoire, some food processing industries such as COTRAF have unreliable traceability systems. This absence of traceability is due to a lack of quality control requirements on the part of consumers. A study was therefore carried out in the town of Korhogo at the COTRAF company.

The overall aim of the study was to help improve the performance and competitiveness of cottonseed oil processing units. For this reason, the methodology used involved a preliminary survey, the purpose of which was to interview the company's managers. Then, the actual survey was then carried out on a sample of twenty-two (22) staff members. The evaluation of the cottonseed oil production procedure and the analysis methods were described. Statistical tests were carried out to determine the functional organisation of COTRAF. The results prove that the organisation of COTRAF refers to traceability indicators. This indicates the level of satisfaction with their traceability system. The RADA and PARETO diagrams showed significant levels of compliance of COTRAF's organisation with the prerequisite standards (59.32% of prerequisite standards). With regard to coding procedures, practised traceability logics have made it possible to determine codes based on COTRAF's organisation. Based on the above data, a traceability scheme was proposed. Ultimately, the creation of a reliable traceability system within COTRAF is desirable, as there is already a system that performs poorly in terms of reliable indicators, which represent 59.32%.