CAT Squared becomes IBM Food Trust onboarding partner

The MES is said to be the first food industry application for IBM’s global blockchain-enabled supply chain system

CAT Squared has become an onboarding partner for the IBM Food Trust, a blockchain-enabled global network of food chain participants that securely connects supply chain data across the ecosystem with trust and transparency.

According to CAT Squared, it is the first food-based manufacturing execution system (MES) to have a direct connection to IBM’s Food Trust.

“In 2018, Walmart mandated all its leafy-greens suppliers to implement end-to-end traceability and referred their suppliers to Food Trust as part of the initiative,” says CAT Squared Marketing Manager Kathy Barbeire. “If any of our customers become part of such a mandate, they will need support connecting to the blockchain platform. We want our customers to know that we are prepared to support them, and we are excited to be the first MES provider to complete the onboarding process with IBM Food Trust. We are now taking steps towards providing a fully blockchain-enabled traceability solution for our customers.”

“Blockchain projects require clean, accurate, trusted, verifiable data,” says CAT Squared CEO Vernon Smith. “Much of this data is housed either in a company’s ERP or its MES. It’s commonly known that there are many data-collection gaps with ERP systems because they just don’t have the capability to integrate into the plant floor. To fill those gaps, MES providers must understand the APIs (application program interfaces) necessary to contribute data to a blockchain.”

CAT Squared is working with IBM Food Trust to create new blockchain solutions for its customers that leverage standards developed by GS1, an organization that develops global business communications.

CAT Squared is developing a blockchain solution for food manufacturers called FoodTrace, which offers varying levels of visibility to participants along the food supply chain. These include a food manufacturer portal, retail portal and a consumer portal. Each portal gives users the visibility suited to their needs. Consumers will be able to obtain traceability and freshness data when scanning a product’s QR code with their mobile device.

For more information, visit:

Blockchain Enabled Traceability for Food Supply Chains, Webinar on CAT Squared’s website

IBM Food Trust, IBM website

“Blockchain technology a solution for supply chain traceback issues,” FE website, Exclusive interview with IBM’s Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Industry Platforms

“Walmart, IBM and the Romaine Blockchain,” FE website, Interview with Aaron Cohen, co-founder of CoInspect and adjunct professor at New York University

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Wayne Labs has more than 30 years of editorial experience in industrial automation. He served as senior technical editor for I&CS/Control Solutions magazine for 18 years where he covered software, control system hardware and sensors/transmitters. Labs ran his own consulting business and contributed feature articles to Electronic Design, Control, Control Design, Industrial Networking and Food Engineering magazines. Before joining Food Engineering, he served as a senior technical editor for Omega Engineering Inc. Labs also worked in wireless systems and served as a field engineer for GE’s Mobile Communications Division and as a systems engineer for Bucks County Emergency Services. In addition to writing technical feature articles, Wayne covers FE’s Engineering R&D section.