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Use Case Update: Enhanced Quality Certification System

By Manuel Winter -

The EU quality certification system and protected designation of origin (PDO) is a powerful tool to protect the quality of EU products, especially in foreign markets. With the use of IoT-technologies, an enhanced quality certification system will offer a system that will lead to a reduction of inspection costs and time while simultaneously increasing the reliability of that very certification. Other reasons to use IoT-technologies for these kind of certification systems are the seamless exchange between the producer and the auditor, less human errors, less use of paper and a higher trust in the quality of the products.

How does it work?

This specific use case is doing an exercise in the field of wine and organic production. The first stage of the exercise is limited to the wine cellars of the vineyard while the second one is focusing on the vineyard itself.
The objectives of this use case are to implement an enhanced certification system in one PDO wine (online audit & tracking) as well as in at least four wine estates (PDO & organic). This is done with the help of sensors from WATGRID for the monitoring of the temperature, colour or the turbidity of the wine. The system can be envisioned as the eyes inside the wine. The use case also uses virtual reality and augmented reality, developed by UQIDO, to support the inspection procedures in combination with sensors.

What are the results?

The main result is the increasing transparency from the collected data about the quality of the wine and its heritage. This is important to guarantee the quality standards are fulfilled and controlled. It also facilitates a faster intervention through efficient management in case unexpected factors occur. The improved transparency factor is potentially also interesting for consumers as the will know precisely what they consume by tracing the product's origin. The use of IoT-technologies by this use case thus gives evidence and reliability to production processes. Moreover, it improves company reputation and, consequently, market opportunities. Certification systems also give evidence and reliability to production processes aiming at improving animal welfare, sustainability or pollution reduction, since it guarantees that declared standards are fulfilled and supports producers in self-improvement.

Learning by doing and next steps

When setting up the use case, incorrect sensors were initially used and promoted to winegrowers. These sensors did not work properly from the first hour of use. The sensors, which are used now, were not available at that time, as some where just at prototype stage. Now, this use case has all the correct and working sensors they need to achieve their objectives. Additionally, the team is now in consultation with the government to gain access to the cadastral dataset of the vineyard. This is necessary because in this way they can leverage the production logbook at vineyard level as the official reference for certification.

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