1. Traceability and IT: two parallel systems

To meet the objective of traceability, the transformation cycle of a product (physical or dematerialized) must be paralleled by the circuit of its characteristic information. Increasingly, this information is managed by the IT systems that accompany product transformation processes. Effective traceability therefore requires an efficient information system, and its associated IT system. A set of information that is not processed automatically cannot be considered an information system. To speak of an information system that does not include IT is an abuse of language.

The three main contributions made by the information system to the traceability system are :