Traceability information modeling and system implementation in Chinese domestic sheep meat supply chains

Traceability has become a prerequisite for ensuring meat quality and safety. It is the most critical requirement for developing a well‐structured traceability system to identify efficiently and model the traceability information need to be captured. This article identified Chinese domestic sheep meat supply chain and proposed the Petri nets and UML based modelling approach for identified traceability information and process. This approach followed the definition of state and transition in sheep meat production process. An in‐depth analysis was conducted for the sheep stakeholders and production flow of the sheep meat chain. The state‐transition for the production process and specific traceability information need to be captured were identified including the product, process, quality, and transformation information. Furthermore, traceability functionality requirement and system architecture were presented. System evaluation results illustrate the model can help to provide guidance for standardizing meat product flow and supporting quality traceability management in meat industry. The system can provide making‐decision for the meat product quality and safety control.