Anurag Mishra, Quality and Food Safety Leader, Shree Renuka Sugars, sees a smart supply chain as one where data reaches the person who can act on it, in time to change the outcome. In a food business, that means knowing the moisture, colour and microbial profile of a lot before it is loaded, not after a customer complaint. The real test is whether a deviation at one site triggers a decision at another within hours rather than weeks.
Smart means connected decisions, not connected devices.
The Trust Gap
The biggest gap lies not in the volume of data but in trust in it. Quality parameters at many loading points are still recorded on paper and typed up later, and labs, surveyors and transporters report them in different units and formats. Without common definitions and interoperable formats, partners cannot even compare data. Standardising quality and food safety data must become as basic as standardising the shipping container itself.
Signals and Evidence
Disruptions show up in data long before they become crises. Weather forecasts, crop outlooks, port congestion indices, rejection trends and supplier audit scores are early signals, and tracking them together allows dispatches to be rescheduled and controls tightened. Food safety has always worked on prevention; the supply chain needs the same mindset. Trust follows when data is shared as evidence rather than accusation. A single time-stamped, tamper-evident record of condition at each handover ends disputes over whose record is correct and lets authorities move from inspecting everything to auditing by risk.
Capturing the Informal
Phone calls and WhatsApp groups persist because speed often beats structure, yet a decision taken there leaves no traceable record and cannot be analysed. The answer is to capture what flows through informal channels: structured digital checklists at loading points, simple mobile apps for drivers and surveyors, and dashboards that turn yesterday’s messages into today’s trends. As food safety teams say, “If it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen.” Data becomes fuel only when it is clean, connected and acted upon. Until then, it is just exhaust.
