Traceability Weekly™ | Product Identity Is Moving From Identification to Proof | 11 September 2026

For years, traceability was largely about answering one question:

Can we identify this product?

That question remains fundamental.

But the strongest developments across the market this week point towards something more demanding.

Increasingly, manufacturers, regulators and supply-chain partners need to establish:

What is it?
Is it genuine?
What information belongs to it?
What happened to it?
Where did it go?
Can we prove it?

That changes the role of product identification.

The barcode, QR code, Data Matrix, RFID tag, DPM mark or serial number remains the starting point.

But increasingly, the value sits in the relationship between that physical identifier and the trusted information behind it.

This week’s developments illustrate that shift particularly well.

New Zealand formally moves towards digital labelling

One of the week’s most strategically important developments came not from an equipment manufacturer, but from government.

On 7 September, New Zealand’s Ministry for Regulation published the outcome of its Product Labelling Regulatory Review.

The review concluded that existing regulation had not kept pace with online shopping, global supply chains, technological development and changing consumer expectations.

Cabinet has now agreed to progress a package of reforms that includes enabling digital labelling while retaining appropriate consumer protections.

That deserves attention well beyond New Zealand.

It represents another signal that the traditional assumption that all regulated product information must permanently reside on the physical package is beginning to change.

Importantly, this is not a New Zealand QR-code mandate.

The detailed framework still needs to be developed.

But the policy direction matters.

The package is becoming an interface

Historically, packaging communicated information primarily through:

printed text
symbols
artwork
linear barcodes

Digital labelling introduces another architecture.

A physical identifier can potentially become an entry point into information that is:

richer
structured
multilingual
machine-readable
updateable
available to consumers
available to regulators
connected to supply-chain systems

That changes the role of the code.

It is no longer necessarily just information printed on packaging.

It can become the bridge between the physical product and its digital record.

That is precisely why the wider transition towards GS1 2D identification matters.

GS1 Sunrise 2027 should continue to be described accurately as an industry transition ambition rather than regulation.

But the underlying direction is increasingly being reinforced by regulation, digital product information and real-world implementations.

Deployment Watch: Merck connects cocoa to a trusted digital identity

If New Zealand demonstrates the policy direction, another development this week shows what physical-to-digital traceability can look like in practice.

On 8 September, The Hashgraph Group announced that it and Merck, supported by PwC Germany, are piloting a cocoa traceability solution.

The architecture combines The Hashgraph Group’s TrackTrace platform with Merck M-Trust™ physical authentication technology and PwC Germany’s process and implementation expertise.

The objective is to connect information including:

origin
authenticity
quality
recall information
compliance data

from farm through to consumer.

That is particularly interesting because it tackles one of traceability’s most fundamental weaknesses.

A perfect digital record is useless if it belongs to the wrong physical thing

A database can contain accurate information.

A QR code can resolve correctly.

A record can be immutable.

None of those things alone proves that the physical material in front of somebody is actually the material represented by that record.

The Merck authentication layer is intended to strengthen that physical connection.

The traceability platform then retains information and events around the resulting identity.

The architecture therefore becomes:

Physical product → authenticated identity → digital record → traceability events

That is considerably stronger than simply attaching a database entry to a batch number.

Why cocoa makes this particularly relevant

The timing is important.

Cocoa is one of seven commodity groups covered by the EU Deforestation Regulation, alongside cattle, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood.

Following the revised implementation timetable, EUDR applies from:

30 December 2026 — large and medium operators

30 June 2027 — most micro and small operators

with micro and small operators already covered by the EU Timber Regulation also falling under the December 2026 date.

Affected operators need reliable evidence around the provenance of relevant commodities and products.

That means businesses increasingly need relationships between:

supplier → production location → material → batch → movement → due-diligence record

The Merck/Hashgraph/PwC project therefore demonstrates something bigger than blockchain applied to cocoa.

It demonstrates how physical authentication and regulatory traceability can begin to converge.

Trimco brings GS1 Digital Link into practical apparel traceability

Another development this week provides a useful bridge between GS1 standards and future Digital Product Passport infrastructure.

On 10 September, Trimco Group announced that its ProductDNA® traceability solution had received GS1 UK product approval for its GS1 Digital Link capability.

ProductDNA was originally launched in 2022 and is targeted particularly towards textile and footwear supply chains.

The significance this week is not that another QR-code solution has appeared.

It is the standards layer behind it.

GS1 Digital Link allows established GS1 identifiers to connect physical products with online information and services.

That creates a potentially important architecture:

Product → GS1 identifier → data carrier → resolver → digital information

For apparel and footwear, that direction becomes increasingly relevant as the EU develops sector-specific requirements under the wider Digital Product Passport framework.

The practical lesson for manufacturers is important.

A Digital Product Passport should not simply be approached as:

“We need to put a QR code on something.”

The harder questions are:

Which identifier belongs to the product?
Who controls the master data?
Where does the code resolve?
Which information is public?
Which information is restricted?
How does the physical identifier remain associated with the correct product?
How is the code verified during production?

That is why DPP increasingly sits within the same conversation as coding, labelling, GS1, RFID, serialisation and machine vision.

The physical mark still has to work

As more information moves behind the identifier, physical marking quality becomes more important rather than less.

A sophisticated Digital Product Passport is of little use if:

the QR code is unreadable;
the wrong identifier was printed;
the label was applied to the wrong product;
contrast is insufficient;
the code becomes damaged;
the physical product and digital record become disconnected.

That is where coding and marking meet verification.

The manufacturing architecture remains:

Mark → Label → Verify → Inspect → Package

But the digital layer underneath becomes:

Identify → Connect → Authenticate → Record → Prove

The code is increasingly the doorway.

Verification ensures the doorway actually works.

KUKA extends EoL automation beyond palletising

The week’s strongest physical-automation development came from KUKA.

On 10 September, KUKA introduced the KMF 1500P-CB, the first model in a new family of autonomous forklifts.

The vehicle can autonomously transport open and closed pallets and containers weighing up to 1,500kg, including collecting loads from enclosed transfer points such as roller conveyors.

Worldwide ordering begins this month, with first deliveries expected in December.

Why does that belong in a traceability publication?

Because increasingly, End-of-Line does not end when the palletiser finishes its cycle.

The finished product still needs to move.

The production sequence becomes:

Pack → identify → palletise → label → move → store → dispatch

And the physical movement needs to remain connected to information.

An autonomous forklift may know how to collect a pallet.

But the wider factory needs to know:

Which pallet is it?
Which products are on it?
Has inspection passed?
Where should it go?
Which customer or order does it belong to?

KUKA says the new forklift uses its existing AMR software ecosystem and supports VDA 5050, enabling integration with other fleet-management systems.

That interoperability matters.

Moving the wrong pallet automatically is still moving the wrong pallet.

Automation delivers maximum value when physical flow and information flow remain synchronised.

Machine vision is becoming an evidential layer

A further launch this week illustrates the same principle from another direction.

Artemis Vision introduced RAPTR Gen 5, an automated visual scanning system for logistics checkpoints.

The platform combines synchronised cameras for barcode capture with a colour camera for visual documentation.

AI-powered pallet detection supports pallet counting, movement-direction detection and missed-scan alerts, while associated software can retain scan data alongside video and alarm information.

This is an interesting evolution of the conventional barcode-reader application.

Traditional checkpoint:

Read barcode → transmit data

Emerging checkpoint:

Detect object → read identifier → observe movement → capture evidence → flag exception → retain record

That last part is important.

Machine vision increasingly does more than determine whether something passed inspection.

It can provide evidence of what physically happened.

For manufacturers and logistics operations, that can substantially improve investigations when product movement and system records disagree.

Packaging itself may become machine-readable infrastructure

Another project worth having on the radar this week sits at the intersection of packaging, vision and PPWR-era recycling.

A Belgian trial is examining whether Digimarc digital watermarks can improve sorting of flexible food packaging.

The watermarks are effectively imperceptible codes distributed across packaging artwork.

High-resolution cameras supplied by Pellenc ST will detect those marks during sorting and use them to identify characteristics such as packaging material and whether the material previously contained food.

This is significant because it demonstrates that machine-readable identity does not necessarily have to take the form of a visible QR code or barcode.

The packaging surface itself can become a data carrier.

For recycling infrastructure, that could eventually allow sorting equipment to distinguish materials with far greater precision than conventional optical recognition alone.

That makes digital watermarking another technology worth watching as PPWR implementation develops.

Market Moves

Several secondary developments are worth keeping on the industry radar without displacing the week’s bigger stories.

Connected Identity adds verification

Jenton Dimaco has joined Watermill/Nordvalls, Logopak International and BOWE IQ in the Connected Identity partnership.

The proposition brings together:

Create → Apply → Verify → Track

across label production, print-and-apply, verification and supply-chain information, with support for technologies including QR, GS1 Digital Link and RFID.

The partnership is noteworthy because it reflects precisely the convergence occurring across the wider market.

Manufacturers increasingly want a connected identity process rather than four unrelated technologies.

GS1 puts trusted data at the centre of its September standards agenda

GS1’s global Industry & Standards Event takes place from 21–24 September, with Digital Product Passports, GS1 2D migration, EUDR, interoperability and trusted data exchange among the core subjects.

More than 1,250 participants from over 85 countries are expected.

The event itself is not the story.

The interesting point is that 2D identification, DPP, regulation and trusted data now sit within the same standards conversation.

Regulatory & Standards Watch
1 October 2026 — UK Vaping Products Duty

The UK’s Vaping Products Duty and Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme begin in 20 days.

From 1 October, affected products released onto the UK market must carry the required duty stamp, while the new duty applies to vaping liquids manufactured in or imported into the UK.

Digital stamps have been available since 1 September and support authentication and traceability through supply-chain scanning.

HMRC’s architecture also supports aggregation, allowing individual digitally stamped products to be grouped beneath an aggregate code rather than requiring every unit to be scanned separately during movement.

That makes this directly relevant to:

labelling
scanning
vision
aggregation
serialisation-style software
line integration
warehouse processes

What manufacturers should be doing now

At this stage, affected businesses should be validating the actual production process, not simply confirming that they understand the legislation:

stamp application → activation → scanning → aggregation → movement → record keeping

30 December 2026 — EUDR

EUDR now sits less than four months away for large and medium operators.

The regulation covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood, plus specified derived products.

Operators need systems capable of supporting the required due-diligence and provenance information.

For the traceability market, the important point is that compliance ultimately depends upon maintaining a trusted connection between physical goods and provenance data.

The Merck cocoa project covered above is a useful example of the technology market beginning to address exactly that challenge.

21–24 September — GS1 Industry & Standards Event

This is not a regulatory deadline, but it is worth watching.

GS1’s September standards programme puts several of this publication’s core themes together:

GS1 2D
Digital Product Passports
EUDR
interoperability
trusted data

That combination is revealing.

GS1 Sunrise 2027 remains an industry transition ambition rather than regulation.

But governments increasingly want richer digital product information, while regulation increasingly requires trusted provenance and lifecycle information.

Standards provide the connective tissue between those systems.

What this means for the market

This week’s developments initially look unrelated.

New Zealand is reforming product labelling.

Merck is authenticating cocoa.

Trimco is implementing GS1 Digital Link.

KUKA is moving pallets autonomously.

Artemis Vision is recording logistics checkpoints.

Digital watermarks are being tested for packaging recycling.

But underneath them sits the same problem.

The physical world and the digital record need to agree.

The industry is increasingly building an architecture capable of maintaining that relationship from production through distribution and, eventually, through product end-of-life.

That is why:

Mark → Label → Verify → Inspect → Package

remains useful.

But the proposition behind it is getting broader:

Identify → Authenticate → Record → Move → Prove

Talent Signal

The people required to build these systems increasingly sit between conventional technology categories.

A coding specialist benefits from understanding vision and structured product data.

A machine-vision engineer increasingly encounters barcode standards, logistics and evidential records.

An EoL engineer may work across robotics, conveyors, print-and-apply, pallet identification and WMS interfaces.

A traceability specialist may need to understand GS1, regulatory data, software integration and physical production.

And Technical Sales and Applications people increasingly need to explain not merely what their machine does, but where it sits within the customer’s complete product-identity architecture.

That crossover capability is becoming one of the more valuable characteristics in this market.

RoboEdge view

Traceability is sometimes described as a data problem.

Packaging automation is described as a machinery problem.

Product identification is described as a coding problem.

Those distinctions are becoming less useful.

A digital record needs a physical identity.

A physical identity needs verification.

A verified product needs to move through packaging.

A finished pallet needs to remain identifiable through logistics.

And when a regulator, customer or quality team asks what happened, the manufacturer increasingly needs evidence.

That is why our view of the market continues to centre around:

Mark → Label → Verify → Inspect → Package

The technologies remain different.

But the outcome increasingly needs to be one connected system capable of establishing:

what the product is, whether it is genuine, what happened to it, where it went and whether the business can prove it.

That is the strongest signal from this week’s global Traceability & End-of-Line Automation market.

Traceability Weekly™ is produced by RoboEdge Talent, covering the companies, technologies, regulation, standards and specialist talent shaping global Product Identification, Traceability & End-of-Line Automation.