Traceability: The Industrial Memory of Our Packaging

Take an aluminium container on a packaging line somewhere in Europe. Ask a simple question: where did it come from? Which aluminium ingot, which day, which production line, which coating, which inspection? At Tournaire, this question has an answer.

A Tournaire container is never anonymous. Since 1833, we have been manufacturing packaging designed to protect sensitive products. Traceability is what makes this commitment verifiable, batch by batch.

Traceability does not begin on the production line: it starts with the aluminium ingot. Composition, material origin, supplier certificate: nothing enters our workshops without inspection and documented receiving records. From that point onwards, every record is linked, ensuring uninterrupted traceability.

• Raw Material: Composition and origin of the aluminium ingot, material certificates, incoming inspections and receiving records.
• Process: Control and monitoring of process parameters: impact extrusion, deep drawing, coating, injection moulding and gasket application. It is the repeatability of the process that gives the data its value.
• Production: In-process inspections carried out by operators and recorded in the manufacturing batch file, along with the batches of raw materials, coatings and/or gaskets used. These records provide the evidence supporting batch conformity.
• Laboratory: Periodic performance tests conducted on samples according to internal protocols, with results retained and available for future reference.
• System: Generation and printing of data through qualified computerised systems: batch records, labels and certificates.
• Shipping: A traceability label affixed to each layer and/or pallet of containers and each carton of closures, accompanied by a certificate of conformity.

This label completes the traceability chain. From their own filling line, customers can trace a product back to its production batch, and from that batch to every preceding record, all the way back to the aluminium ingot. Quality records and archives make it possible to reconstruct a complete batch history long after delivery.

Traceability is not just about software, nor is it solely the responsibility of the Quality Department. It begins beyond our facilities: with the selection and qualification of our suppliers, the specifications and controls we require them to comply with, and the inspections we carry out upon receipt. From there, everyone plays a role.

Production operators who perform in-process inspections and complete their manufacturing records form the first internal link in the chain. This is where the data originates, and no subsequent reconstruction can make up for information that was never recorded. The Process Engineering team ensures that the process actually implemented matches the qualified process, the laboratory provides measurement and testing, and logistics maintains traceability through to shipment.

Information systems play a specific role in this framework: they manage, generate and print data, including traceability labels, batch records and certificates of conformity. An accurate label is not merely a printing detail: it is the final outcome of the entire traceability chain. This is why these systems, and any changes made to them, are subject to computerised system qualification, just like a manufacturing process.

The Quality Department remains the guardian of this system. It defines the rules, ensures compliance and takes responsibility for batch records, both towards customers and regulatory authorities.

It relies on dedicated teams covering supplier quality and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), operational quality, customer quality, product regulatory compliance and laboratory testing, as well as quality teams present in every production area. These teams ensure the immediate handling of deviations, decisions to place batches on hold and the initiation of investigations.

Traceability requirements vary depending on our customers' applications.

• Pharmaceutical and Veterinary: ISO 15378 applies the principles of European Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to primary packaging: batch review, change control and document management, complemented by European Pharmacopoeia requirements for containers.
• Cosmetics and Perfumery: Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 requires traceability throughout the supply chain, supported by the Good Manufacturing Practices outlined in ISO 22716.
• Food Contact: Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 establishes the "one step back, one step forward" traceability principle, complemented by Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 on Good Manufacturing Practices.
• Dangerous Goods: The ADR links each manufactured packaging unit to its type approval, identified by the UN marking and supported by a quality assurance programme.
• Automotive and Fine Chemicals: Customer specifications define additional requirements, including first article inspection and batch-by-batch traceability.

The common foundation remains ISO 9001 and its requirements for identification and traceability.

A traceability system is put to the test when an unexpected request arises. Reconstructing the exact scope of a shipment for a customer: six containers, twenty-two batches, 432,000 units, and providing the corresponding documentary evidence. This is only possible if the entire traceability chain has been maintained without interruption from the outset. The same principle applies to dangerous goods packaging, where every production batch must be traceable to its UN approval test report and corresponding packaging type approval.

Aluminium has a remarkable property: it can be recycled indefinitely without losing its functional properties. Today, we use high-quality pure aluminium ingots and, to some extent, metal recovered from our own production scrap: pure, well-characterised material that is returned to our supplier and comes back to us in the form of ingots. A short, controlled recycling loop developed in partnership with a trusted supplier.

The challenge for tomorrow is clear: increasing the proportion of recycled material without compromising metal purity, product quality or traceability data. The more times a material has been used, the more complex its history becomes, and the more robust the chain of records documenting it must be. This is precisely where our expertise makes the difference.

The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is driving this transition, with requirements covering recyclability, declarations of conformity, technical documentation and new labelling obligations. The Digital Product Passport will take this further by making information machine-readable. We are already preparing for these developments by expanding our traceability and recyclability data.

Because traceability is not simply a cost: it is our ability to provide answers about our products and materials, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Cécile BERGIA
and the Tournaire Teams