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Method and apparatus for tracking labor information in the production of food products

  • US 9,619,762 B2
  • Filed: 07/12/2012
  • Issued: 04/11/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2000
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:

  • a hand-held device including;

    a display; and

    one or more input devices to sense product identification indicia associated with or affixed to a food product that is grown or raised in an agricultural operation, the agricultural operation being one in a series of agricultural operations in a chain of custody of the food product;

    the hand-held device including at least one processor to;

    determine a machine-readable identification code from the product identification indicia;

    send the identification code to at least one remote server;

    receive, from the at least one remote server, information that is associated with the product, the information received from at least one of the agricultural operations in the series of agricultural operations and including labor information that is associated with the production of the food product, the labor information derived by the at least one agricultural operation and indicative of one or more attributes of the labor used to produce the food product at each of the series of agricultural operations in the series of agricultural operations in the chain of custody of the food product, the one or more attributes selected from the group;

    labor working conditions, labor pay rates, labor benefits, labor work hours, labor safety training, labor health care, and an average age or age range of a workforce or section thereof, the at least one remote server including one or more modules implemented by one or more processors, the one or more modules configured to, at least;

    receive first data associated with the labor information from a single sampling location in the series of agricultural operations, the first received data including a first data record from a first custodian device located at a first location in the series of agricultural operations at which the first custodian device read a first code that pairs a data type with the first location, the first data record pairing a first value that quantifies the data type with the first code that pairs the data type with the first location;

    receive second data associated with the labor information from a plurality of sampling locations in the series of agricultural operations, the second received data including a second data record from a second custodian device located at a second location in the plurality of locations in the series of agricultural operations at which the second custodian device read a second code that pairs the data type with the second location, the second data record pairing a second value that quantifies the data type with the second code that pairs the data type with the second location;

    generate an aggregate result for the data type based on the first or second data and a determination or condition that an aggregated set of data records that includes the first and second data records is basis for automatic generation of a report about the data type;

    generate and include in the report comparative labor information using the aggregate result and at least some of the first or second data and indicate in the report whether the data type that is paired with the first and second locations by the first and second codes meets or does not meet the aggregate result for the data type; and

    cause a user device to receive and display the generated report about the data type, the user device being distinct from the first and second custodian devices from which the first and second data records are collectively received.

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