Realizing chain-wide transparency in meat supply chains based on global standards and a reference architecture

•A reference architecture for chain-wide transparency systems is presented.•Concrete architectures that provide different transparency levels are discussed.•A systematic approach for deriving concrete architectures is presented.•The approach is illustrated by realizing a chain-wide transparency system.

One of the key concerns in meat supply chains is to provide chain-wide transparency, whereby food operators capture and share transparency data across the supply chain. To meet this concern a chain-wide transparency software system is needed that is able to address the desired stakeholder requirements. Unfortunately, designing and implementing a chain-wide transparency system is not straightforward. In this paper we provide a systematic approach for designing and implementing chain wide transparency systems. To this end, we first present a reference architecture that represents a generic design of such systems. Secondly, we discuss the systematic approach for deriving concrete architectures from the reference architecture based on stakeholders’ requirements. Finally, we illustrate our approach with the design and implementation of a transparency system for beef supply chains.