IBM System X Servers Aid Safety in Chinese Pork Industry

IBM System X servers have made an impression within an array of industries, and we have helped numerous companies try this technology before making final investments.

Throughout North America, Europe and Asia, System X server technology has been implemented to companies of all sizes and specialties.

That being said, one of the latest stories coming from China featuring IBM System X server technology is one of a, "swine" nature. We’re talking pigs.

It seems that System X technology is aiding the Chinese pork industry in Shandong Province track the processes from production in slaughterhouses to retailers (supermarkets) and everything in between. The tracking system will help more quickly and accurately pinpoint the source of tainted food, affecting the health of consumers.

The system works something like this: first, the pigs at the slaughterhouse are tagged with a bar code bearing a unique serial number that will follow the "pork product" to its final destination at Chinese supermarkets.

The tracking system, created by IBM China’s Development Lab and China’s National Engineering Research Center for Agricultural Products Logistics, uses IBM WebSphere software that runs on IBM System X servers.

In China, IBM points out, pork is big business. The country consumes about half of the pork produced worldwide, with the average citizen eating about half of a hog each year. This initiative is a result of the soaring pork prices caused by the fatal outbreak of procine blue-ear disease in 2006, which killed millions of pigs.

Such cases show the possibilities for server technology to influence industries of all kinds—the benefits in this example ultimately improving the quality of life for the average person’s health, and eventually his or her pocketbook.

Considering a System X implementation for your organization? Using the form quote to the right, you can find out more about the available offerings within our server rental fleet, including models like the IBM System x3100 M4.