The lifecycle of a turkey

This is a bad day to be a turkey. Thanksgiving is coming and it means mass murdering of turkey population. 46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving according to Turkey facts. I’ve learned earlier today that back into Pilgrim days turkeys weren’t as numerous as they are today. Old days turkeys didn’t yield as much protein as an average rotisserie chicken today. So, people started to genetically modify them. The hidden life of turkey article brings few interesting facts:

Turkeys have been genetically modified to gain weight rapidly because fatter turkeys mean fatter wallets for farmers. But in nature, the turkey’s athletic prowess is impressive. Wild turkeys can fly at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour and run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. The natural lifespan of the turkey is up to 10 years, but on factory farms they are slaughtered when they’re just 5 months old.

So, lifecycle of an average turkey today is different. Here is my favorite passage:

“Turkeys remember your face and they will sit closer to you with each day you revisit. Come back day after day and, before long, a few birds will pick you out as their favorite and they will come running up to you whenever you arrive. It’s definitely a matter of the birds choosing you rather than of you choosing the birds. Different birds choose different people.”

But tradition is more important, so  millions of turkeys are going to be eaten by tomorrow. To choose a right bird is not simple thing and some people I know are actually very selective in the process of trusting specific turkey farm.

Here is a very funny video. It is about chickens, but the point is the same.

So, my PLM twisted mind is finally taking over fun facts about turkeys to the reality of lifecycle. Turkey is a great example of how blockchain technologies can be used to track lifecycle of products.

Navigate to the following article – American agriculture company Cargill is reportedly testing blockchain technology to track the origin of turkey products.

The company`s Honeysuckle White brand has recently launched a pilot project to trace turkeys produced by family farmers, according to a publication published at meatpoultry.com. Consumers in selected markets could now text or enter an on-package code at HoneysuckleWhite.com. In this way, they could check the farm`s story, find its location and see photos and messages posted by the farmers. According to Cargill`s press release, consumers demand transparency when it comes to their food choices. Cargill, points out some insights that led to the creation of their new trial using blockchain technology to improve transparency.

What is my conclusion? The name of blockchain technology game in PLM is transparency. Future single version of truth will be actually a version combined from multiple versions of product lifecycle. How to stitch them together? This is where blockchain technology is promising to help. How? I don’t know yet. But transparency has a value. So, future PLM vendors will charge for transparency about products companies are manufacturing. I think, it is not a bad idea. Just my thoughts…

Best, Oleg

Want to learn more about PLM? Check out my new PLM Book website.

Disclaimer: I’m co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM developing cloud based bill of materials and inventory management tool for manufacturing companies, hardware startups and supply chain. My opinion can be unintentionally biased.