The Latest Blockchain Supply Chain Startups
Why Is Blockchain Technology Beneficial for Supply Chain Management (SCM)?
At present, many businesses and industries involved in trading use supply chain networks to provide high-efficiency product development transparency and process traceability for their customers. This is not a must, but what a benefit!
According to the Deloitte Global Supply Chain Risk Survey, major problems in supply chain management include:
- lack of the latest management tools
- lack of visibility in supply operations
- inadequate mastery of provision and information flows
- lack of trust between suppliers and customers
- fraudulent activities
In order to boost efficiency in categories like product-realization transparency, fair trade, sustainability, retailer/customer traceability, and process surveillance, it is essential to use blockchain technology. Blockchain helps deal with the above-mentioned issues, and also provides highly secure data storage. To find out about the supply chain in detail and how to apply blockchain technology to it, read this.
Globally, blockchain resolves potential problems by offering secure transactions and safe/resistant digital interactions. Let’s take a look at the most evident blockchain pros:
- fast transaction settlement
- low cost
- transparency and audits
- reliability
- security
As we can see, the advantages of blockchain implementation are obvious. Therefore, it’s not a surprise that many industries use it to upgrade their services.
Companies That Applied Blockchain to Their Supply Chains
As of today, a number of projects have improved their supply chain management and logistics through the application of blockchain technology. Take a look at the list below:
The chart above illustrates projects that were launched in 2017.
You have probably heard of successful companies like Walmart, Maersk, British Airways, UPS, and Fedex, as well. They have either successfully integrated or are in the process of testing blockchain for their supply chain management. With its help, customers are able to scan products or view information on services with the help of specially-developed applications to:
- track product origin (Walmart)
- access and store data securely on international or local shipping; participate in global trade and finance (Maersk, UPS, FedEx)
- manage flight data (British Airways)
The Latest Blockchain Supply Chain Startups
At present, there are a number of blockchain supply-chain startups that have been launched in various industries. Though the first industry that comes to mind is manufacturing, statistics prove that any sphere can benefit by using the supply chain. It is common in these spheres:
- marketing and advertising
- drugs and healthcare
- energy and utilities
- commerce and retail
- logistics
- environmental services, etc.
As long as a project aims to deliver a final product for usage or consumption, it’s in a company’s best interest to show the detailed processes their product undergoes in order to reach the customer.
Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain — Best Match for Supply Chain
Blockchain technology combined with the IoT is rapidly advancing today. The connection of different IoT devices is widely used in healthcare, manufacturing, shipping, and trading supply chains to control and monitor personal data access. Therefore, the issue of security against hacking arises, and blockchain has proven to be the best solution against it.
All IoT elements should be authenticated and meet standards to ensure trust in their adoption. Hence, the blockchain architecture is used to:
- prevent data duplication
- provide identification of IoT devices
- exchange data about IoT sensors without third-party involvement
- eliminate failures and data tampering
- provide autonomy in peer-to-peer communication
- reduce the cost of IoT deployment
IoT solutions based on the blockchain simplify business processes within supply chains and improve consumer experience by providing better security and reducing expenses.
Let’s take a closer look at the latest startups of 2018 that use blockchain technology to improve their supply-chain management. We have chosen the ones with the highest ratings for consideration.
AXenS: Provides Trust in Payment and Trade Services
Token — AXS
Price — 1 AXS = $0.50 USD
Bonus — Available
Bounty — Available
Platform — Stellar
Accepting — ETH, BTC, XLM, Fiat (USD, EUR, GBP and CHF)
Soft cap — $5,000,000 USD
Hard cap — $50,000,000 USD
Country — Switzerland
Pre-ICO ends April 30
AXenS is a blockchain-based platform designed for distributed supply-chain finance and distributed trade services. It provides accessible and secure automation for trading transactions as well as transparent management of documentation and data about the businesses involved. The company ensures compliance with legal regulations internationally to prove its reliability to its customers.
AXenS will support export and import payment processes to provide trust between business partners through the use of different types of lending, financial tools, and practices to optimize funds management. Let’s consider the following scheme of supply-chain process optimization to bring customers an export-ready product.
To eliminate any risks, AXenS complies with KYC/AML policies. Documentation authentication is paid a great deal of attention. User records are securely checked, and will be used in credit scoring in an internal rating system.
The use of blockchain technologies simplifies SCM and provides more secure and collaborative opportunities for trade finance.
To prove the efficiency of the working process, the transaction network closely integrates physical supply chain as well as the financial supply chain. In this type of collaboration, besides supplier and customer involvement, there are also distributors, transporters, assayers, and others.
Irene Energy: a Stellar-Powered Global Supplier of Electricity
Token — TLU
Price — 1 Tellus = 0.08 EUR
Platform — Stellar
Accepting — XLM
Soft cap — 5,000,000 TLU
Hard cap — 250,000,000 TLU
Country — France
Pre-ICO ends May 06
Stellar blockchain provides transparency in electrical supply management. It provides accessible and extensive information to customers concerning their electricity spending, as well as a means to control their influence on the issue of global warming.
The supply chain between consumers and producers works as follows:
Irene is presented as an energy supplier that enables consumers to choose electricity producers individually in a gamified manner (by swiping profiles right and left). The AI makes sure that this selection corresponds to the customer’s purchases, and updates every 15 minutes. Blockchain-driven traceability verifies past purchases. In this way, Irene provides customers with complete control of their electricity spendings, while technical efficiency allows a choice of cheaper fares.
How to Find the Best Food Safety Solutions? Zeto Is the Choice!
Token — ZETO
Price — 1 ZETO = $0.10 USD
Bounty — Available
Platform — Ethereum
Accepting — ETH
Country — Ireland
Pre-ICO starts April 30
Zeto is a software company that delivers food safety solutions in the retail and refrigeration industries. Zeto’s customers and clients include major global retail brands. The company recently launched a blockchain-based supply chain to provide scalability in food safety.
Launched on the Ethereum platform, this ICO offers a variety of bonuses and bounty programs. It supports KYC policy, as well.
Zeto aims to improve cold chain management practices by:
- increasing transparency and trust
- preventing waste and saving money
- complying with food safety standards
With blockchain implementation, IoT sensors are applied to every link in the chain. Therefore, it is possible to keep temperature data securely recorded and stored in the blockchain. In case anything goes wrong, preventative measures are taken immediately. Smart contracts eliminate the risks of unsafe deliveries or product sales. The company offers a mobile application to track the entire product history.
To reduce time to market and provide data storage security, Zeto will be built on the existing platform, and later released on Ethereum or other alternative blockchains (e.g. NEO).
TE-FOOD: You Have the Right to Know What You Eat!
Token — TFOOD
Price in ICO — 1 TFOOD = 0.05 USD
Country — Switzerland
ICO start — 22nd Feb 2018
ICO end — 22nd Mar 2018
Funds raised — $19,100,000
TE-FOOD is one of the largest food traceability systems worldwide. It provides customers with full access to the tracking of food-to-table product data. As of today, it is fully operational, with 6,000 customers and 400,000 transactions processed every day. TE-FOOD is an ecosystem that integrates various supply chains, customers, and authorities in order to:
- improve food safety
- eliminate fraud
- decrease company costs
Technical characteristics of the ICO profile are met with high expert ratings.
Fresh-food SCM based on blockchain technology enables the management of logistics and safety data in all operations. Have a look at their supply chain:
The process of the supply chain consists of a range of activities that vary according to product type and country. This structure allows customization of process flow according to product requirements. Here is a diagram of the flow process for pigs:
The developed mobile application allows usage in different languages to track logistics transactions, product information, identification tools inventory, and supply-chain functions for the authorities.
Have You Ever Dealt with Product Authenticity? Devery Will Help You Verify It!
Token — EVE
Price in ICO — 1 ETH = 5,865 EVE
Pre-ICO start — 15th Dec 2017
Pre-ICO end — 23rd Dec 2017
ICO start — 18th Jan 2018
ICO end — 19th Jan 2018
Funds raised — $10,000,000
Devery is the right platform for verifying product protocol. It allows customers as well as suppliers to identify product authenticity before the purchase. Blockchain-powered verification provides unique product features throughout the supply chain to protect brands from fakes and forgeries.
The online product verification looks like this:
Unique IDs are assigned to all products for online sale and verified by independent parties. Later, unique hashes (which are used just once) can be displayed by retailers to prove the authenticity of the product. With the help of the application, this data can be viewed by customers.
The ICO profile is rated highly by experts for its well-developed product vision. Team members are proficient in technical aspects, community management, and other strategies. The ICO started in January 2018, and has raised $10,000,000.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be stated that supply chain is an integral part of managing product realization in different spheres, whether that includes manufacturing, retail, energy, or the environment. As long as there is a product offer for the customer, it is essential to illustrate its pathway from production to final sale. Companies use blockchain technologies widely to provide process transparency and accessibility for customers.
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