Brief

In January 2018, we started to explore blockchain technologies as a mechanism to support and manage transactions in a digital supply chain. We initially identified four use-case categories where a blockchain could be leveraged.

• Close business collaboration
  • Shared data between producers, distributors and retailers (de-centralized, immutable)
• End-to-end Traceability
  • Product provenance (organic, fair-trade)
  • Food safety and regulation / Cold chain compliance, …
• Disintermediation
  • Eliminate margin-hurting participants (agents, wholesalers, certification bodies…)
• Digitalization and automation
  • Smart supply chain, digital documents, Internet of Thing (IoT)

As the initial use cases are not related to cryptocurrencies, we decided to focus on enterprise blockchain frameworks and we selected Hyperledger Fabric for our first prototype.

Prototype

The blockchain Labs prototype is about product traceability in the supply chain. A blockchain is used to identify multiple participants in a business network (farmers, manufacturers, distributors, stores) and to manage transactions between them. For a specific product (Orange Juice), the application captures and logs transactions between supply chain stakeholders.Tthe system provides a digital proof of ownership over time (where is the product, who owns it). As blockchain information will never be modified or deleted, the system supports supply chain traceability and audit scenarios. For a specific bottle of orange juice, it is possible to identify all the supply chain participants, back to the farmers who provided the oranges.