Highlights
Solution components
- General purpose supply chain tracking solution;
- products and objects secure identification;
- strong counterfeit prevention:
- easy to integrate with ERP systems;
- easy to integrate with existing product catalogs;
- impossible to clone or tamper with the security elements (Smart Card);
- critical information stored on the IOTA distributed ledger making it impossible to to tamper with;
- near zero service provider dependency, all infrastructure components will be distributed.
Solution components
- Security element: ProductID crypto smartcard or QR code to identify batch production ID.
- Process description tool: allows the definition of sequences of supply chain steps that have to be monitored.
- TrackingID front-end server: it is the web server that answers to the dynamic URL produced by the Smart Card. According to the process step the web page asks the operator to fill a form of data that are then recorded on the IOTA ledger and linket to the Smart Card ID. The service is hosted on a private VPS managed by our operation team, and in alternative we can provide a dedicated front-end server.
- TrackingID back-end service: it is the API server that writes the card related critical information on the IOTA ledger. We can provide a dedicated back-end server.
- TrackingID permanode: IOTA nodes by design do not keep the complete ledger. ProductID permanode guarantees that the Smart Card works for an unlimited amount of time, providing the product identification for the whole lifespan of the product, even for objets that will never expire.
- Dedicated IOTA nodes: IOTA is currently the only distributed ledger that lets us create professional applications with direct control over cost, performance and reliability. The resulting efficiency does not depend on the network usage level, nor is it affected by variable costs deriving from transaction fees, and at the same time the data is replicated, made immutable in the process, on all the other nodes of the network. A perfect combination of control over a private node and resilience of a public network. This is why we adopt IOTA as ProductID foundation and on request we provide IOTA dedicated nodes on premises as well as FPGA accelerated nodes to reach any required transaction per second performance.
How it works
In the case of more valuable products such as wine, certain pharmaceuticals, luxury bags, etc. the Smart Card will be inserted on each individual product. However, for lower value products, a smart card would be inserted on the products batches, containing a higher quantity of products. The tracking system would work the same way for the batch but each individual product would have a QR code. Those QR codes will be linked to the batch and upon reading would show the last batch location and notify if the location where the consumer got the product is suspiciously far from the batch’s final selling venue.
Potential Applications
This system can be used to track goods even in remote areas (oceans, for example) displaying also information regarding the shipment sensors. Food security can also be improved by having access to producers and transport data (where it was cultivated, the temperature and humidity during transport, etc). The pharmaceutical supply chain can be tracked so that only EMA approved drugs arrive at hospital and pharmacies guaranteeing also that none of the dangerous drugs escapes from the supply chain.
Use case example
A pharmaceutical manufacturer produces drugs of different values. One of the most expensive drugs that they produce has an important counterfeit problem. The manufacturer inserts a smart-card inside each individual package. For more common medications, the card is inserted on a batch of packages, which each possess a QR code associated with the batch’s card.
The manufacturer initializes the card and publishes the data to the tangle. The drugs will be transported and each time the distributor goes through customs he will update the tracking history of the cargo.
A wholesaler that is waiting for the pharmaceuticals logs on its webpage and checks the last published location. When the cargo arrives, first the wholesaler checks the validity of the medication by reading the cards and verifying that they are the actual cards that have been updating the channel. He then fills his form and sends the products to its selling points.
A medications batch is then sent to the pharmacy where all its history is again checked and updated. The consumer uses its own smartphone NFC reader to verify the single drug smart-card and with the QR code, it can see all the history of the batch that the box was part of, until the pharmacy. The only way for falsification to occur would be from the part of the pharmacy. All of this data was fetched from the IOTA ledger by the Tracking ID’s front-end and kept available in a single webpage.
Other entities can benefit from the process, even if they are not directly involved in the supply chain: in our example it would be invaluable for a health insurance provider to have access to the recorded data, in order to receive additional information about everything that happened (where the drug was, which drug the consumer bough and where, and then consumed) to discourage and filter out fake claims.
- The card is read and verified then, its dynamic URL redirects the user to Tracking ID’s webpage where the user will login on his specific stage and will visualize his own form;
- the user fills his personalized form and publishes it on the Tangle with the product’s geographic location;
- when the product arrives at the following step, the next user will perform the same operation. The user can only access the forms when the previous stage form has been published. For example, a wholesaler will not be able to publish anything until the transportation company has read the card and publish the form proving that the product has arrived;
- when the product arrives at the consumer, it can scan the card using his smartphone’s NFC reader and check all the published history.
In the case of more valuable products such as wine, certain pharmaceuticals, luxury bags, etc. the Smart Card will be inserted on each individual product. However, for lower value products, a smart card would be inserted on the products batches, containing a higher quantity of products. The tracking system would work the same way for the batch but each individual product would have a QR code. Those QR codes will be linked to the batch and upon reading would show the last batch location and notify if the location where the consumer got the product is suspiciously far from the batch’s final selling venue.
Potential Applications
This system can be used to track goods even in remote areas (oceans, for example) displaying also information regarding the shipment sensors. Food security can also be improved by having access to producers and transport data (where it was cultivated, the temperature and humidity during transport, etc). The pharmaceutical supply chain can be tracked so that only EMA approved drugs arrive at hospital and pharmacies guaranteeing also that none of the dangerous drugs escapes from the supply chain.
Use case example
A pharmaceutical manufacturer produces drugs of different values. One of the most expensive drugs that they produce has an important counterfeit problem. The manufacturer inserts a smart-card inside each individual package. For more common medications, the card is inserted on a batch of packages, which each possess a QR code associated with the batch’s card.
The manufacturer initializes the card and publishes the data to the tangle. The drugs will be transported and each time the distributor goes through customs he will update the tracking history of the cargo.
A wholesaler that is waiting for the pharmaceuticals logs on its webpage and checks the last published location. When the cargo arrives, first the wholesaler checks the validity of the medication by reading the cards and verifying that they are the actual cards that have been updating the channel. He then fills his form and sends the products to its selling points.
A medications batch is then sent to the pharmacy where all its history is again checked and updated. The consumer uses its own smartphone NFC reader to verify the single drug smart-card and with the QR code, it can see all the history of the batch that the box was part of, until the pharmacy. The only way for falsification to occur would be from the part of the pharmacy. All of this data was fetched from the IOTA ledger by the Tracking ID’s front-end and kept available in a single webpage.
Other entities can benefit from the process, even if they are not directly involved in the supply chain: in our example it would be invaluable for a health insurance provider to have access to the recorded data, in order to receive additional information about everything that happened (where the drug was, which drug the consumer bough and where, and then consumed) to discourage and filter out fake claims.