Streamlining Logistics

Article by Credits on Altcoin Magazine

The modern world is dependent on the flow of goods. Absolutely every single cell of modern society and economies is dependent on logistics that determines the streamlined and harmonious functioning of everyday processes. The logistics industry encompasses thousands of companies ranging from manufacturers to intermediaries providing logistics management, transportation, labor supply, accounting and financing to storage and warehousing. And though the average consumer does not see them behind the veil of the constant presence of goods of store shelves, there are myriad problems in the supply chain.

Behind The Curtain

Despite the seeming harmony, supply chain management is wrought with issues, all of which result in the increase in prices of finished goods for end consumers. The problems that have been marring the industry are the presence of an immense number of intermediaries, the issue of effective labor management, data management, and quality control.

Intermediaries from storage and warehousing to transportation companies, raw material providers and wholesale brokers are one of the main factors that affect end product costs. There has been no effective way of countering the issue of intermediaries and their commissions, as new technologies have been slow in offering a unified platform for services provision and placement. Given that using proprietary resources would be too expensive to develop convenient systems, producers simply have no choice but to resort to intermediaries, many of whom have questionable reliability.

Labor management means the need for control and headhunting. Having effective personnel management directly translates into the effective and efficient production process while finding talented and highly qualified employees is key to ensuring the improvement and continuity of quality processes.

The vast arrays of data involved in the process of production are taking an immense toll of data storage and the risk of error, both human and technological runs high. As such, having effective data management that would ensure uninterrupted logistics is vital. But such systems are costly and cumbersome for many, and that forces companies to resort to intermediaries, thus repeating the cycle.

Compliance and quality control are the next biggest issue of the logistics and supply chain management industry since it is a global industry that has to abide by the laws of trans-border operations. Ensuring quality control is the direct combination of the three aforementioned issues. Customer orientation and servicing are inextricably linked to quality, and without catering to client needs, businesses can quickly lose competitive advantages and fail.

How It Works

Current business processes cannot be called efficient by virtue of a lack of unification and standardization. Companies are forced to interact through various systems and their integration and effective cooperation is directly related to technological applications. Clients, suppliers and sub-contractors operate using different systems and those differences result in costs and time waste.

The process of sending supply requests, ordering goods, managing data and document flows, ensuring legal compliance and delivery would have been considerably improved had it not required so much human interference and a multitude of systems. Humans and their interaction on different devices take up the majority of the time needed for goods to be ordered, produced, delivered and verified. That results in costs and time constraints.

Should And Can

The advent of new technologies in recent years has heralded a completely new approach for a variety of industries. Everything from marketing and production to logistics has been touched by blockchain technologies. Their application promises to remove most of the problems currently plaguing the supply chain management industry as well.

Unprecedented speeds of data transfer and virtually unlimited storage, scalability, the versatility of programming and an almost complete lack of intermediaries and human interference in the process of ordering and verification are the promised boons that blockchain technologies seek to introduce. The development of a unified platform for data management and storage, control, supply ordering and tracking with complete transparency can alleviate the issues of intermediaries, data and labor management, and compliance since the system would automatically control all the processes.

“Greater transparency and improved information flows, for example, shipment location, temperature and parcel integrity, can only be a good thing for the entire supply chain process”

— Charles Brewer, former CEO of DHL eCommerce and current CEO and founder of logistics consulting firm Click & Connect.

The Credits Supply Chain Platform is being designed as a single platform that will unite all the participants in the supply chain from producers to consumers. The revolutionary platforms can be seamlessly integrated into businesses and customized to suit their processes. The platform can be used both through a private blockchain, under which companies do not store data publicly or through a public platform that will ensure full transparency of operations. In addition, companies will be able to use the cloud storage of the system for storing and managing large amounts of data.

The advantages of applying a blockchain-based system like the Credits Supply Chain Platform are obvious as it will increase the level of services in general and ensure better client satisfaction as an end result through the optimization of the production cycle. The use of such a system will reduce inventory counts, increase enterprise productivity, ensure production process control and allow for effective demand forecasting and production planning with proactive monitoring of demand and inventory. Increased profitability will be thus ensured through supply chain planning and optimization.

The Credits Supply Chain Management platform will allow its users to implement the digital supply chain on a customized basis for every consumer and focus on the client with more accurate satisfaction of their needs. The increase in trust between partners will be provided through the blockchain’s transparency and immutability with the reliable protection of transactions and guarantees of the fulfillment of contractual conditions. Increase business transparency will resolve many of the issues of relations with intermediaries and state authorities, thus ensuring compliance.

“The status of all parties involved in a specific logistics process is automatically tracked and saved digitally on the blockchain application. All parties have direct access to the data, which creates improved mutual trust and results in a faster and more transparent process”

— Charles Brewer, former CEO of DHL eCommerce and current CEO and founder of logistics consulting firm Click & Connect.

The open platform infrastructure is designed for integration with external systems and for further automation with the IoT, AI, machine learning and analytics. The Credits Supply Chain Management system is ideal for creating a digital ecosystem on a blockchain platform and the implementation of IoT technologies from suppliers to customers. The development and use of proprietary technologies will allow improving the efficiency of the supply chain, while the application of artificial intelligence constructs will pave the way for greater automation and advanced market forecasting.

In Summary

Blockchain technologies are no longer avoidable as their advantages are being proven through their successful application in a variety of industries. IBM has already started developing and integrating blockchain technologies for supply chain management with great success. And if the giants of the IT industry are applying new technology, it only means that the blockchain market is a treasure trove of untapped opportunities rife for the arrival of other players capable of delivering competing products.

Credits is one such company that means to improve the world of logistics through the development and introduction of its Supply Chain Management system that can prove its viability and value to both clients and end consumers. The game of logistics is a question of efficiency and cost reduction. And what better way to cater to both factors than through their unison through a single platform.