IOTA Powers System for Enhanced Asset Management and Visibility Across the Supply Chain

(BERLIN, GERMANY — January 8, 2019) The IOTA Foundation, a non-profit foundation focused on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and permissionless ecosystem development, announced today that its open source Tangle technology and Masked Authenticated Messaging (MAM) protocol will support IBCS Poland with a solution to track and trace assets in the supply chain. The IOTA-powered solution aims to support IBCS Group customers in improving their delivery planning and shipment, by ensuring a cross-system interoperable chain of custody to manage assets (e.g. pallets, windows and glasses stands) used to move goods across Central Europe. The IBCS Poland Proof of Concept (PoC) is yet another concrete example of IOTA’s vision for enabling the Global Trade and Supply Chain.

The “ibcsTracker” was built using IOTA’s open source Track and Trace application as a starting point, which is available for companies to use to start building tracking solutions for their markets. A copy of the blueprint is available on Github here. Read more about the solution on the ibcsTracker website.

Returnable Assets + Supply Chain

Most returnable assets in the supply chain are not tracked, or are only tracked manually, a process which creates inefficiencies and economic loss due to low return rates, delays and high costs associated with tracing these items. As a result, a large amount of assets are not circulated back to owners, and instead are either given to competitors or are inefficiently recycled or disposed. To remedy these problems, the IOTA-powered solution will provide a unique digital identity for each asset, including position and identity of the organization currently having custody of it, all of which can be viewed and managed through a simple mobile application.

As a result, companies are able to achieve an accurate overview of assets available for shipment at any given place and time, leading to more efficient delivery planning, reduced administrative burden and greater profits. The IOTA-powered solution will not require integration with different legacy systems or a centralized repository. This means customers can securely view and request the return of assets for reuse, without sharing any proprietary or sensitive information with competitors that also have assets circulating within the same supply chain ecosystem.

“Managing assets in the supply chain is an area where we believe the IOTA Tangle can demonstrate a clear and immediate impact,” said Holger Köther, Director of Partnerships at IOTA Foundation. “These assets are imperative for maintaining the integrity of the entire supply chain ecosystem, yet so far there hasn’t been an intuitive system that allows companies to easily track and trace their location. We are confident that this partnership will help IBCS Group customers to improve the core processes involved with shipment planning and delivery, while simultaneously working to assert the real-world applications of DLT.”

“This partnership represents a clear opportunity to solve one of the most difficult logistical challenges present in today’s delivery and shipping industry. We first developed the IOTA Powered solution in Poland but the next step is to expand to our other countries across Central Europe. Ultimately, our goal is to provide all IBCS Group customers with a better understanding of where key assets exist in the supply chain, driving greater efficiency and strategic management of their assets.” says Brian Marcel, Chairman of IBCS Group.

About IBCS Group

Throughout Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia the IBCS Group is providing end-to-end solutions to increase performance, efficiency and productivity within the enterprise, reduce costs and realize competitive advantage.

About IOTA Foundation

IOTA is a not-for-profit foundation incorporated and registered in Germany. The IOTA Foundation’s mission is to support the development and standardization of new distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including the IOTA Tangle. The IOTA Tangle is an innovative type of DLT specifically designed for the Internet of Things (IoT) environment. It is an open-source protocol facilitating novel Machine-to-Machine (M2M) interactions, including secure data transfer, fee-less real-time micropayments, and the collection and dissemination of sensor-based and other data. www.iota.org