Question 2: What is the best example of a company using AMB-Net to cut costs? Preferably with as much detail as you are able to give about the process. We know a lot about how Ambrosus can add value to products, but not a lot about how it can help companies reduce overhead.

This is a very good question, and one which merits a comprehensive answer. When it comes to using AMB-NET to cut costs and to improve efficiency within a particular enterprise or a network of enterprises, the most common industrial projects are in the following areas: 1) digitization of data using Ambrosus IoT devices (or tags) alongside AMB-NET for data integrity, 2) insurance related data management, 3) product recall management.

Let’s start with 1: Digitization of Data. The key source of value that Ambrosus provides for these types of clients is data integrity. The enterprises in question are normally having to spend time and money either pre-emptively ensuring that the product or process is safe from counterfeiting, or conversely, they are forced to spend resources when a shipment disappears, a particular product is replaced, or inventories are not at the levels that they should be because a problem has arisen somewhere in the process. The value of AMB-NET (and necessarily Ambrosus IoT devices) is that it provides these enterprises with a highly secure means by which they can guarantee (much more than they currently can), that their product or process if functioning optimally. Use cases in this area range from core commodities (coffee, vanilla, tea, oil and gas, meat, etc.) to industrial assembly lines. For the commodities in particular, there is a huge concern about dilution, replacements of products, and missing shipments — this is for both the enterprise in question as well as the financial market related to that commodity. Companies save money, when they have an end-to-end data management system for keeping track of where and who is interacting with their products. The blockchain is really the bedrock of this solution, as it ‘stamps’ all of this data so as to ensure its integrity.

Second, Insurance related data management: This is a case of unlocking value that previously enterprises have had to make do without. The use-cases in this field are numerous, and only expected to increase as more enterprises discover that blockchain based data verification can actually save them a lot of money (or help them make a claim on something they have previously been unable to do). Consider the following scenario for shipping a sensitive product: there is a certain product P, that cannot suffer from light exposure lest it be damaged. The producer T works with a shipping company S to export the product across the Pacific Ocean. During this time, the container is tampered with and the product is exposed to light for vast amounts of time. Without Ambrosus IoT or blockchain, producer T would probably never find out — or they would get unfortunate news upon arrival or inspection that something happened, somewhere along the process. With Ambrosus IoT and blockchain, producer T can file a claim with an insurance agency and have the timestamp, light exposure data, and geographical location of where these events happened. Producer T saves money by being able to make a claim on their damaged product. There are other scenarios for insurance as well, however this is perhaps the most illustrative.

Third and finally, Product Recall Management: this is an area that is often overlooked since recalls are hard to predict, and sometimes few and far between. The value here is twofold: if the enterprise in question is required to recall a particular product, they have a data trail (with guarantees) of who, and where that product has been. This means that enterprises can save time and money in getting damaged products back into their processes, in a more efficient and organized manner than is currently the case. For context, the average recall costs an enterprise $10 million dollars before considering non-material effects and reputational damage: in this sense there is a lot of room for blockchain based costs saving.

In second value proposition concerns enterprises who do not need to recall their products specifically, but are still affected by a recall happening within their industry. E. Coli outbreaks are illustrative of this: lettuce from one area of the Southwest USA needs to be recalled, and the entire Romaine Lettuce industry suffers as consumers and retailers toss their entire inventories because they do not have proof that it is not from that region. Enterprises who have a blockchain based management system in place are able to avoid the loss of large amounts of their product, by having a secure data trail verifying that it has not been related to the industry wide incident.

In many of these cases, enterprises find value in both cutting costs, and adding value to products simultaneously. It is for this reason that blockchain is often times referred to as a General Purpose Technology — if used properly it can help enterprises in more than one way, at the same time, and in a cost-effective manner.