Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a field of supply chain management systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.

BACKGROUND
[0002] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of the prior art.
[0003] Generally, a fundamental, logistic, Supply Chain Management (SCM) building blocks or units are the warehouse pallets, on which product consignments/products are loaded and globally shipped. The warehouse pallets may have been a base/floor unit for packaging and stacking any/all kinds of consignments/products. Further, the warehouse pallets may be internationally standardized for dimensions and are made of a variety of materials including, but not limited to, wood, plastics, metals, and different types of composites including glass reinforced fiber, and the like. The global logistics industry has about, for example, 15 billion warehouse pallets in circulation at a time. Furthermore, reusability and recyclability of the warehouse pallets may have always been topics of focus as they mean both ecological and economic impact perhaps in equal measure. Based on the materials used for manufacturing the warehouse pallets, the pallets may live as a Returnable Transport Item (RTI) between customers, carriers, vendors, and the like.
[0004] Additionally, the pallets may be journeying in the supply chain through a multitude of harsh and extreme environments. Hence, the pallets may need to be strong enough to withstand roughness. For example, the warehouse pallets may protect the product(s), absorb the stresses, hold the weight, encounter fork truck impacts, and safeguard goods traveling through the supply chain. The warehouse pallets being the basic building block carrying the packaged product consignments, visibility of the location of pallets, and related environment may provide clarity on the transit point of the pallets, both geographically and condition-wise. The location and environment information may be used to determine the location of the products/goods, the stages of the pallets in the supply chain, storage conditions of the pallets, and the like. This information in turn may be used in taking corrective action when there is a deviation from the intended and planned course of the supply chain.
[0005] Further the supply chain visibility may be critical, because each step - from design, manufacture, and sales to distribution and tracking repairs may need to be approved, stamped, and documented. This results in collecting a plurality of documents for record and tracking. All these documents and various parties involved in the supply chain may need to work together in a trusted environment. If one link in the supply chain fails, then the entire chain falls apart. Further, each link in the supply chain may also need to be secure and resilient in the face of unexpected events in the supply chain. Rather than using papers or e-documents, each partner on the supply chain may need to create and communicate the participation in the supply chain using a secure and a reliable communication/data storage network. Further, manufacturing plants, engineering facilities, warehouses, sales, customers, suppliers, delivery agents, stakeholders, and the like, may need to be integrated into one network, connected securely, to each other, and/or to a manufacturer of the pallets. Conventional systems may not enable logistics/supply chain managers to track and trace, in real-time, the location of the goods on the warehouse pallets, and the conditions in which the goods are being stored (e.g., humidity level, temperature, and the like), among other data. In addition, there may be no central authority that manages and monitors the pallet exchange process. Also, the lack of a standardized, reliable, and secure information platform with high ease of use to operators has been a bottleneck for the development and adoption of pallet pooling as a closed-loop management process in the logistics industry.
[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a method and a system for solving the shortcomings of the prior arts, by providing a system and a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.

SUMMARY
[0007] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present invention in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter. In order to overcome at least a few problems associated with the known solutions as provided in the previous section, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that may be for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.
[0008] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.
[0009] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for tracking and tracing of the warehouse pallets, in real-time, along with environmental conditions, which helps to achieve an objective of safe and quality assured transition of the goods/products associated with the warehouse pallets.
[0010] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for resolving invoice disputes by providing evidence for insurance claims.
[0011] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for controlling goods movements inside and outside the warehouse.
[0012] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for validating a transaction between two peers without the authentication, jurisdiction, or intervention by the central agency, based on a blockchain, thereby reducing the service cost, mitigating the performance bottleneck, lowering the Single Point Failure (SPF) risk.
[0013] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for automatically executing smart contracts when a certain condition is satisfied, and to impose corrective action for the users who have breached the contracts.
[0014] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a system and a method for automatically evaluating a stock level of pallets based on the historical demand patterns and pallet management costs according to a replenishment policy.
[0015] In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a system for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain. The system includes an Internet of Things (IoT) unit securely coupled to one or more warehouse pallets. The IoT unit periodically generates, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data. Further, the system may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor to receive from a first user, a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets. The transaction is initiated between the first user and one or more second users. Further, the processor broadcasts the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with a blockchain network. Further, the processor receives periodically, the location data and environmental condition data from the IoT unit. Furthermore, the processor stores transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network. Additionally, the processor determines one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data. Further, the processor outputs, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.
[0016] In an embodiment, the system signs the transaction using a private key associated with the first user, for accessing the transaction by the one or more second users using the private key associated with the first user. Further, the system validates the transaction by the one or more second users using the private key associated with the first user. Furthermore, the system appends the validated transaction to an end of a chain of transactions. Additionally, the system forms subsequently, a new block in the blockchain network, when the first user successfully solves a puzzle provided in the blockchain network. Further, the system stores in each node, a replica of the new block in the blockchain network, when the validated transaction may be appended to the end of the chain of transactions.
[0017] In another embodiment, the system evaluates, a stock level of the one or more warehouse pallets, using a historical demand pattern, and a pallet management cost corresponding to a replenishment policy. For example, the historical demand pattern-based projection method may be used for governing the replenishment policy.
[0018] In yet another embodiment, the system determines a location inventory routing for forwarding logistics and reversing logistics of the one or more warehouse pallets. Further, the system performs pooling operations to distribute usable warehouse pallets, and collect damaged warehouse pallets and obsolete warehouse pallets back to one or more depots corresponding to the damaged warehouse pallets, and the obsolete warehouse pallets.
[0019] In another embodiment, the system embeds one or more contract clauses in one or more smart contracts in the transaction. Further, the system executes the embedded one or more contract clauses in the one or more smart contracts, when one or more conditions are satisfied.
[0020] In an embodiment, the IoT unit includes at least one of a low power wide area network connectivity sub-unit, and one or more sensors for performing at least one of determining, tracking, and calibrating the location data and the environmental condition data.
[0021] In another embodiment, the IoT unit may be durable and rugged by using at least one of an Ingress Protection (IP) 65 class rating material and an Ingress Protection (IP) 68 class rating material.
[0022] In yet another embodiment, the transaction includes at least one of a sender wallet address, a receiver wallet address, consignment details, a load in the warehouse pallets, a number of warehouse pallets, and one or more time stamps associated with the location of the warehouse pallets.
[0023] In another embodiment, the one or more warehouse pallets are traced by verifying spatial information, temporal information associated with the location data, and the one or more time stamps of a data block stored in the blockchain network.
[0024] In another embodiment, the transaction data may be stored as one or more blocks in the blockchain network. The one or more blocks correspond to a genesis block having no parent block. The one or more blocks comprise a block structure, which includes a block version information, a hash of the parent block, a timestamp for recording current time, a nonce for each hash calculation, a number of transactions, and a root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions.
[0025] In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain. The method includes generating, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data. Further, the method includes receiving, from a first user, a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets. The transaction may be initiated between the first user and one or more second users. Furthermore, the method includes broadcasting the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with a blockchain network. Additionally, the method includes receiving periodically, the location data and environmental condition data from the IoT unit. Further, the method includes storing transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network. Furthermore, the method includes determining one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data. Additionally, the method includes outputting, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry/sub-components of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention of such drawings includes the invention of electrical components, electronic components, or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.
[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a network architecture implementing a proposed system for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary detailed block diagram representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 3A illustrates an exemplary flow diagram representation of a process flow of one or more warehouse pallets, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram representation of functionalities of smart warehouse pallets, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0031] FIG. 3C illustrates an exemplary flow diagram representation of an impact of the warehouse pallets in supply chain management, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0032] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method of managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0033] FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware platform for the implementation of the disclosed system according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0034] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0035] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.
[0036] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth.
[0037] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0038] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
[0039] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive—in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word—without precluding any additional or other elements.
[0040] As used herein, "connect", "configure", "couple" and its cognate terms, such as "connects", "connected", "configured", and "coupled" may include a physical connection (such as a wired/wireless connection), a logical connection (such as through logical gates of semiconducting device), other suitable connections, or a combination of such connections, as may be obvious to a skilled person.
[0041] As used herein, "send", "transfer", "transmit", and their cognate terms like "sending", "sent", "transferring", "transmitting", "transferred", "transmitted", etc. include sending or transporting data or information from one unit or component to another unit or component, wherein the content may or may not be modified before or after sending, transferring, transmitting.
[0042] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an instance” or “one instance” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0043] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0044] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for tracking and tracing of the warehouse pallets, in real-time, along with environmental conditions, which helps to achieve an objective of safe and quality assured transition of the goods/products associated with the warehouse pallets. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for resolving invoice disputes by providing evidence for insurance claims. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for controlling goods movements inside and outside the warehouse. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for validating a transaction between two peers without the authentication, jurisdiction, or intervention by the central agency, based on a blockchain, thereby reducing the service cost, mitigating the performance bottleneck, and lowering the Single Point Failure (SPF) risk. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for automatically executing smart contracts when a certain condition is satisfied, and imposes corrective action for the users who have breached the contracts. The present disclosure provides a system and a method for automatically evaluating a stock level of pallets based on historical demand patterns and pallet management costs according to a replenishment policy.
[0045] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a network architecture 100 implementing a proposed system 110 for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The network architecture 100 may include the system 110, an electronic device 108, a centralized server 118, a blockchain network 120, and Internet of Things (IoT) unit 122-1, 122-2, …., 122-N (individually referred to as the IoT unit 122, and collectively referred to as the IoT units 122). Further, the network architecture 100 may also include a decentralized database (not shown in FIG. 1). The system 110 may be communicatively connected to the centralized server 118, the blockchain network 120, the IoT units 122, and the decentralized database, via a communication network 106. The centralized server 118 may include, but is not limited to, a stand-alone server, a remote server, a cloud computing server, a dedicated server, a rack server, a server blade, a server rack, a bank of servers, a server farm, hardware supporting a part of a cloud service or system, a home server, hardware running a virtualized server, one or more processors executing code to function as a server, one or more machines performing server-side functionality as described herein, at least a portion of any of the above, some combination thereof, and the like. The communication network 106 may be a wired communication network or a wireless communication network. The wireless communication network may be any wireless communication network capable of transferring data between entities of that network such as, but is not limited to, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Light Fidelity (Li-Fi), Zigbee, a carrier network including, but is not limited to, a circuit-switched network, a public switched network, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) network, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, a New Radio (NR), a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network and a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network, an Internet, intranets, Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), mobile communication networks, combinations thereof, and the like.
[0046] The system 110 may be implemented by way of a single device or a combination of multiple devices that may be operatively connected or networked together. For example, the system 110 may be implemented by way of a standalone device such as the centralized server 118, and the like, and may be communicatively coupled to the electronic device 108. In another example, the system 110 may be implemented in/ associated with the electronic device 108. In yet another example, the system 110 may be implemented in/ associated with respective computing device 104-1, 104-2, …..., 104-N (individually referred to as the computing device 104, and collectively referred to as the computing devices 104), associated with one or more user 102-1, 102-2, …..., 102-N (individually referred to as the user 102, and collectively referred to as the users 102). In such a scenario, the system 110 may be replicated in each of the computing devices 104. The users 102 may be a user of, but are not limited to, an electronic commerce (e-commerce) platform, a supply chain platform, a supply chain management platform, a delivery platform, a hyperlocal platform, a super-mart platform, a media platform, a service providing platform, a social networking platform, a messaging platform, a bot processing platform, a virtual assistance platform, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based platform, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace, a Non-Transferable Non-Fungible Tokens (NTNFTs) marketplace, and the like. In some instances, the user 102 may include an entity/administrator. The electronic device 108 may be at least one of, an electrical, an electronic, an electromechanical, and a computing device. The electronic device 108 may include, but is not limited to, a mobile device, a smart-phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a phablet computer, a wearable computing device, a Virtual Reality/Augment Reality (VR/AR) device, a laptop, a desktop, a server, and the like.
[0047] Further, the system 110 may be implemented in hardware or a suitable combination of hardware and software. The system 110 or the centralized server 118 or the decentralized database (not shown in FIG. 1) may be associated with entities (not shown in FIG. 1). The entities may include, but are not limited to, an e-commerce company, a company, an outlet, a manufacturing unit, an enterprise, a facility, an organization, an educational institution, a secured facility, a warehouse, a delivery facility, a supply chain facility, and the like.
[0048] Further, the system 110 may include a processor 112, an Input/Output (I/O) interface 114, and a memory 116. The Input/Output (I/O) interface 114 of the system 110 may be used to receive user inputs from the one or more computing devices 104 associated with the one or more users 102, and the IoT units 122.
[0049] Further, system 110 may also include other units such as a display unit, an input unit, an output unit, and the like, however the same are not shown in FIG. 1, for the purpose of clarity. Also, in FIG. 1 only a few units are shown, however, the system 110 or the network architecture 100 may include multiple such units or the system 110/ network architecture 100 may include any such numbers of the units, obvious to a person skilled in the art or as required to implement the features of the present disclosure. The system 110 may be a hardware device including the processor 112 executing machine-readable program instructions to manage warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.
[0050] Execution of the machine-readable program instructions by the processor 112 may enable the proposed system 110 to manage warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain. The “hardware” may comprise a combination of discrete components, an integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, or other suitable hardware. The “software” may comprise one or more objects, agents, threads, lines of code, subroutines, separate software applications, two or more lines of code, or other suitable software structures operating in one or more software applications or on one or more processors. The processor 112 may include, for example, but is not limited to, microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuits, and any devices that manipulate data or signals based on operational instructions, and the like. Among other capabilities, the processor 112 may fetch and execute computer-readable instructions in the memory 116 operationally coupled with the system 110 for performing tasks such as data processing, input/output processing, and/or any other functions. Any reference to a task in the present disclosure may refer to an operation being or that may be performed on data.
[0051] In the example that follows, assume that a user 102 of the system 110 desires to improve/add additional features for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain. In this instance, the user 102 may include an administrator of a website, an administrator of an e-commerce site, an administrator of a social media site, an administrator of an e-commerce application/ social media application/other applications, an administrator of media content (e.g., television content, video-on-demand content, online video content, graphical content, image content, augmented/virtual reality content, metaverse content), an administrator of supply chain/delivery platform, among other examples, and the like. The system 110 when associated with the electronic device 108 or the centralized server 118 may include, but is not limited to, a touch panel, a soft keypad, a hard keypad (including buttons), and the like.
[0052] In an embodiment, the IoT unit(s) 122 may be securely coupled to one or more warehouse pallets (not shown in FIG. 1). In an embodiment, the IoT unit 102 includes (s), but is not limited to, a low power wide area network connectivity sub-unit, one or more sensors for performing at least one of determining, tracking, calibrating the location data and the environmental condition data, and the like. In an embodiment, the IoT unit 102 may be durable and rugged by using at least one of an Ingress Protection (IP) 65 class rating material, an Ingress Protection (IP) 68 class rating material, and the like.
[0053] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the IoT unit(s) 122 to periodically generate, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data.
[0054] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to receive from a first user 102, a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets. In an embodiment, the transaction may be initiated between the first user 102 and one or more second users 102. In an embodiment, the transaction includes, but is not limited to, a sender wallet address, a receiver wallet address, consignment details, a load in the warehouse pallets, a number of warehouse pallets, one or more time stamps associated with the location of the warehouse pallets, and the like.
[0055] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to broadcast the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users 102, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with the blockchain network 120.
[0056] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to receive periodically, the location data and environmental condition data from the IoT units 122.
[0057] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to store transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network 120. In an embodiment, the transaction data is stored as one or more blocks in the blockchain network 120. In an embodiment, the one or more blocks correspond to a genesis block having no parent block. The one or more blocks include a block structure, which includes, but is not limited to, a block version information, a hash of the parent block, a timestamp for recording current time, a nonce for each hash calculation, a number of transactions, root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions, and the like.
[0058] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to determine one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data.
[0059] In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to output, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain. For example, the actionable suggestions/insights may include, but are not limited to, “the environmental conditions are unsafe for transport of perishable goods” and the like.
[0060] In an embodiment, the one or more warehouse pallets are traced by verifying spatial information, temporal information associated with the location data, and the one or more time stamps of a data block stored in the blockchain network 120.
[0061] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to sign the transaction using a private key associated with the first user 102, for accessing the transaction by the one or more second users 102 using the private key associated with the first user 102. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to validate the transaction by the one or more second users 102 using the private key associated with the first user 102. Furthermore, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to append the validated transaction to an end of a chain of transactions. Additionally, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to form subsequently, a new block in the blockchain network 120, when the first user 102 successfully solves a puzzle provided in the blockchain network 120. For example, the puzzle involves solving for a target hash. In order to correctly solve a block, miners have to manipulate the hash of a potential block until that hash is below a certain numerical value. That numerical value is called a target hash. In order to manipulate a block’s hash so that it falls under the target hash, miners can include a random number within their block called a nonce. The nonce is a “number used once”. When you hear “solving a block” described as a puzzle or lottery, it is because of the nonce. The puzzle is solved and the lottery is won when the correct nonce is discovered. In order to find the correct nonce, miners repeatedly choose a nonce, include it in the contents of the block, hash the block and see if the hash falls below the target hash. If, the hash of the block does not fall below the target hash, miners pick a new nonce until they find one that succeeds.
[0062] Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to store in each node, a replica of the new block in the blockchain network 120, when the validated transaction is appended to the end of the chain of transactions.
[0063] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to evaluate, a stock level of the one or more warehouse pallets, using a historical demand pattern, and a pallet management cost corresponding to a replenishment policy.
[0064] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to determine a location inventory routing for forwarding logistics and reversing logistics of the one or more warehouse pallets. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to perform pooling operations to distribute usable warehouse pallets, and collect damaged warehouse pallets and obsolete warehouse pallets back to one or more depots corresponding to the damaged warehouse pallets, and the obsolete warehouse pallets.
[0065] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to embed one or more contract clauses in one or more smart contracts in the transaction. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to execute the embedded one or more contract clauses in the one or more smart contracts, when one or more conditions are satisfied. For example, the one or more conditions includes, but are not limited to, “initiate payment from X to Y after delivery of shipment containing warehouse pallets from Y to X”, and the like.
[0066] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary detailed block diagram representation of the proposed system 110, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The system 110 may include the processor 112, the Input/Output (I/O) interface 114, and the memory 116. In some implementations, the system 110 may include data 202, and modules 204. As an example, the data 202 may be stored in the memory 116 configured in the system 110 as shown in FIG. 2.
[0067] In an embodiment, the data 202 may include request data 206, transaction data 208, broadcast data 210, location data and environmental condition data 212, states data 214, and other data 216. In an embodiment, the data 202 may be stored in the memory 116 in the form of various data structures. Additionally, the data 202 can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 216 may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the modules 204 for performing the various functions of the system 110.
[0068] In an embodiment, the modules 204, may include a receiving module 222, a broadcasting module 224, a storing module 226, a determining module 228, an outputting module 230, and other modules 232. In an embodiment, the data 202 stored in the memory 116 may be processed by the modules 204 of the system 110. The modules 204 may be stored within the memory 116. In an example, the modules 204 communicatively coupled to the processor 112 configured in the system 110, may also be present outside the memory 116, as shown in FIG. 2, and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term modules refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
[0069] In an embodiment, the receiving module 222 may receive from a first user 102, a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets.
[0070] In an embodiment, the transaction may be initiated between the first user 102 and one or more second users 102. In an embodiment, the transaction includes, but is not limited to, a sender wallet address, a receiver wallet address, consignment details, a load in the warehouse pallets, a number of warehouse pallets, one or more time stamps associated with the location of the warehouse pallets, and the like.
[0071] In an embodiment, the broadcasting module 224 may broadcast the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users 102, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with the blockchain network 120.
[0072] In an embodiment, the receiving module 222 may receive periodically, the location data and environmental condition data from the IoT units 122. In an embodiment, the system 110 may execute the IoT unit(s) 122 to periodically generate, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data. In an embodiment, the IoT unit(s) 122 may be securely coupled to one or more warehouse pallets (not shown in FIG. 1). In an embodiment, the IoT unit 102 include(s), but is not limited to, a low power wide area network connectivity sub-unit, one or more sensors for performing at least one of determining, tracking, calibrating the location data and the environmental condition data, and the like. In an embodiment, the IoT unit 102 may be durable and rugged by using at least one of an Ingress Protection (IP) 65 class rating material, an Ingress Protection (IP) 68 class rating material, and the like.
[0073] In an embodiment, the storing module 226 may store transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network 120. In an embodiment, the transaction data may be stored as one or more blocks in the blockchain network 120. In an embodiment, the one or more blocks correspond to a genesis block having no parent block. The one or more blocks include a block structure, which includes, but is not limited to, a block version information, a hash of the parent block, a timestamp for recording current time, a nonce for each hash calculation, a number of transactions, root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions, and the like.
[0074] In an embodiment, the determining module 228 may determine one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data.
[0075] In an embodiment, the outputting module 230 may output, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.
[0076] In an embodiment, the one or more warehouse pallets are traced by verifying spatial information, temporal information associated with the location data, and the one or more time stamps of a data block stored in the blockchain network 120.
[0077] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to sign the transaction using a private key associated with the first user 102, for accessing the transaction by the one or more second users 102 using the private key associated with the first user 102. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to validate the transaction by the one or more second users 102 using the private key associated with the first user 102. Furthermore, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to append the validated transaction to an end of a chain of transactions. Additionally, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to form subsequently, a new block in the blockchain network 120, when the first user 102 successfully solves a puzzle provided in the blockchain network 120. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to store in each node, a replica of the new block in the blockchain network 120, when the validated transaction is appended to the end of the chain of transactions.
[0078] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to evaluate, a stock level of the one or more warehouse pallets, using a historical demand pattern, and a pallet management cost corresponding to a replenishment policy.
[0079] In an embodiment, the determining module 228 may determine a location inventory routing for forwarding logistics and reversing logistics of the one or more warehouse pallets. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to perform pooling operations to distribute usable warehouse pallets, and collect damaged warehouse pallets and obsolete warehouse pallets back to one or more depots corresponding to the damaged warehouse pallets, and the obsolete warehouse pallets.
[0080] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further execute the processor 122 to embed one or more contract clauses in one or more smart contracts in the transaction. Further, the system 110 may execute the processor 122 to execute the embedded one or more contract clauses in the one or more smart contracts, when one or more conditions are satisfied.
Exemplary scenario 1:
[0081] For example, the IoT unit 122 may be bolt-able to the one or more warehouse pallets as shown in FIG. 3B, to provide its location and environment details in real time. The IoT unit 122 may be securely coupled to the warehouse pallets independent of the material of the warehouse pallets. Further, for the illustrative purpose, the IoT unit 122 may be coupled on top of the warehouse pallets, however, the IoT unit 122 may be securely coupled on any side of the warehouse pallets, based on requirements and harsh conditions of the environment and during the transportation of the warehouse pallets.
[0082] The data generated by the functioning of the IoT unit 122 may be uploaded into the blockchain network 120, which may be a cloud-based network. Further, a dashboard in the computing device 104 associated with the users 102 may include a portal that provides real-time information and actionable intelligence suggestions, based on the warehouse pallet states (e.g., location and environmental condition) in the supply chain.
[0083] In an example implementation, the IoT unit 122 may include a low power wide area and low-cost connectivity provided by Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Fourth Generation (4G) technology-based subunits. The IoT unit 122 may be durable and rugged, which may be independent of the ruggedness of the warehouse pallet (made of wooden/plastic/metal/composite materials and the like.). In another example implementation, the IoT unit 122 may include various sensors to both track and calibrate the environment data in addition to the precise location data pertaining to the warehouse pallets. Integration between the different wireless and sensor technologies, by establishing the due interoperability may be a challenge, as goods on the pallets may migrate through the various routes, stages, and segments and across the globe. In some cases, such as large global track and trace solutions, a multi-mode IoT unit that operates on all cellular networks could be needed.
[0084] For example, using the 4G cellular technologies, the cellular unit may consume low power. For example, LPWAN 4G cellular technologies (e.g., LTE Cat 1, Cat M, Cat Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT)) may be low-cost, efficient, and simple device compared to broadband LTE. Each cellular LPWAN standard provides different features and capabilities. For example, the LTE Cat 1 IoT modules may offer data rates of 10Mbps uplink and 5Mbps downlink along with full voice, the ability to support mobile applications, and standard cellular connectivity. Further, the LTE Cat M IoT modules may provide uplink and downlink data rates of approximately 375kbps with limited voice capabilities, limited ability to support mobility, and enhanced coverage indoors and underground. The 4G module range improves power efficiency, enabling battery life of up to 10 years. Furthermore, the LTE Cat NB-IoT IoT modules may provide uplink and downlink data rates of approximately 50kbps without support for voice or mobility. It is designed for stationary IoT solutions such as water and electricity meters. This 4G module family provides extended coverage indoors and underground and enables a battery life of 10 years and beyond.
[0085] In addition, the technology choice for the LPWAN chip-set in the case of the IoT unit 122 may be, for example, the Long-Term Evolution (4G), category M1/Machine type communication (LTE-M). This is because the LTE-M technology can penetrate deep inside buildings, containers, and refrigerated units, while consuming very little power – the modules inside the pallets could last for a decade.
[0086] Further, the outer casing for the IoT unit 122 may be a suitable material that meets the ruggedization needs to meet both rough handling and multiple cycle times of usage in its life span (independent of the pallets material and the incidental resultant life-span the pallet can be expected to live through). The IP 65 or IP 68 class of ruggedization may be built into the IoT unit 122.
[0087] Further, the other specific sensors integrated into the pallet through the IoT unit 122 may be a function of the various environmental parameters that the pallet may be expected to provide insights into. The insights include, but are not limited to, temperature, humidity level, storage time, vibration, tampering, dimension(s) related to the environment of the pallet and respective consignment load, and the like.
[0088] In an example, use-cases of leveraging the sensors in the IoT unit 122 may include a span from collecting information relating to environmental conditions, verifying how long the cargo remains in a particular truck or at a specific port, and whether it is being tampered with or affected by any means which violates the handling directions, and the like. In another example, the information generated from the IoT units 122 can be used to resolve invoice disputes by providing evidence for insurance claims. In another example, the information generated from the IoT units 122 helps companies by assisting them in optimizing the supply chain operations for improved efficiency and visibility across the supply chain. In addition, the warehouse pallets IoT units 122 help to strictly control goods movements inside and outside the warehouse.
[0089] In current scenario of pallet management (leverage and optimization), pooling and exchanging of the pallets may be two major models. In pooling, the pallets are centrally owned and the costs are unevenly distributed. A hirer of the pallets may only pay small rentals and the money may be recovered by the lifecycle span times turnarounds of the pallet. On the other hand, the exchange may include both parties co-owning costs of the pallets.
-Blockchain in pallets exchange context: at the core of current pallet management processes may be the pallet note. Almost all the time, companies ship their goods on pallets. As pallets cannot always be immediately returned in the same number, type, and quality, the involved parties receive pallet notes, which document the number of pallets delivered and collected. Later, these paper pallet notes can be used directly in exchange for physical pallets. These vouchers can be redeemed for “real” pallets. They can be exchanged bilaterally and point to point, paper for pallet and pallet for paper. As the retail supply chain may be complex and involves a lot of players, such as producers, shippers, logistic service providers, carriers, distribution centers, cross-docking centers, and stores, keeping an overview of pallets may be a challenge for all parties. There is no central authority that manages and monitors the Pallet exchange process. This current situation may be perfect case for using blockchain technology to come up with a solution that establishes trust and transparency while streamlining business processes across company boundaries. The blockchain can act as the single place that enables the decentralized, secure, direct, and digital transfer of pallets and related notes across the various cargo carriers.
-Blockchain in pallet pooling context: The lack of a standardized, reliable, and secure information platform with high ease of use to operators has been a bottleneck for the development and adoption of pallet pooling as a closed loop management process in the logistics industry. Furthermore, the service providers’ perspectives concern the cost-effectiveness of the pallet pooling activities, referring to pallet pickup and delivery at various customer locations. When minimizing operational costs, the sufficient pallet supply to end-users should be maintained to ensure the smoothness of their logistics operations. The proposed system 110 can serve as an intelligent ecosystem for the pallet management between various stakeholders. For example, pallet users, suppliers, and waste handling companies, can be effectively organized. The stock level of pallets can be automatically evaluated by the system 110 based on the historical demand patterns and pallet management costs according to the replenishment policy. Subsequently, a location-inventory-routing problem for forward and reverse logistics can be modelled for the pallet pooling operations to distribute usable pallets and collect damaged and obsolete pallets back to the depots.
[0090] In addition, interoperability across IoT units 122, and industrial sectors, where interoperability may be the ability to interact with physical systems and exchanging information between IoT units 122. It can be achieved through the blockchain-composite layer built on top of an overlay peer-to-peer (P2P) network with uniform access across different IoT units 122. The warehouse pallets may be traced and verified using the spatial information and temporal information of a data block saved in the blockchain network 120. Each data block saved in the blockchain network 120 may be attached with a historic timestamp consequently assuring the data traceability of the IoT units 122. It can be ensured by the integrity enforced by cryptographic mechanisms including asymmetric encryption algorithms, hash functions, and digital signatures, all of which are inherent in blockchain network 120. The IoT units 122 may interact with each other without the intervention of a trusted third party. This autonomy can be achieved by smart contracts enabled by blockchain network 120. In particular, contract clauses embedded in smart contracts may be executed by the processor 112 automatically when a certain condition is satisfied. For example, the conditions include the user breaching the contract.
[0091] In an example, the nodes of the blockchain network 120 may be constituted by involving the different stakeholders in the warehouse pallet management as shown in FIG. 3A and 3C. The FIG. 3A and 3C show how data is distributed to a decentralized architecture eliminating the centralized ownership/storage and processing of the data. The first block of a blockchain may include a genesis block having no parent block. In particular, a block structure includes information, but is not limited, block version (indicating the validation rules to follow), the hash of the parent block, timestamp recording the current time in seconds, nonce starting from 0 and increasing for every hash calculation, the number of transactions, Merkle root (i.e., the hash value of the root of a Merkel tree with concatenating the hash values of all the transactions in the block), and the like. The blockchain is continuously growing with the transactions being executed. When a new block is generated, all the nodes in the network may participate in the block validation. A validated block may be automatically appended at the end of the blockchain via the inverse reference pointing to the parent block. In this manner, any unauthorized alterations on the previously generated block can be easily detected, because the hash value of the tampered block is significantly different from that of the unchanged block. Moreover, since the blockchain is distributed throughout the whole network, the tampering behavior can also be easily detected by other nodes in the network.
-Data integrity in the blockchain: Blockchains leverage cryptographic techniques to guarantee data integrity. In particular, there are specific mechanisms in blockchains to ensure the data integrity, which include:
-an ordered link list structure of blocks, in which each newly-appended block must include the hash value of the preceding block. In this manner, a falsification of any of the previous blocks may invalidate the subsequent blocks.
-Merkel tree structure, in which each block contains a root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions. Each non-leave node is essentially a hash value of two concatenated values of its two children. Therefore, a Merkel tree is typically a binary tree. In this way, any falsification of the transactions will lead to a new hash value in the above layer, consequently resulting in a falsified root hash. As a result, any falsification can be easily detected.
-Consensus techniques: blockchain may validate the block trustfulness in a decentralized trustless environment without the necessity of the trusted third-party authority. In a distributed environment, it is challenging to reach a consensus on a newly-generated block as the consensus may be biased in favor of malicious nodes. This trustfulness validation in a decentralized environment can be achieved by consensus algorithms. Typical consensus algorithms include Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), and the like.
Exemplary scenario 2:
[0092] Consider, a smart warehouse pallet transfer from point A to Point B as a transaction as shown in FIG. 3A. The shipper of the warehouse pallet first initiates the transaction at the computing device 104, through the associated crypto-wallet. The transaction includes information such as the sender’s wallet, the receiver’s address, and the consignment details including that of the load and the pallet being sent. The transaction may be essentially signed by the sender’s private key and can be accessible and thereafter verifiable by other users via the sender’s public key. Then the processor 112 may broadcast the initiated transaction to other computing devices 104 (or nodes) in the p2p network. Next, a validated transaction may then be appended to the end of the chain of transactions consequently forming a new block in the blockchain once a miner successfully solves the puzzle. Finally, every node saves a replica of the updated blockchain when the validated transaction may then be appended to the blockchain. Further, the blockchain allows the transaction to be validated between two peers without the authentication, jurisdiction, or intervention done by the central agency, thereby reducing the service cost, mitigating the performance bottleneck, and lowering a Single Point Failure (SPF) risk. Further, blockchain consists of a consecutively linked chain of blocks (i.e., sequence of blocks), in which each link may essentially be an inverse hash point of the previous block. Any modification on the previous block invalidates all the consequently generated blocks. Meanwhile, the root hash of the Merkle tree saves the hash of all the committed transactions. Any changes on any transactions generate a new Merkle root. Therefore, any falsification can be easily detected. The integration of the inverse hash point and the Merkle tree can guarantee data integrity.
[0093] The private key may be used to put the signature to the transaction, which can then be accessed and verified by others via the corresponding public key. Therefore, the cryptographically signed transaction cannot be denied by the transaction initiator. Despite the transparency of blockchain data, blockchain can preserve a certain level of privacy by enabling blockchain addresses anonymous. For example, the work presents an application of Blockchain to preserve the privacy of personal data. However, blockchain can only preserve privacy at a certain level, because blockchain addresses are essentially traceable by inference. Hence, blockchain can only preserve pseudonymity instead of full privacy. Each transaction saved in the blockchain may be attached with a timestamp (recorded when the transaction occurs). Hence, users can easily verify and trace the origins of historical data items after analyzing the blockchain data with corresponding timestamps. In an example, a Hyperledger Fabric® may be used for the transfer of pallets between various parties, which are tracked and the data immutably registered in the blockchain, independent of whether the warehouse pallets involved in the transfer being one of pallet exchange or pallet pooling.
[0094] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method 400 of managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0095] At block 402, the method 400 includes generating, by the IoT unit(s) 122 associated with the system 110, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data.
[0096] At block 404, the method 400 includes receiving, by the processor 112 associated with the system 110, from a first user 102, a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets. The transaction may be initiated between the first user 102 and one or more second users 102.
[0097] At block 406, the method 400 includes broadcasting, by the processor 112, the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users 102, in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with the blockchain network 120.
[0098] At block 408, the method 400 includes receiving periodically, by the processor 112, the location data and environmental condition data from the IoT unit 122.
[0099] At block 410, the method 400 includes storing, by the processor 112, transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network 120.
[00100] At block 412, the method 400 includes determining, by the processor 112, one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data.
[00101] At block 414, the method 400 includes outputting, by the processor 112, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.
[00102] The order in which the method 400 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined or otherwise performed in any order to implement the method 400 or an alternate method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method 400 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure described herein. Furthermore, the method 400 may be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, that exists in the related art or that is later developed. The method 400 describes, without limitation, the implementation of the system 110. A person of skill in the art will understand that method 400 may be modified appropriately for implementation in various manners without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.
[00103] FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware platform 500 for implementation of the disclosed system 110, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of brevity, the construction, and operational features of the system 110 which are explained in detail above are not explained in detail herein. Particularly, computing machines such as but not limited to internal/external server clusters, quantum computers, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and wearables which may be used to execute the system 110 or may include the structure of the hardware platform 500. As illustrated, the hardware platform 500 may include additional components not shown, and that some of the components described may be removed and/or modified. For example, a computer system with multiple GPUs may be located on external-cloud platforms including Amazon® Web Services, or internal corporate cloud computing clusters, or organizational computing resources, etc.
[00104] The hardware platform 500 may be a computer system such as the system 110 that may be used with the embodiments described herein. The computer system may represent a computational platform that includes components that may be in a server or another computer system. The computer system may execute, by the processor 505 (e.g., a single or multiple processors) or other hardware processing circuit, the methods, functions, and other processes described herein. These methods, functions, and other processes may be embodied as machine-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, which may be non-transitory, such as hardware storage devices (e.g., RAM (random access memory), ROM (read-only memory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable, programmable ROM), hard drives, and flash memory). The computer system may include the processor 505 that executes software instructions or code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 510 to perform methods of the present disclosure. The software code includes, for example, instructions to gather data and documents and analyze documents. In an example, the modules 204, may be software codes or components performing these steps.
[00105] The instructions on the computer-readable storage medium 510 are read and stored the instructions in storage 515 or in random access memory (RAM). The storage 515 may provide a space for keeping static data where at least some instructions could be stored for later execution. The stored instructions may be further compiled to generate other representations of the instructions and dynamically stored in the RAM such as RAM 520. The processor 505 may read instructions from the RAM 520 and perform actions as instructed.
[00106] The computer system may further include the output device 525 to provide at least some of the results of the execution as output including, but not limited to, visual information to users, such as external agents. The output device 525 may include a display on computing devices and virtual reality glasses. For example, the display may be a mobile phone screen or a laptop screen. GUIs and/or text may be presented as an output on the display screen. The computer system may further include an input device 530 to provide a user or another device with mechanisms for entering data and/or otherwise interacting with the computer system. The input device 530 may include, for example, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, or a touchscreen. Each of these output devices 525 and input device 530 may be joined by one or more additional peripherals. For example, the output device 525 may be used to display the results such as bot responses by the executable chatbot.
[00107] A network communicator 535 may be provided to connect the computer system to a network and in turn to other devices connected to the network including other clients, servers, data stores, and interfaces, for instance. A network communicator 535 may include, for example, a network adapter such as a LAN adapter or a wireless adapter. The computer system may include a data sources interface 540 to access the data source 545. The data source 545 may be an information resource. As an example, a database of exceptions and rules may be provided as the data source 545. Moreover, knowledge repositories and curated data may be other examples of the data source 545.
[00108] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be implemented merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[00109] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for system and a method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain using a blockchain.
[00110] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for tracking and tracing of the warehouse pallets, in real-time, along with environmental conditions, which helps to achieve an objective of safe and quality assured transition of the goods/products associated with the warehouse pallets.
[00111] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for resolving invoice disputes by providing evidence for insurance claims.
[00112] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for controlling goods movements inside and outside the warehouse.
[00113] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for validating a transaction between two peers without the authentication, jurisdiction, or intervention by the central agency, based on a blockchain, thereby reducing the service cost, mitigating the performance bottleneck, and lowering the Single Point Failure (SPF) risk.
[00114] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for automatically executing smart contracts when a certain condition is satisfied, and imposes corrective action for the users who have breached the contracts.
[00115] The present disclosure provides a system and a method for automatically evaluating a stock level of pallets based on historical demand patterns and pallet management costs according to a replenishment policy.
 
, Claims:1. A system (110) for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain, the system (110) comprising:
one or more Internet of Things (IoT) units (122) securely coupled to one or more warehouse pallets is configured to periodically generate, in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data;
a processor (112); and
a memory (116) coupled to the processor (112), wherein the memory (116) comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor (112) to:
receive from a first user (102), a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets, wherein the transaction is initiated between the first user (102) and one or more second users (102);
broadcast the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users (102), in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with a blockchain network (120);
receive periodically, the location data and environmental condition data from the one or more IoT units (122);
store transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network (120);
determine one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data; and
output, in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.
2. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, the processor (112) is further configured to:
sign the transaction using a private key associated with the first user (102), for accessing the transaction by the one or more second users (102) using the private key associated with the first user (102);
validate the transaction by the one or more second users (102) using the private key associated with the first user (102);
append the validated transaction to an end of a chain of transactions;
form subsequently, a new block in the blockchain network (120), when the first user (102) successfully solves a puzzle provided in the blockchain network (120); and
store in each node, a replica of the new block in the blockchain network (120), when the validated transaction is appended to the end of the chain of transactions.
3. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor (112) is further configured to:
evaluate, a stock level of the one or more warehouse pallets, using a historical demand pattern, and a pallet management cost corresponding to a replenishment policy.
4. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor (112) is further configured to:
determine a location inventory routing for forwarding logistics and reversing logistics of the one or more warehouse pallets; and
perform pooling operations to distribute usable warehouse pallets, and collect damaged warehouse pallets and obsolete warehouse pallets back to one or more depots corresponding to the damaged warehouse pallets, and the obsolete warehouse pallets.
5. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor (112) is further configured to:
embed one or more contract clauses in one or more smart contracts in the transaction; and
execute the embedded one or more contract clauses in the one or more smart contracts, when one or more conditions are satisfied.
6. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more IoT units (122) comprises at least one of a low power wide area network connectivity sub-units, one or more sensors for performing at least one of determining, tracking, and calibrating the location data and the environmental condition data.
7. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more IoT units (122) is durable and rugged by using at least one of an Ingress Protection (IP) 65 class rating material and an Ingress Protection (IP) 68 class rating material.
8. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transaction comprises at least one of a sender wallet address, a receiver wallet address, consignment details, a load in the warehouse pallets, a number of warehouse pallets, and one or more time stamps associated with the location of the warehouse pallets.
9. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more warehouse pallets are traced by verifying spatial information, temporal information associated with the location data, the one or more time stamps of a data block stored in the blockchain network (120).
10. The system (110) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transaction data is stored as one or more blocks in the blockchain network (120), wherein the one or more blocks correspond to a genesis block having no parent block, wherein the one or more blocks comprise a block structure, which comprises a block version information, a hash of parent block, a timestamp for recording current time, a nonce for each hash calculation, a number of transactions, and root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions.
11. A method for managing warehouse pallets in a supply chain, the method comprising:
generating, by one or more Internet of Things (IoT) units (122) associated with a system (110), in real-time, corresponding location data and environmental condition data;
receiving, by a processor (112) associated with the system (110), from a first user (102), a request to initiate a transaction corresponding to a supply chain associated with the one or more warehouse pallets, wherein the transaction is initiated between the first user (102) and one or more second users (102);
broadcasting, by the processor (112), the initiated transaction to one or more nodes corresponding to the one or more second users (102), in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network associated with a blockchain network (120);
receiving periodically, by the processor (112), the location data and environmental condition data from the one or more IoT units (122);
storing, by the processor (112), transaction data associated with the transaction, and the periodically received location data and environmental condition data in the blockchain network (120);
determining, by the processor (112), one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the transaction data, the location data, and the environmental condition data; and
outputting, by the processor (112), in real-time, the transaction data, the location data, the environmental condition data, and one or more actionable suggestions corresponding to the one or more warehouse pallets, based on the determined one or more states of the one or more warehouse pallets in the supply chain.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprises:
signing, by the processor (112), the transaction using a private key associated with the first user (102), for accessing the transaction by the one or more second users (102) using the private key associated with the first user (102);
validating, by the processor (112), the transaction by the one or more second users (102) using the private key associated with the first user (102);
appending, by the processor (112), the validated transaction to an end of a chain of transactions;
forming, by the processor (112), subsequently, a new block in the blockchain network (120), when the first user (102) successfully solves a puzzle provided in the blockchain network (120); and
storing, by the processor (112), in each node, a replica of the new block in the blockchain network (120), when the validated transaction is appended to the end of the chain of transactions.
13. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprises:
evaluating, by the processor (112), a stock level of the one or more warehouse pallets, using a historical demand pattern, and a pallet management cost corresponding to a replenishment policy.
14. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprises:
determining, by the processor (112), a location inventory routing for forwarding logistics and reversing logistics of the one or more warehouse pallets; and
performing, by the processor (112), pooling operations to distribute usable warehouse pallets, and collect damaged warehouse pallets and obsolete warehouse pallets back to one or more depots corresponding to the damaged warehouse pallets, and the obsolete warehouse pallets.
15. The method as claimed in claim 11 further comprises:
embedding, by the processor (112), one or more contract clauses in one or more smart contracts in the transaction; and
executing, by the processor (112), the embedded one or more contract clauses in the one or more smart contracts, when one or more conditions are satisfied.
16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more IoT units (122) comprises at least one of a low power wide area network connectivity sub-units, one or more sensors for performing at least one of determining, tracking, and calibrating the location data and the environmental condition data.
17. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more IoT units (122) is durable and rugged by using at least one of an Ingress Protection (IP) 65 class rating material and an Ingress Protection (IP) 68 class rating material.
18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the transaction comprises at least one of a sender wallet address, a receiver wallet address, consignment details, a load in the warehouse pallets, a number of warehouse pallets, and one or more time stamps associated with the location of the warehouse pallets.
19. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more warehouse pallets are traced by verifying spatial information, temporal information associated with the location data, the one or more time stamps of a data block stored in the blockchain network (120).
20. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the transaction data is stored as one or more blocks in the blockchain network (120), wherein the one or more blocks correspond to a genesis block having no parent block, wherein the one or more blocks comprise a block structure, which comprises a block version information, a hash of parent block, a timestamp for recording current time, a nonce for each hash calculation, a number of transactions, and root hash of a Merkel tree of all transactions.