Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to managing supply chain information and more specifically relates to managing supply chain information using blockchain technology.

BACKGROUND
[0001] Each organization in a supply chain network that deals with cold chain packaged goods has its own set of records. This prevents the development of a reliable, comprehensive picture of the data, which is essential in the event of a contract violation.

A supply chain is a dynamic network of businesses, individuals, organisations, technologies, activities, information, and resources involved in the procurement of raw materials and the delivery of finished goods. When several parties are engaged in the supply chain process, such as manufacturers, logistics, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, each party tracks the flow of a product along the supply chain separately, which prevents the creation of a single trustworthy view of records. Therefore, it is necessary to present a single perspective of the records that can be unquestionably acknowledged in cases of violation of the conditions and agreements stipulated in the contracts.

[0002] Given the importance of timely delivery, these supply chain difficulties are amplified when it comes to the cold chain for packaged goods in sectors including medicines, food and beverage, and chemicals. Several parties are now active in the cold chain. Shipments are handled by several people.

[0003] Product monitoring is carried out in silos, leading to numerous record-keeping systems that eventually breed mistrust of legal contracts. The acceptance of cold chain packed items in accordance with contractual requirements is frequently contested, resulting in a loss of time, money, and relationship.

[0004] The shipment stage where the product is delivered to its final destination is often known, in logistics, as the “last mile.” When arranging final delivery of cold chain products, many considerations need to be accounted for to maintain the integrity of the shipment. For example, the delivery timing is important to ensure that critical labor and temperature-controlled warehouse space is available. Then, as many cold chain deliveries occur in downtown urban areas, parking availability can have detrimental impacts on the shipment. Also important is the final transfer of the shipment into cold storage facilities to avoid any breach of integrity.

[0005] The movement of a cold chain packaged products through the supply chain is tracked individually by the respective parties. Each party will have its own database and an application for capturing transactions and the movement of the product through the chain. This poses several key challenges: n Multiple sources of truth: At any point in time, not all of the databases may have the same data, as it depends on the organizational process involved in updating the database or any delays in propagating the data across all parties. Opportunity for deceit: This provides the possibility for parties to modify their database for business and claim that their data is true. n Translational error: The data in one or more of the databases may not sync up due to human error or application issues. This would lead to a dispute between parties, resulting in increased cycle time for resolving the conflict and, possibly, delivering the product. Lack of customer trust: The customer finds it difficult to identify whether the product is genuine.

[0006] There are conventional techniques which are used to manage supply chain information. For example, reference can be made to US20210097480A1 which discloses identifying information for a product transmitted from a mobile device via the network and periodically updating a server with product recall data. Further, reference can be made to US20100274629A1 which discloses monitoring the state of a manufactured product and more particularly to determining a sustainability factor impact resulting from the stat

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The principal object of the present invention is to provide techniques for managing supply chain information using blockchain technology.

[0002] Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques for tracing path of product in the supply chain in the blockchain.

[0003] Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques for preventing frauds by monitoring and documenting any action relating to the product or the services in the blockchain network.

[0004] Another object of the present invention is to provide techniques for blockchain-based tokenization of assets enables product traceability along the supply chain

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In one embodiment, an environment for managing supply chain information is disclosed. The environment comprises a plurality of computing devices (102), a plurality of users (104) operating the plurality of computing devices, a blockchain network (106) and a communication network (108) configured to enable communication between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the supply chain information into the blockchain network, the supply chain information includes flow of products or services, the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, each of the blocks store supply chain information, and the flow of products or services is tracked from one block to another.
[0006] In another embodiment, a method for managing supply chain information is disclosed. The method comprises providing a plurality of computing devices, providing a plurality of users operating the plurality of computing devices, providing a blockchain network, enabling communication, by a communication network, between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the supply chain information into the blockchain network, the supply chain information includes flow of products or services, the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks, each of the blocks store supply chain information, and the flow of products or services is tracked from one block to another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 illustrates an environment for managing supply chain information, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0008] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for managing supply chain information, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0009] While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and the detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.
[0010] As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein are solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers, or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, and the like are included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.
[0011] In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element, or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.
[0012] The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, several materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, an environment 100 for managing supply chain information using a digital ledger technology is depicted. The environment 100 comprises a plurality of computing devices 102-1, 102-2…102-n (collectively referred as 102) corresponding to a plurality of users 104-1, 104-2…104-n (collectively referred as 104), a blockchain network 106 and a communication network 108. The communication network 108 may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the internet, or a combination of them. In one embodiment, the communication network 108 enables communication with, within a blockchain network 106. In one embodiment, the supply chain information includes logistics related information relating to a product which may travel from one destination to another.
[0014] The supply chain may include stakeholders such as manufacturers, sellers, customers, etc. In one embodiment, in addition to the flow of products in the supply chain management, any information relating to the transaction of the products or service is also tracked. The information relating to the products can include information about the procurement of the raw materials to the delivery of the product from source to final destination.
[0015] The plurality of users 104 acts as a node in the blockchain network 106. Each of the plurality of users 104 participates in the blockchain network 106 using the plurality of computing devices 102. In one embodiment, the plurality of users can include the stakeholders as explained above. Each of the above mentioned stakeholders can act as nodes and are responsible for making changes in the blockchain network. Each of the user 104 operates a computing device from the plurality of the computing devices 104. In one embodiment, the plurality of computing devices 102 include, for example, but not limited to, a laptop, a computer, a mobile device, a tablet. In one embodiment, the computing devices 102 hosts or runs one or more applications for interacting with the blockchain network 106.
[0016] The blockchain network 106 includes one or more blockchain 110. The blockchain 110 is made up of a chain of blocks, each storing supply chain information such as flow of products or services. In one embodiment, each of the stakeholders may have their own application. However, each of the stakeholder will put their supply chain information on one distributed ledger or data store. Blockchain moves a distributed ledger using cryptographic techniques. Each and every one of a single data repository may be accessed via a blockchain network. A new transaction must get unanimous approval from all participants before it can be added to the shared ledger of the blockchain. Transactions that are recorded in the ledger but cannot be altered or changed.
[0017] Blockchain network 106 is a reputable peer-to-peer business networks that keep a tamper-proof distributed ledger for transactions and track adherence to service levels from the time of pick up through final delivery are disrupting existing company procedures. These cutting-edge networks include the Internet of Things (IoT), supply chain and enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration, and blockchain for real-time visibility by transferring the summary of health check to a distributed ledger, where all participants can view it, ensuring trust, accountability, and transparency.
[0018] In one embodiment, Battle the Heat Blockchain technology allows for the digitization of supply chain records, with data from all players, including manufacturers, merchants, and raw material suppliers, being added to a common ledger. Anyone with access to the ledger cannot alter the logged data, however.
[0019] In one embodiment, at a beginning of the cold chain, a cryptographically unique identifier can be assigned to each individual food or medicinal item. The history of all items can then be retrieved on the blockchain archive when this, highly encrypted code has been added to the shared data ledger. In the world of physical logistics, these distinctive identities might be represented by barcodes, near-field communication (NFC), or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. As opposed to a data-driven supply chain.
[0020] In one embodiment, a library of timestamped transactions covering the entire logistical process because the data was locked up in silos. The entire procedure will be streamlined thanks to this end-to-end transparency and traceability. Any temperature problems that lead to contaminated food or medicine can be quickly identified and fixed in a few of hours. Response times can be cut down, and general food and drug safety can be increased.
[0021] Blockchain Unlocks Supply Chain Transparency. One of the most popular technologies nowadays is blockchain. New blockchain use cases are being created on a daily basis, ranging from bitcoins to interbank financial transactions and supply chain. Blockchain is essentially a network of computers where each participant maintains a shared, trustworthy public ledger that is accessible to all users but is not under the control of any one user. The ledger is constructed using a linked list, or chain, of blocks, each of which includes a specific number of transactions that took place during a specific period of time.
[0022] Over the past few years, blockchain technology has garnered a lot of industry attention. The industry that has arguably given it the most attention is finance. nonetheless, it has recently been suggested as a fix. In more fields as well, including supply chain, healthcare, and insurance has gained importance.
[0023] By managing supply chain information using the blockchain network 106, brand loyalty and customer safety can be increased. Customers can be guaranteed that the food they are consuming is safe because Blockchain gives supply chain transparency. This occurs as a result of blockchain's capacity to provide customers with information about a product's path from farm to fork. Customers, for instance, may see a food item's whole history simply scanning the smart code printed on the box.
[0024] By utilizing blockchain, cold chains can be carefully and systematically monitored and securely record the storage temperatures at each stop along the way for every product. The Sanitary Food Transport Act in the US currently mandates the gathering of numerous data points along the supply chain. The easiest method to do this is to combine blockchain technology with internet of things (IoT) devices.
[0025] In one embodiment, IoT-based technology coupled with supply chain and blockchain, transfers the summary of conditions to a distributed ledger that can be easily accessed by all stakeholders, enables real-time insight into cargo conditions. Since preserving a product requires a cold chain with increasing levels of integration among its parts. blockchain, too. At the end of the journey, the customer may learn about the health of the products from dispatch to delivery, including the history of the temperatures at which they were held, the whole chain of custody, storage conditions, and much more.
[0026] Blockchain enables peer-to-peer communication, therefore a huge infrastructure is not necessary. Furthermore, the system won't come to an end if one of the nodes crashes. Even though each participant may have its own apps, there will only be one distributed ledger or data store. Trust is ensured by a number of crucial qualities:
[0027] IoT is used to gather information about the characteristics of cold chain packaged goods, including temperature, location, and storage conditions. Blockchain moves a distributed ledger using cryptographic techniques. Each and every one of a single data repository may be accessed via a blockchain network. A new transaction must get unanimous approval from all participants before it can be added to the shared ledger of the blockchain. Transactions that are recorded in the ledger but cannot be altered or changed.
[0028] Since the blockchain-based tokenization of assets enables product traceability along the supply chain, it may be used to quickly spot the point at which product has been tampered with so that tainted food is removed before it reaches the shelves of retail establishments. This reduces the need for expensive batch recalls and decreases the number of illnesses and fatalities brought on by tainted food.
[0029] The multi-actor, complicated food supply chain is prone to mistakes, which are frequently brought on by nefarious motives. Blockchain, a decentralized platform, can put a stop to these practices by monitoring and documenting any action taken by individual players in bad faith. Since data or transactions are unchangeable once they are posted to a blockchain, action that is both urgent and vital can be taken.
[0030] In one embodiment, blockchain can be used to address Food Industry Pain Points In The Food Supply Chain. Customers can be guaranteed that the food they are consuming is safe because Blockchain gives supply chain transparency. This occurs as a result of blockchain's capacity to provide customers with information about a product's path from farm to fork. Customers, for instance, may see a food item's whole history simply scanning the smartcode printed on the box.
[0031] Cost reductions rise because Blockchain eliminates the need for intermediaries. Additionally, smart contracts over Blockchain provide automatic functionality that makes ready availability of certified data conceivable.
[0032] Due to the high level of regulation in the pharmaceutical sector, blockchain technology aids in compliance by providing serialisation authentication and tracking capabilities. Blockchain guarantees continuous supply of essential pharmaceuticals to ensure that patients receive adequate and timely treatment in addition to preventing drug counterfeiting and tampering.
[0033] Blockchain offers a productive solution to close the gaps left by antiquated inventory management systems. This technology can assist companies in effectively managing and controlling their inventory by predicting supply shortages and enhancing data accuracy and dissemination.
[0034] Supply chain operations might be streamlined using Blockchain's smart contract capability, preserving the integrity of the supply chain in the process. Consequently, Smart contracts by removing middlemen from payment and other transactions, it can save costs while reducing fraud by defining terms and conditions of an agreement.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 2 now, a flowchart of a method 200 for managing supply chain information is disclosed. At step 202, the method comprises obtaining supply chain information, wherein the supply chain information can include information about flow of a product or services from source to destination along with their transactional value. At step 204, the method comprises uploading the supply chain information into the blockchain. At step 206, the method comprises tracking flow of product from one block to another in the blockchain network.
[0036] The various actions, acts, blocks, steps, or the like in the flow diagram may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some of the actions, acts, blocks, steps, or the like may be omitted, added, modified, skipped, or the like without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0037] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
, C , C , C , Claims:I/We Claim:
1. An environment (100) for managing supply chain information, the environment comprising:
a plurality of computing devices (102);
a plurality of users (104) operating the plurality of computing devices;
a blockchain network (106);
a communication network (108) configured to enable communication between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein:
the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the supply chain information into the blockchain network,
the supply chain information includes flow of products or services,
the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks,
each of the blocks store supply chain information, and
the flow of products or services is tracked from one block to another.

2. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cryptographically unique identifier is assigned to each product or service to track the product or services in the blockchain (110).

3. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of users represent a node in the environment (100).

4. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supply chain information includes path of the product or services.

5. The environment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blockchain (110) is further coupled with IoT-based technology and supply chain to transfer the summary of conditions to a distributed ledger that can be easily accessed by all stakeholders for enabling real-time insight into supply chain.

6. A method for managing supply chain information, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of computing devices;
providing a plurality of users operating the plurality of computing devices;
providing a blockchain network;
enabling communication, by a communication network, between the plurality of computing devices and the blockchain network, wherein:
the plurality of computing devices is configured to upload the supply chain information into the blockchain network,
the supply chain information includes flow of products or services,
the blockchain network includes a plurality of blocks,
each of the blocks store supply chain information, and
the flow of products or services is tracked from one block to another.

7. The environment as claimed in claim 6, wherein a cryptographically unique identifier is assigned to each product or service to track the product or services in the blockchain (110).

8. The environment as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of users represent a node in the environment (100).

9. The environment as claimed in claim 6, wherein the supply chain information includes path of the product or services.

10. The environment as claimed in claim 6, further comprising coupling the blockchain with IoT-based technology and supply chain to transfer the summary of conditions to a distributed ledger that can be easily accessed by all stakeholders for enabling real-time insight into supply chain