VeChain: Blockchain's Supply Chain Management Powerhouse

Introduction to VeChain’s ToolChain System

ToolChain was built to offer a turnkey solution that seeks to limit costs and simplify product distribution for businesses across the globe. ToolChain is a Business-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform that provides a variety of services that can be used by many industries. The platform delivers and validates data on the blockchain, enabling businesses to streamline supply-chain and product-management processes. The ToolChain platform offers three distinct versions:

1. Standard version: ToolChain’s standard version was built specifically to help smaller businesses track their products and maintain the integrity of their supply chains.

2. Partner version: The partner version of ToolChain is a white-label, turnkey system that is typically used by large corporations (often consulting and IT service management firms). ToolChain’s partner version allows corporations to apply business-to-business-to-customer (B2B2C) practices and allows for the development of customizable solutions.

3. Developer version: ToolChain’s developer version was built so that software engineers could use different application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) to deploy their own customized applications on the VeChainThor blockchain.

ToolChain helps business owners implement online product-management platforms. Along with the VeChain Mobile Work App, ToolChain gives users the ability to manage their product stock and orders from manufacture to sale. The system allows enterprises to scan their goods and upload the data used to trace their products directly onto the VeChainThor blockchain. ToolChain comes with a VeChain ID purchasing module that consists of near-field communication (NFC) chips and radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips, along with a quick response code (QR code) printer for generating QR codes.

NFC chips are used to create digital labels for products, and they can act as a sensor on the product. They work in unison with a QR code scanner and RFID chips. QR codes, NFC chips, and RFID chips are attached to different products through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, which directly communicate with VeChain’s blockchain. This IoT-driven sensor mechanism cryptographically verifies product location data and gives the shipper transparency throughout transport.

By working in unison with the VeChainThor blockchain, ToolChain can be used to track and authenticate products such as clothing, food, wine, electronics, art, and luxury goods — reducing counterfeits in the process. Because there are so many use cases for this technology, we will focus mainly on VeChain’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) and logistics solutions in this article.

VeChain’s Consumer Confidence Index and Perishable Goods

In early 2018, VeChain formed a partnership with internationally accredited registrar and product assurance specialist DNV to use the VeChainThor blockchain for a range of verification purposes. One such purpose is the Consumer Confidence Index — designed for perishable or extremely delicate products such as food and wine.

The index analyzes a product’s logistics, production, sourcing, and consumption. This analysis gives consumers access to important product information such as moisture and toxicity levels, temperature, product weight, harvesting procedures, and product freshness. To ensure accurate CCI information, DNV follows a strict auditing process by working directly with producers during each step of the supply-chain process to verify that all data compiled is accurate.

Through the VeChain Mobile Work App, employees upload data to the VeChainThor blockchain. The data can be in the form of photographs, videos, or written data. By scanning the My Story™ QR code on the product with a smartphone via the VeChain Pro App, product data can be verified in-store by the end customer. Using a mathematical model, the information uploaded to the VeChainThor blockchain is used to calculate the Consumer Confidence Index.

VeChain’s Blockchain Logistics

The logistics industry faces numerous challenges — including poor data collection, falsified data, and data isolation. Frequently, data is of low quality or quantity (or even completely wrong), and often cannot be accessed properly by all parties involved. VeChain’s proprietary ToolChain platform, IoT technology, the VeChainThor blockchain, and the VeChain ID purchasing module (including QR codes, NFC chips, and RFID chips) work together to mitigate many of these data issues.

Enterprises that transport goods (via trains, ships, delivery trucks, and more) also run into related complexities. For example, large ports around the world employ highly complex systems to ensure that goods are delivered to the correct place at the right time. Similar to the way the Consumer Confidence Index solution works, IoT-based QR codes, NFC chips, and RFID chips (each with their own VeChain ID) can be attached to products that have been registered on the VeChain blockchain via the online ToolChain product-management system. This process facilitates product tracking and authentication through cryptographic verification, as well as a timestamping process to ensure immutability.

DNV works with their clients to set data standards and provide third-party verification services that identify and address problems before they occur, thus making the entire system run more efficiently. When large enterprises are better able to track complex data, it allows them to streamline their business models. This improves delivery times, product traceability, warehouse management, and product quality — while mitigating potential theft and loss. Such improvements can ultimately translate to more profits and a better customer experience.