Blockchain

Microsoft, Impinj, Bertelsmann and Arvato Systems partner to create a maximal transparency through blockchain

As introduced in our May Newsletter Bertelsmann and Arvato Systems started to closely work together to ensure the continuous gain of experience around the trend topic blockchain. Part of that initiative is to design new showcases to determine how blockchain can disrupt and improve core businesses. After a summer full of development and accomplishments, we are happy to announce that the Bertelsmann and Arvato Systems blockchain team has partnered with the a German Retail corporation to create a new proof of concept (POC).

The joint POC between a German retail corporation, Microsoft, Impinj as well as Bertelsmann and Arvato Systems enables the end user to track and gather more information about the food we buy in grocery stores by receiving insights into the entire supply chain including various touchpoints all the way from generation to end customer. For example, this new blockchain solution can show you where and when the fish you want to buy was caught or if the tomatoes in your shopping cart are grown as organic and non-GMO (not genetically modified) as labeled. In addition, you as an end consumer, would not only know the origin of the product, but would also receive product quality updates such as recall information. However, not just customer benefits from this POC, but also all the companies involved. The goal of this joint POC is to create maximum transparency and security for the end customer as well as advantages from a business perspective, such as reducing transaction costs or optimizing process flows. 

How does it work? The POC in practice:

• The product packaging is equipped with Impinj RAIN RFID tags or QR codes during the production process.
• Impinj RAIN RFID Readers are used to read and track the verification characteristics of each product individually at every milestone along the supply chain. Hence, the data contained in each RFID tag or QR Code is trackable from the production to the end customer.
• At each touch point, the respective data is captured and communicated to the blockchain.

The unique feature in this POC is that the overlapping blockchain ledger can be operated in different cloud environments based on the preference of different partners along the supply chain. Each partner would have its own blockchain-node in their usual cloud environment, which is connected to the blockchain-nodes of the other partner. This multi-cloud approach enables organizations to join the network quickly with their existing IT stack without becoming technologically dependent.