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Abstract
The CHIP (CHain Integration Project) Initiative at the Auburn University RFID Lab recently concluded its Proof-of-Concept phase, which sought to prove the viability of a blockchain solution for serialized data exchange. Nike, PVH Corp., HermanKay, Kohl’s, and Macy’s participated in the first phase of the project by contributing item-level data streams from various supply chain nodes from January to December 2019. The project was able to successfully integrate serialized data streams from source to store, connecting the dots between isolated touch points and forging a history for each product that passed through the supply chain.
The solution was constructed on a Hyperledger Fabric foundation and additional details regarding the business case, solution architecture, and next steps are available in the official CHIP Whitepaper.
Summary
It has been over 15 years since serialized data was introduced to the retail supply chain in the form of RFID Tags, QR Codes, and other data carriers. However, there has yet to be an effective, industry-wide solution for exchanging serialized data between business partners. Traditional EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) networks allow higher-level business documentation to change hands, but these networks operate on outdated models and antiquated internet technologies, rendering them unfit for the massive volumes of serialized data being created throughout the supply chain today. End users and solution providers have been unsuccessful in establishing managed server solutions for serialized data exchange, primarily because of the imbalance of control created by their centralized solutions or the lack of scalability across the industry.
Meanwhile, the presence of serialized data in the supply chain has grown rapidly as more brands adopt source tagging techniques and more stakeholders throughout the supply chain install infrastructure to collect information on products flowing through their facilities. However, the item-level visibility supplied by these systems is constrained by the industry-wide ineptitude for sharing serialized data. As a solution to this problem, the first phase of the Chain Integration Project (CHIP) sought to establish a blockchain network that was capable of sharing item-level data between supply chain stakeholders in the retail industry. This research builds upon Auburn University’s previous studies into blockchain.
CHIP required 3 steps. 1, Identify Serialized Systems & Stakeholders, which involved finding pairs of companies to put together to test the concept. For example, PVH and Kohl’s worked together with the data supported with Mojix. PVH and Kohl’s identified and contributed serialized data from their distribution centers and would send the data to Mojix. 2, Standardize Data Streams, which involved translating the data from each company into a standardized form to be stored in the blockchain. The last step is to Integrate Data Streams into the Blockchain using that translation layer.
The proof-of-concept was designed to ingest serialized data from multiple touch points throughout the supply chain, including encoding, distribution, and store data, with the end goal of determining the feasibility of a Hyperledger Fabric-based data exchange mechanism. Three brands, Nike, PVH Corp., and Herman Kay, as well as two retailers, Kohl’s and Macy’s, contributed live data to the project.
