The Blockchain Solution to the Counterfeit Drug Problem

Takeaway: Blockchain’s public ledger could be the solution to the problem of counterfeit drugs by tracking all drugs throughout the complete supply chain from raw materials to patients.

In addition to posing a health risk to patients harmed by placebos or even harmful ingredients in the fake drugs, counterfeits add up to a major loss for the pharmaceutical industry to the tune of hundreds of billions a year. Aside from concerns about harm and loss, new legal requirements that demand traceability for drugs are kicking in.

Counterfeit drugs have been identified as a persistent global problem since 1985. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 10 percent of drugs found in low to middle income countries are counterfeit. That translates into the deaths of tens of thousands of people with diseases who took medication without the necessary active ingredient to treat their conditions.

Given that what is at stake is not just billions of dollars for the pharma industry, but the lives and health of millions of people who have been prescribed medication, all the involved parties should come together to solve the problem of counterfeit drugs. If the difficulties in accountability and identification for drug production could be remedied by blockchain, it should be universally implemented.

Read more in  Countering Counterfeit Drugs with Blockchain

Gold Standard Tracking with Blockchain

Conflict minerals making their way into the electronic supply chain presents a challenge to companies

that want to act both legally and ethically. Tracing such minerals to their source is not straightforward or simple. Blockchain technology can solve that problem.

The Responsible Gold supply chain  is designed to track “responsibly sourced gold from mine, to refinery, to vault.” It’s put out by Emergent Technology, and has first been applied to gold mined by Yamana.

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Blockchain & the Gold Standard for a Conflict-Free Supply Chain

Promoting sustainability built on data

 

 

 

The Rainforest Alliance deployed software that enabled it to advance data movement throughout its various applications, supply chain systems and data warehouse.

This year, the Rainforest Alliance celebrates 30 years of upholding standards for conservation and labor achieved through partnerships with farmers, wood harvesters and the businesses that incorporate those harvests into their products. With a presence in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, the alliance has an impact on the sustainable practices of more than 1.3 million farms in 78 nations.

The green frog logo that appears on the Rainforest Alliance's certified seal on a wide array of products lets consumers know which businesses are committing to these standards for their supply chains.

Read more in Integrating Data to Support a Sustainable Future

Increasing IoT Investment for Supply Chain

At the beginning of 2017, IDC published its forecast for worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT). It came up with the figure of $737 billion for spending on IoT in 2016 to cover organizational investments “in the hardware, software, services, and connectivity” it requires. That amount would continue to grow based at “a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% over the 2015-2020 forecast period, reaching $1.29 trillion in 2020,” the firm projected.

A huge chunk of that is to come from industry. In fact, IDC’s estimates allocate the lion’s share of IoT investments in 2016 to that sector and found that it involved several large investment amounts. For the 2016, investment in IoT for manufacturing operations would have amounted to $102.5 billion. It also involved a chunk of investment in logistics, specifically freight monitoring  to the tune of $55.9 billion.

The motivation for such hefty investment at this time, according to IoT World’s report Manufacturing IoT & Supply Chain Transformation in 2017 (registration required) “is simple: a compelling ROI through increased efficiency, productivity, reliability and safety.”

Indeed, that fits “the formula for the Industrial Internet” that GE set forth in its 2015 Industrial Internet Report. It described the IoT for industry “as a source of both operational efficiency and innovation that is the outcome of a compelling recipe of technology developments,” which are composed of the following parts.

• Data: both from the standard forms of Big Data and the additional streams coming through the sensors that track “equipment, products, factories, supply chains.”
• Analytics that can assess the status of the connected things.
• The definitive core of the business that defines the desired outcomes

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Investment in Supply Chain IoT Grows

Google Glass Comeback

Success is not just a matter of timing but if also finding the right context. That’s the story behind Google Glass reception. Its first foray ended in failure, but it has found a new context in which it could thrive.

I remember when Google Glass was launched in 2013 as the ultimate wearable with a sticker price of $1,500. I recall reading one review that conceded that it had some problems but still thought that it was to be embraced as “the future” of tech. Just about every other reviewer rejected them, among them one who went on to list the reasons why people hate it. 

As it turns out, both sides were right. People did have major issues with Google Glass as a personal device. However, the hands-free convenience combined with smartphone capability proved very valuable in an industrial setting.

That’s why Alphabet X stopped trying to sell Google Glass directly as a consumer item and it up into the Enterprise Edition of the wearable.  Its current tagline is: “Glass is a hands-free device, for hands-on workers.” The product is no longer sold by Google directly but through partners who have customized the device for industrial purposes.

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Raise Your (Google) Glass to the Enterprise Edition

The problem of visibility in today's complex supply chains

Supply chains today are integral to building a competitive advantage. As they grow in complexity, those who manage them acknowledge that they do not have as full visibility as they should. Technological solutions can point the way to more visible, better managed, and more efficient supply chains that deliver better value for companies and their customers.

While there is wide variation in the supply chains of various businesses, there are still some identifiable trends. The 2017 GEODIS Supply Chain Worldwide survey (PDF) delves into some of them. The report draws on the responses of 623 professionals in 17 countries from various functions related to the supply chain, including finance, operations, marketing, strategy, IT, and management.

The majority (67%) of people surveyed in a position of supply chain leadership rank as C-Level or top management. This does appear to play some role in successfully strategies because businesses in which that position is help by “a middle manager seem less profitable.”

The top concerns for those who responded to the survey were, not surprisingly, “containment of their costs (32%).” That fits with their awareness of dealing with “global competition (28%).”  However, more than half (57%) reported that they see “Supply Chain as a competitive advantage, enabling the development of the company and not” merely an area in which to reduce expenses.   

Read more in 

Today’s Complex Supply Chains Demand Visibility Solutions

Renewables take to the waves

For major electronics OEMs, transitioning to renewable energy entails not only using it in their own factories but calling on those that supply components to do the same. Apple has done just that. As a result, many of its suppliers are turning to solar and wind power, and some are even reaching out to sea to get it. 

As Bloomberg recently reported, for its own operations, Apple can boast of using tapping into renewables for 96% of its own energy use. That includes not only the corporate offices Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president in charge of sustainability and government affairs, says, but also “our data centers, our stores, even our distribution centers.” However, as she told Bloomberg Television, the company is resolved to do even better by “moving onto our supply chain.” 

As Apple posted in March, together with its suppliers, the company anticipates that by the end of next year, it “will be generating over 2.5 billion kilowatt hours per year of clean energy.” To put that in perspective, that is tantamount “to taking over 400,000 cars off the road for a year,”  the company said.

Apple’s goal of reaching 100% renewable energy for its production entails getting its suppliers to commit making the necessary changes for their energy sources. Apple now has seven supplier companies committed to renewable energy. Among them is Ibiden. It has the distinction of being the first company in Japan to commit to use only renewable energy in producing components for Apple.

Ibiden is set for renewable energy production that is anticipated to “produce over 12 MW of solar power — more than the energy they need for Apple manufacturing — and support Japan’s nationwide efforts to limit its carbon emissions.” In addition to standard facilities, Ibiden’s energy will come from “one of the largest floating solar photovoltaic systems in the country.” By floating the solar panels, energy can be harvested from the sun without taking up limited land space in Japan.

This trend of moving out to the water to harness renewable energy is also being applied to wind power.

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Innovation in Renewable Energy Greens Supply Chain

Supply Chain Recycling Needs More Transparency

With an appreciation of the dangers inherent in unmonitored recycling, HP is committing to greater transparency in the recycling supply chain and calls on other companies to do the same.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. That’s the mantra of sustainability, and some of us commit to it by bringing in our waste for recycling. Unfortunately, what gets dropped off in those receptacles doesn’t always end up being dismantled and reassembled the way we imagined.

Some companies involved are not strictly playing by the rules of recycling in an environmentally responsible way. That’s the finding of the environmental health and justice organization, Basel Action Network (BAN).

As part of its e-Trash Transparency Project, in September BAN published a report called “Scam Recycling: e-Dumping on Asia by US Recyclers.” The organization placed GPS trackers in 205 monitors and printers that contained components identified as “hazardous waste under international law.”

BAN partnered with MIT's Senseable City Labs to produce an online map to show the pathways of the 205 trackers. You can see their routes and how far they traveled here.

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HP Supply Chain Leads the Call for Recycling Transparency

Is Apple going American?

f there’s any lesson we should have learned from our presidential election, it’s that we should not jump to conclusions based on our own possibly faulty assumptions. So I’ll stick to facts and avoid speculation about the report that Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple, is considering a $7 billion factory in the United States.

Though the timing of this news indicates a deference to Trump’s push for manufacturing American products to take place on American soil, in reality, choice for factory sites are not made simply to agree with or defy a presidential preference. In fact, the reports of Foxconn’s exploration of American possibilities predates the present administration.

Back in December 2012, several reports like the one in PC Magazine quoted what Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, told Bloomberg Businessweek in a phone interview: "We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there."  

This was a month after the reports about the company’s looking into the possibilities of some American cities as a site for its factory. Of course, nothing has come to fruition, but it is very likely that the seed of possibility emerging at present was already planted over four years ago. This is something to remember when we see headlines that reference Trump.

Read more in 

Foxconn Factory Potentially U.S. Bound

IoT and the power of location data

Among the buzzwords of today, the popularity of IoT is definitely up there with all sorts of predictions about how many billions the market will grow to by 2020. When it comes to improving logistics, though, IoT is already making a measurable difference. That’s why the companies in the logistics arena are turning to software that capitalizes on the real-time capabilities of IoT.

Earlier this year, AT&T and Eye for Transport (EfT) published their 2016 research findings in a report called The Internet of Things (IoT) in Supply Chain and Logistics. Fifty-nine percent of its 600 respondents identified as logistics providers. Among all respondents, 41% said they already had an IoT solution in place and 23% were planning an IoT strategy.  The overwhelming majority, about four out of five, look for IoT solutions for location information.

Location information is of such concern because so much depends on knowing where the cargo in question is at a particular time. That frictionless stream of data allows for more accurate predictions about time of delivery and precludes the need for a person to have to manually check- in – either by calling the driver or having the driver call or text to let their managers know where they are. 

Read more in 

Tapping into the Power of IoT for Real Time Location Data

SHIELD counters counterfeits

 Like the weather, everyone talks about the problem of counterfeiting but few really do anything about it. That’s why the government is stepping in with its call for a solution backed by millions in investment.

The electronic supply chain is plagued by counterfeit parts, and even the US military is not immune. That’s why in February 2014 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched the SHIELD program. Unlike in the Marvel universe, the acronym does not stand for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division but for Supply Chain Hardware Integrity for Electronics Defense.

The program’s goal, according to the title of the announcement and call for proposals, is to find a “tiny, cheap, and foolproof” solution for authenticating electronic components. When they said cheap, they really meant it. Kerry Bernstein, DARPA’s program manager, was quoted as saying that the cost should be “less than a penny per unit” while functioning well enough to provide a thorough disincentive for counterfeiters. It was to be no less than “an on-demand authentication method never before available to the supply chain.”

Read more in 

Countering Counterfeits with SHIELD’s Dialet Solution

Ford Aims for a Sustainable Supply Chain

Though virtue is said to be its own reward, that doesn’t hold true for business. Ford is very much aware of its image and the effect that can have on customer behavior. In fact, in its press release about making the World’s Most Ethical Company list, it states very clearly:  “Consumers placing increasing importance on ethics in business; recent report shows majority of U.S. learned more about a company before doing business; more than one-third opted not to do business with companies with negative reputations.”

What Ford says its customers want corresponds to what Nielsen published in a report this past fall, “The Sustainability Imperative: New Insights On Consumer Expectations.” It notes that “brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability have grown more than 4% globally,” in contrast to those that cannot make the same claims whose growth rate was under 1%.

from 

Committing to Ethical Standards for the Supply Chain

Related post: http://www.baselinemag.com/news/using-data-for-good-is-good-for-business.html

Supply Chain Transparency to Combat Slavery: the UK's Plan

Most people would make a point of refusing to buy something known to be a product of slave labor. The problem is that sometimes consumers have no way of knowing that, particularly if the items includes a component made from by workers trafficked in and enslaved by the factory. The only way to effectively stop the sale of the products of such labor is to track all the parts used in the supply chain.

Now, the United Kingdom (UK) has set out its own guidelines, titled The Transparency in Supply Chains, etc: A Practical Guide, to help businesses to keep informed about labor sources. The guide help businesses be sure they in compliance of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015.  ...

Rather than government regulating what businesses should do, they rely on the free market forces to have a positive effect. The requirement to publicize what they do or do not do will motivate businesses to do whatever they can to reduce the market for slave labor. In the words of the guide, it would "create a race to the top by encouraging businesses to be transparent about what they are doing, thus increasing competition to drive up standards."

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UK Plans to Use Supply Chain Transparency to Combat Slavery

3D printing for more efficient factories

"We make your factory run better" is the tagline for the maintenance services offered byATS.  

One of the ways it accomplishes that mission is by providing necessary parts, which it can now do faster, better, and cheaper with 3D printing. I spoke with Mike Waltrip, general manager of Industrial Parts Services at ATS, about the benefits 3D printing brings to his business in particular and manufacturing in general. 

Read more in 

Making Factories Run Better with 3D Printing

Related posts: 

3D Printing Reshapes Automotive Supply Chain

Lean Thinking for Sustainable Supply Chains

Mapping the supply chain for greater sustainability

Like the Rome of old, a more transparent and sustainable supply chain is not built in a day. Building it takes planning, mapping, and fine-tuning. Data visualization enables organizations to bridge all three.

Awareness of the need for sustainability and transparency in the electronic supply chain is rising. And a number of companies have said they are committed to improving in those areas, whether in response to questions about components of their supply chain, like conflict minerals, or as a positive choice whendefining the company's mission.

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Mapping Out a Better Electronics Supply Chain

Wooden dolls and today's supply cahin

It sounds like an oxymoron: smart wooden dolls. However, that's exactly what manufacturer Avakai has created. Though it looks like a simple wooden doll in the shape Russian nesting dolls, it is Bluetooth enabled to offer interactive response. With their stress on connectivity, transparency, sustainability, and adaptability, this company reflects the values we're seeing in today's electronic supply chain.

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picture from http://41.media.tumblr.com/d49c1c89d70c241ecbd9f1a1d6df6b58/tumblr_inline_noacz2YMVN1t8bz9y_1280.jpgA

What Wooden Dolls Can Teach Us About Today’s Supply Chain

It's all about the delivery

http://aomc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/logistics.jpg

I planned to write on this topic before the Target incident. But once it happened, I felt its inclusion really highlights how getting shipping right is so essential for businesses today.

When was the last time you paid for shipping? Some would have to think a while for the answer because so many of us select the "free shipping" options available for online orders.  In truth, though, shipping services are never really free. Their cost can be quite significant, particularly for businesses that that operate in the supply chain.
Shipping is lifeblood of a supply chain business.....

We can see the difference in delivery services from retailers who optimize their shipping and those who don't in our own experience.  I ordered a few items on Target.com on May 28. The email confirmation gave a range for delivery for all the items of June 3 to 5. June 5 arrived, as did some of the items, but not all of them. The UPS tracking information provided still showed June 5 as the date of arrival, despite a notation of a delay on a truck, as confirmed by a Target representative on the phone.  The UPS man who delivered part of the order assured me that there was no way another shipment would come before Monday.

His prediction turned out to be correct, and that was the only insight I gained from UPS, which failed to give me a new arrival time despite my request for information via email.  (Note: Both Target and UPS claimed to want to help when I tweeted about it, but only Target offered some conciliation in the form of a $10 gift card.)

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Logistics Don’t Always Deliver Joy Thanks to UPS for inspiring the title with its own tagline

Robots are coming to warehouses

Today, we really do let our fingers do the shopping and click through to make our purchases that we want. Next day delivery has become standard for a host of consumer and business products. Keeping up with that expectation drives those in the business of logistics to press for greater efficiency in logistics. Robots can play a role in meeting that demand.

On April 29, Fetch Robotics unveiled new a robotic system made specifically for the logistics industry.  The system that consists of "Freight" and "Fetch" is based on ROS, the open source robot operating system. Freight refers to the mobile base, and Fetch to the mobile manipulator. In addition to working with each other, the robots are designed to work with people and with the warehouse software. 

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Robots Improve Logistics in the Electronics Supply Chain

Bringing Slavery in the Supply Chain to Light

hile human trafficking and slavery are criminal offenses, they still persist. In fact, our global economy tends to foster these crimes by keeping that labor component within the supply chain out of sight from the consumers of the final products. Now, lawmakers are betting that transparency, first on a state level, and, possibly, on a federal level, may help solve the problem.

On September 30, 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the California Senate Bill 657, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (S.B. 657). It requires businesses that operate in California to disclose what efforts they take to purge their supply chains of human trafficking and slavery. For the electronics industry, with its deep roots in the Silicon Valley, this is significant news, and it may be the seed of a bigger change.

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Transparency Combats Human Trafficking & Slavery in the Supply Chain

IoT to boost supply chain to the tune of $1.9 trillion

"We're all connected" served as the tagline for New York Telephone back in the last century.  That was way before people envision the level of connection made possible by the Internet of Things.  We've come a long way and will go much further, according to the forecast of a recent trend report from DHL and Cisco on the positive impact IoT will have for supply chains.
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IoT to Deliver $1.9 Trillion Boost to Supply Chain