Have you ever though why the cargo that was supposed to come to you gets delayed, tempered with damaged or in worst case scenario even gets lost?
There is no simple answer to this as neither is the process of sending and receiving cargo.
Every time a cargo is sent out from a factory to the end customer or point of consumption it passes through a plethora of channels such as rail, air, truck, road, sea etc.
It is like a complex labyrinth. Like all labyrinths finding your way around is not easy.
The Problem
The logistics industry has existed over ages and little has changed over time. It is slow to embrace change. It has a very complex network ranging from collecting agents, brokers, carriers, delivery men etc.
Its business practices leave a lot to be desired when it comes to transparency and tracking of cargo.
Even the pricing model is not the best.Numerous brokers and individual are involved.
More the number of hands a freight passes through more is the cost of transporting and handling and it adds to the possibilities of delays and losses.
It is impossible to collate the flow of information as it passes through various channels and it makes it difficult to pinpoint the location of a particular cargo from the end recipients end who also happens to be the one paying for the freight services and needs to know status of his consignment in real time.
Is there a way out of this labyrinth?
Luckily the team at ShipCoin has thought of all these drawbacks and have come up with a new business model.
The solution presents itself in the form of a web interface a digital market place where freight service providers meet up buyers that need freight services.
With the help of the Ethereum Blockchain the ShipChain platform implements the Track and Trace solution.
The sidechain stores consignment specific information and upon delivery the record is archived in the blockchain.
The idea of this business model is to cater to the growing logistics industry
That too without having to bother about the technical details of the platform. They can simply access the platform from their desktop or mobile and start managing cargo in real time.
It would change the way freight is moved around the world.
The Shipcoin platform offers a complete end to end transparency and tracking of movement of cargo at every step of the journey between the sender and the recipient.
It does away with brokers and middle men thus reducing costs.
It gives operators rewards for use of efficient transportation routes and
reduces the incidence of theft as all parts of the journey is documented and tracked in real time.
Use Case
Derick sell custom stitched shirts and suits online . He procures the fabric from Bangladesh, China and India and his workforce is spread across Bangladesh, Malaysia and Philippines . Fabrics need to be shipped to these workmen and the final products to his warehouses in Russia & UK for being sent out to the end buyer depending upon the buyers location.
A delay in transportation means throwing a spanner in the wheel of business. Things slows down and a delay in any step gets magnified into much greater delays. As a result workers may sit idle and wait for the materials to arrive. These delays mean loss of paid work hours and this eats into profits and also causes losses.
So what are the options to iron out these logistic snarls?
He could use ShipCoin platform to manage all his shipments. In case he observes a slow down in the package movement because of holidays in India. He can shift supplies from one of his warehouses.
Constant monitoring would also help reduce possible thefts that are currently rampant in the cargo business.
The platform would provide a level field for the small and new players to compete with big players and build a business based on better performance and reduced costs as they can offer a more competitive pricing to customers. Derick can pick a more competitive provider.
Would the Industry embrace this change?
Yes it is known that the cargo industry is slow to accept changes but to use ShipCoin.io thay need not make any drastic changes as ShipChain platform encompasses all methods of freight and would include an open API architecture that can integrate with the existing freight management software.
The platform would use the EC20 SHIP tokens for which an ICO would happen in January 2018
More information is available here
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