Around a year ago Walmart China, PwC China dn VeChain jointly announced they were setting up the Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform. This Platform would allow Walmart China to make use of blockchain technology to trace its products. Consumers would be able to scan the products on the shelf and have access to detailed information on the product, for example, its source, product inspection reports, and logistics process. Their expectation was that by the end of 2020, 50% of sales of fresh meat, 40% of sales of packaged vegetables, and 12.5% of sales of seafood would be traceable.
Almost a year later, VeChain announced on 2nd June 2020 that Walmart China is committing Sam’s Club China, another of its businesses towards collaboration with VeChain.
What is Sam’s Club China?
Owned by Walmart China, Sam’s Club China is branded as a members-only premium supermarket. Currently, Sam’s club has a total of 23 clubs in China. There are plans to expand to have a further 40 to 45 clubs either operational or under construction in China by the end of 2022.
Its clubs are generally large scale supermarkets averaging around 20,000 square meters and offering groceries in bulk and other goods such as household appliances, home goods, etc. Sam’s Club maintains its premium branding by providing either the best quality product in a particular category or the best-selling brand at its clubs. Sam’s Club also offers its own premium store-brand products called Member’s Mark.
Launch of Sam’s Club Blockchain Traceability Platform with VeChain
The launch of the Sam’s Club Blockchain Traceability Platform coincides with Sam’s Club’s “Taste of Sam’s” campaign. This campaign aims at letting customers experience luxury through recipes featuring premium quality foods and products which can be purchased from Sam’s Club.
The products featured in the campaign include Member’s Mark products which make use of VeChain’s ToolChain technology. Combined with cold-chain IoT and other traditional software and hardware sensors, stakeholders in the supply chain will be able to upload data onto the VeChainThor public blockchain. This data would be contained in a secured QR code which would be tagged onto each product. (https://punandjokes.com/) Hence those involved in the supply chain and even the average consumer would be able to scan the QR code using their smartphones to access information on the product such as its packaging information, its origins, storage requirements, etc. And since this data was stored on the VeChainThor public blockchain, it cannot be tampered with.
As an example, in the short rib recipe above, customers can pick up a pack of the short-ribs featured in the recipe from Sam’s Club and scan the embedded QR code for more information. The below picture shows the kind of information customers can expect to see. Such as how the product was shipped from its place of origin, the name and location of the manufacturer, best-before times and certification processes.
Currently there are over 20 product lines, including Member’s Mark products which make use of VeChain’s traceability platform. It is expected that more products will be included in the future.
Bayer China announced its partnership with VeChain during an interview with VCBeat on 28th May 2020- a Chinese news publication focusing on health developments in China. For an in-depth guide to what is Vechain and it’s core features, check out our Vechain Coin Guide
About Bayer China
Bayer has links in China since as early as 1882, focusing on the core competencies in the areas of healthcare, nutrition and agriculture. Their aim is to improve quality of life through research and development on preventing, alleviating and treating diseases, as well as ensuring that consumers get healthy, safe and sustainable food. In 2019, Bayer has over 9,000 employees in the Greater China region and sales have well exceeded 3.7 billion Euros.
VeChain becomes “Partner-for-Life” with Bayer China
VeChain beat out dozens of competitors and won the Bayer China G4A Partnerships Program in 2019. This Program was created by Bayer to give qualified companies funding, mentorship and networking opportunities to its winners. Most importantly, to become a “partner for life” with Bayer so that the company will become a direct partner and be used with Bayer’s products and services.
For the purposes of the Program in 2019, Bayer required competitors to solve the issue of Digitised Clinical Trial Traceability. Competitors were required to work directly with Bayer and develop a feasible solution for the issue which would eventually be ready for deployment in line with Bayer’s own milestones and planning. At the end of the competition, VeChain was the only company that was able to satisfy Bayer’s requirements with its solution- CSecure.
Importance of Digitialised Clinical Trial Traceability
With still so many unknowns in the medical field and novel yet incurable diseases emerging such as SARS-CoV-2, medical researchers are constantly racing against the clock for the sake of saving lives. Thus it is important to ensure that drug clinical trials are conducted efficiently and when lives are involved, without room for any error. In particular, the data that is collected forms the heart of this process, and is a critical part of the research, development and adoption process for any new medical intervention- including drugs and other forms of treatments. Any issues with this data, such as tampering or errors would hence be very detrimental to the trial process, potentially even ruining it and worse, affecting human lives.
Hence a solution is needed to ensure that the data collected during the various stages of the trial process is transparent, secure and credible.
What is VeChain’s CSecure platform?
CSecure was created by VeChain as a solution to Bayer’s issue of needing digitised clinical trial traceability. The CSecure platform makes use of VeChain’s existing product ToolChain– a kit containing all the necessary hardware, software and service protocols to onboard a business onto the VeChainThor blockchain.
With CSecure, data obtained from the various stages of clinical trials for drugs are uploaded on the VeChain Thor Blockchain. So that other stakeholders in the process such as researchers, suppliers, distributors, partners and end users can have access to this data. As the data is recorded on the blockchain, the stakeholders accessing the CSecure platform are assured that the data and transactions recorded are traceable, transparent and auditable. (bricks4kidz.com)
Specifically, each medical product is binded with a QR code with a unique VID (VeChain ID) and recorded on the VeChainThor Blockchain. During the trial process, information that is added to the blockchain is time-stamped, user-identified and cannot be changed. So if there is a discrepancy between the product’s digital profile and real-life attributes, the party responsible can be identified and the situation remedied.
VeChain ToolChain could bring blockchain technology to the masses. Toolchain allows anyone to use the power of blockchain without complicated programming or engineering. We always hear a lot about blockchain projects including VeChain partnering with big names. Examples being DNVGL, BMW, PwC and others (Click here to find out more about Vechain and its partnerships).
According to statistics from the United Nations, over 90% of firms worldwide are Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
VeChain’s ToolChain seems to recognise their importance and is bringing its blockchain technology to them.
What is VeChain?
VeChain is a blockchain platform which supports the creation of smart-contracts. These are self executing contacts that have a guaranteed outcome without third party trust. This allows for the creation of decentralized applications which is intended to solve enterprise problems such as anti-counterfeiting and cold-chain logistics. To learn more, check out our article VeChain Explained or our VeChain in a Nutshell video below.
ToolChain is VeChain’s latest product. It was announced at the VeChain Summit 2019 (Click here for a recap).
ToolChain hardware kit displayed at VeChain Summit 2019
ToolChain is a kit containing all the necessary hardware, software and service protocols to onboard a business onto the VeChainThor blockchain.
There are 3 Versions of the ToolChain kit: Standard, Developer and Channel Partner. This is so that businesses with any levels of technical capability can use VeChain’s technology.
Standard Version
The Standard Version provides standarized application modules, tools and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It was designed for MSMEs without the capability to develop their own blockchain-based lifecycle management solution. Businesses can be onboarded onto the VeChainThor blockchain within 30 minutes.
Developer Version
The Developer Version is designed for enterprise customers with stronger technical capabilities. It will allow enterprises to develop various applications based on the VeChainThor blockchain tailored to their needs.
Channel Partner Version
Channel Partners will be able to have independent deployment and multi-dimensional customisation of ToolChain.
VeChain ToolChain at a glance
The ToolChain hardware kit contains:
QR code printer and application software to print QR codes.
NFC writer and software to create digital labels on NFC tags.
IoT devices, RFID chips and sensor devices
Handheld terminal devices which will enable ToolChain apps to bond and activate NFC chips, and transfer the data on them.
In terms of software:
ToolChain Admin Center: this app is a command centre. One of its features is that business owners can use this software to configure NFC and/or RFID chips. The Company can ship these NFC and/or RFID chips directly to businesses.
VeChain Work App: this app allows business owners or third party manufacturers to “bind” the physical product to the NFC/RFID chip. To learn more about this app, check out Bsc44’s article here.
VeChain Pro app: this app is already available to download. It will be pre-loaded onto the NFC scanner. It allows anyone to view the entire story of the product including proof of authenticity and origin.
Description of the ToolChain kit components
Examples of VeChain ToolChain in use
One of ToolChain’s notable users is SBTG Surplus & Co., a custom sneaker artist. SBTG uses NFC chips embedded into its limited edition sneakers. Customers can verify the sneakers’ authenticity, origin and other information by scanning them with the VeChain Pro app.
Best use of blockchain is real life use 🤩 – with @vechainofficial's help, these sneakers are impossible to counterfeit. An NFC tag is sewn into the shoe with a private key that's recorded on Vechain's Blockchain. $VET Now if only they have it in my size….😱😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/NgFuZrsq5c
SBTG have recently partnered with Adidas and HBO Asia to produce limited edition Game of Thrones sneakers. These sneakers are powered with VeChain Technology.
SBTG x Game of Thrones sneakers with VeChain RFID chips
Problems with authenticity and quality assurance
MSMEs generally lack technical or financial resources. Hence they have difficulty in ensuring their products’ authenticity and quality. They are also vulnerable towards counterfeiters and bad actors in the supply chain. This in turn could seriously damage their reputation.
Even for products from larger corporations, product authenticity and quality assurance is not transparent. We as consumers do not have easy access to information on the supply chain of our products.
Consumers still rely on outdated authentication methods. This is true even for expensive luxury items. As an example, for luxury watches we would compare an items’ appearance or check its serial number. Meanwhile there are official databases of serial numbers. The numbers are only etched onto the watch and counterfeiters can easily copy this.
Thus, authenticating a luxury watch requires significant expertise and experience. Whilst counterfeiters are always trying to make their watches look more authentic.
Can VeChain ToolChain bring mass adoption through MSMEs?
ToolChain can be a simple and cost effective supply chain management solution for MSMEs. ToolChain could finally give MSMEs the same ability as large corporations to ensure product quality.
As mentioned above, most of the world’s businesses are MSMEs. ToolChain could finally bring blockchain to a substantial but overlooked group
Moreover, customers will be able to scan the NFC/RFID chip embedded into the product and see information pertaining to their exact item.
If you want to learn more about VeChain, check out our guide, VeChain explained.
Want to find out more interesting happenings at the VeChain Summit? Check out these videos below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRBuQ96ikPc
Check out our livestream with VeChain’s with Sunny Lu (CEO) and Kevin (COO), and Patrick from Plair
And don’t forget to check out our post VeChain Summit recap video!
Mass adoption is starting through…milk?
On 18th May 2019, VeChain announced that its enterprise partner, Bright Food (Group) Co., Ltd (“Bright Food”) has put its “Cupids Farm” milk on their BrightCode Commodity Confidence Index Platform (“BrightCode Platform”).
Cupids Farm milk
The BrightCode Platform is a blockchain-based commercial ecosystem built upon the Partner Version of VeChain ToolChain. To learn more about the Platform, check out Oliver’s article here.
Bright Food was founded in 2006 and mainly produces milk products, sugar, wine, snacks and canned goods. Bright Food’s products can be found in over 4000 online shops in China. The Company was listed as one of the ten Chinese companies to watch in the international arena by Forbes Magazine in 2015.
When customers can scan the QR code on bottles of “Cupids Farm” milk, they will be directed to the BrightCode Platform. There, key information on the bottle of milk’s lifecycle will be available. For example information on where it was produced, videos of the diary farm, production techniques etc.
VeChain’s other partner, DNVGL will be responsible for verifying the source data and tamper proof technology. So customers can be assured that the information presented is authentic.
Information shown to customers when they scan the QR code
FREE trial now available!
You can now register for a FREE ToolChain trial account by signing up with them! Link Here!
