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Blockchain and the international supply chain: successful Australian trial concluded

One of the largest and most comprehensive trials of blockchain technology for global supply chains has just successfully ended with a new Australian-developed blockchain security architecture, TBSx3 potentially raising global supply chain security to a military grade as a standard feature.
The TBSx3 system uses a military-grade 44 alphanumeric character security cryptography, compared to the six digit public cryptography which up to now has been commonly used.
The TBSx3 architecture provides an unprecedented three levels of supply chain security: 1) sophisticated proprietary systems developed by major port and shipping operators; 2) the new TBSx3 security envelope into which the proprietary systems can be integrated, and 3) the unique and dynamic distributed blockchain ledger that is transparent at any time to all partners in the chain and continuously provides live information, particularly during the many custodial changeovers before the product is finally delivered to the consumer.
The new TBSx3 benchmark was successfully used on an 8,100 kilometre global road and sea supply chain stretching from the wine-growing Coonawarra region of rural South Australia to the port of Qingdao in north-eastern China, which ended this week.
Partners included: DP World Australia, DB Schenker, Hamburg Sud, and Australian wine producer IUS, which exports seven product lines into the rapidly growing Chinese wine market.
KPMG advised TBSx3 on the trial and verified the custodial handovers for the integrity of the product on the 8,100 kilometre land and sea journey. Furthermore, KPMG simulated the customer at the end of the trial by receiving, validating the product and checking if the system could potentially detect duplicates.
The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, (The Hon.) Arthur Sinodinos, commenting on the trial said that “Blockchain is an exciting technology with great potential for Australian businesses and SME’s. It promises to reduce costs, create new market opportunities and transform industries.
“Importantly, the technology provides a new opportunity for Australian exporters and their customers to verify the authenticity of their products, protecting the reputations and brands of both Australia and Australian business
The successful completion of the 8,100 kilometre supply chain trial between Australia and China is the first of a planned series with multiple partners that “simultaneously test the robustness of TBSx3 blockchain technology for every custodial link in global supply chains, and also verification protocols for both bulk product and individual items for retailers and consumers at the end of the chain,” according to TBSx3’s chairman Anthony Bertini .
“In terms of the numbers of partners simultaneously involved and the challenges posed for resolution of integration with multiple existing proprietary security systems we believe this can be developed to become a new security benchmark.
“A TBSx3 research team based in Sydney managed the multiple custodial changes with multiple partners in the 8,100 kilometre journey: simultaneously a TBSx3 directed research team in both Sydney and Beijing developed consumer protocols to verify genuine product at the end of the chain in supermarkets and AR (Augmented Reality) retail centres,” Mr Bertini said.

 

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