Shipping is Essential
Shipping is one of the single most important elements of our globalised world economy. Everything we consume needs transporting from manufacturers to consumers. Without freight shipping, civilisation may not have spread across the globe in the first place. The transport of cargo has historically been key to the dissemination of new ideas, products and novel ways of doing things and it has always been fraught with difficulties. Nature, the weather and the ferocity of the oceans, not to mention bandits, pirates and spoiled shipments of broken items, rotten and often delayed goods. It is a very complicated and interdependent supply chain.
A Chain is only as strong as it's weakest link
BlockChain, is the perfect technology to bring order to this logistics chaos. It will streamline efficiency, create a reputation based model and weed out the thieves, the lazy and the incompetent along the way. Sounds like a win3 solution. (everyone's a winner). Small hiccups and errors can create hugely compounded problems within complex logistics planning and Shipchain aims to introduce factors of improvement. When you consider the scale of demand and the huge sums involved, this is a sit up & listen solution.
image source Shipping Containers at Port Elizabeth New Jersey
The Humble Shipping Container
Up until the advent of the modern, standardised shipping container, up to 30% of all goods had a tendency to go missing en route. Pilfered along the way, shipments were lost, items went missing or were spoiled in transit. In fact, anyone who shipped anything before the 1950's (in wooden crates) often added a third of the commodity to account for missing items at the final destination. That was just accepted as part of the business. Up until a frustrated trucker came up with a very neat solution.
A Man named Malcolm
Malcolm Mclean was a truck driver. He would watch at the ports as cumbersome loads of crates and bundles were painfully slowly unloaded. It sometimes took days. He knew things went missing at the docks. He came up with an idea. One which revolutionised the industry. Standard sized, steel containers. Secure and weatherproof. They could be lifted by cranes and importantly, could be quickly and easily transported, stacked and shipped. Nobody would ever know what was in them and they were secure from the elements. He knew containers alone wouldn't solve the problem and in 1957 converted the Gateway City into the world's first real container ship. The idea didn't just take off. It revolutionised freight shipping forever. Until now.
image sourceMalcolm Mclean
Shipchain
Shipchain is a perfect use case for BlockChain technology and one which offers the crypto curious much to learn. My very first job before University, as a sixteen year old was as a trainee shipping clerk with the Yeoward Brothers in Liverpool. A famous shipping company operating out of one the most important historical ports in the world. I learned a thing or two about moving liquid consignments about and it was all done on paper. Computers were only really just being introduced and interestingly, the whole business relied on ledgers.
Closing the Loop
Shipchain is built on Track & Trace technology and it does what it says on the tin. Shipments are trackable from the second they leave the factory door to the moment they arrives at the customer's destination. It's also very Smart. Trustless and transparent contracts automate the system so that lazy fingers can't slow the process down, sticky fingers can't remove lollipops from the bucket and incompetent fingers can't send the wrong consignment to the other side of the world in error. (It does happen). It's an elegant use of smart contracts and much more useful than automated lottery ticket payments. Side chains ensure forensic analysis and seamless transition between the stages of each shipment from door to door. It's crisp and sharp with nothing left to chance.
Shipping Delays cause compound issues in the industry, costing millions of dollars and it's us, the consumer who pays for the upside cost of incompetence, theft and tardiness. Costs inevitably get passed on in the retail price of everything we buy from sneakers and socks to iphones, canned tuna and novelty toys like fidget spinners. If 100,000 of those get lost in transit, last season's must have toy can quickly become this season's, yesterday's fad. uh oh.
Road to Rail & Air to Sea
Shipchain handles all freight methods from rail to road, airbound and seabound, so it's seamless. (It has to be to work). Most shipments of goods include three or all four of these transport methods. Track & Trace will fly, sail, drive and roll with each shipment right across the globe while freight managers will calmly sit at their desk, armchair (or sofas / park bench,) watching it all happen in real time. Problems in the chain will be easy to identify, impossible to dispute and this creates a competitive, value driven culture of accountability, responsibility and efficiency. If one business element of the chain doesn't perform well, it will not survive for long and it will be quickly replaced. This represents progress. Cost saving will be in the millions across the industry as Shipchain replaces existing infrastructure. If you take a quick look at the figures above you can see we're talking about Trillions of dollars of business which is rapidly growing.
Open Source
Shipchain also launches with an open API so that freight management legacy architecture can be easily integrated. That alone deserves a round of applause, because that is where BlockChain can revolutionise a global industry, seemingly overnight (without literally upsetting the apple cart) and having to re-design the whole system. Open Source project elements will help mass adoption of BlockChain technology over the next decade and make the developers job a whole lot simpler. This means more cost effective and powerful solutions can be built to accommodate existing processes.
TOKEN SALE
Transactions will be paid for using the SHIP token which will be ERC20 compliant. A fixed supply of 500m tokens will be generated in the TGE to kickstart the ShipChain economy. Below is the initial distribution model. The web platform will allow for tokens to be bought in USD EURO or Crypto for freight bookings. Not all of the tokens will be initially released
The Team
World Class Projects need a Strong Team and ShipChain is watertight. Their combined experience gives them great credibility and their advisory board is equally well equipped to succeed. I wouldn't mind working with them, If they ever decide that motion graphics animation could help get their message across. I'd relish the logistical challenge.
For More Information
this article is not an endorsement of Shipchain. I always advise people conduct their own research and due diligence before making an investment, crypto or otherwise. Remember investments can go up as well as down.
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Sounds good and seems like a good idea. But my question is why do they need the coin? It seems this can be done without the coins. How will they use the coins as currency when they are basically stocks in the company and the price will constantly fluctuation
I'm guessing that a business with this potential magnitude will make huge cost savings, internal logistical efficiencies, massive reduction in accounting time, audit requirements. (blockchain makes for a perfect accountant) and a whole load of other common sense and futureproof reasons.
Much to learn about BlockChain there is ! smart contracts need a token to drive them and they can automate a ton of processes.
I buy some tokens. i ship some stuff. bob's trucks don't get a slice of my tokens until the system tells Gloria, (the smart contract) that my stuff has arrived, ship shape at it's destination. A simple model. elegant. It's very secure. everything is encrypted. What's not to like ?
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thanks @gersson I've read your entry. Well done!
thanks bro!! @outerground
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thanks @idyysaviour. there's a lot to learn ! will check you out
Thank you for emphasizing the crucial role of shipping in our globalized economy! Your insights into the complexities and challenges of the supply chain resonate deeply. For those interested in further exploring innovative solutions to streamline freight management, I'd recommend checking out this informative post on freight rate management system that complement the discussion on disrupting transport and logistics.