Have you ordered anything from sites like Amazon or EBay? Then you probably understand how much shipping and logistics have helped transform the conventional marketplace. I know, the trouble of ordering a product in the site and waiting for it, checking the tracking link over and over to reach where it has reached, and getting annoyed over the fact that they haven't updated the location in the link.
I always had this wild fantasy of having a GPS chip like thing being attached to the product, so that we can see it moving; getting closer to me, step by step. As much as the wildness in that idea prevails, there are companies who have actually experimented this. But they don't help us track every product though; just the container in which they're transported. But that's good enough for me!
I recently came to know about this company called SmartContainers, who follows this practice. But they are really focusing the delivery of farm and pharma (Rhyming, aren't they). Means they primarily do food products and medicines. What's more interesting? All of their movement, is tracked and recorded using blockchain, which makes things "unbelievably trustworthy"! Every loading and delivery is recorded on the blockchain, and people can track it; along with viewing some general details about the shipment too. Every other detail that the general public shouldn't know is recorded on a private blockchain, which can only be accessed by people with some authorization. We get tracking, they get privacy; as simple as that.
Ever had your order cancelled automatically while it was being shipped? I had that experience. The most heartbreaking, to be honest. I contacted Flipkart about it and never received any solution, but I did get my refund. But I really wanted the product quick, and the magic of e-commerce just did not happen then. But just think about how much blockchain can help us here. Your order would be recorded, the maximum distance it reached at the point when it was cancelled will be recorded, and there is no dispute about what you ordered and when, because all of it is stored in a decentralized, public ledger!
SmartContainers is currently the leaders in logistics of bio products. They are currently aiming to leverage the blockchain technology for two things: one to raise some capital for their expansion, and two, their expansion which comes under the name LOGI CHAIN. Under this network, every competitor can become a part of the LOGI CHAIN ecosystem, to make all their transactions integrated through the blockchain. This means all of their payments (done in LOGI tokens) and other transactions are recorded, and further reduces the risk of fraud and false testaments.
The SmartContainers project is really exciting, and I really hope it would expand to the logistics of non "farm and pharma" products. Well, I think my wild fantasy may just become true!
Website - https://smartcontainers.ch/
Whitepaper - https://smartcontainers.ch/assets/20180208_smartcontainers_whitepaper_v1.pdf
ANN - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3058528.0
Telegram - https://t.me/smartcontainers
Published by - Etheran
Profile - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1108165