logisticcollective

YourChain

Transparency in global supply chains

We make data in global supply chains available by developing trust and cooperation between all stakeholders based on fully data privacy compliant processes.

Inspiration

The Covid 19 crisis has shown us how dependent we have become on each other in our globilised world. A huge network of interwoven players creates the backbone of our civilisation today, the domain of "transport and logistics". Now we have experienced how vulnerable and fragile supply chains are and how the impact of individual nodes has sent shock waves through the entire transportation network. Our transport network has become intransparent and too complex for us to control and monitor it with the little information available.

While many of the players in the transport and logistics industry are experts in moving goods from A to B, we see them lagging behind in moving the data about goods and their delivery with the same efficiency, care and quality. The transportation of goods through our organicly over centuries grown supply chains is an analogue process and always will be, but we believe that supply chains should not only be connected through asphalt and ports, but also digitally.

What it does

YourChain, a non-profit organisation supported by the EU commission body, collects, structures and cleanses the world's supply chain data to create transparency in the T&L industry by sharing relevant data among authorized partners based on fully data-compliant processes.

We connect all players of the supply chain and cooperatively fill a data lake, with the relevant data for the relevant player. Every users can decide when to share, with whom to share and what data to share at any given time.

The real time access to the necessary data simplifies the business routines, allows to identify bottlenecks, predict and prevent failures, and enable quick reactions and resource allocation during crisis.

How we built it

We built YourChain as a concept prototype for a large scale database. We focused on identifying the necessary information and how to solve the impediments that currently prevent sharing data. As a team, we started by designing a framework for a database concept with the appropriate API. Subsequently, we strengthened and adapted our approaches through feedback from expert discussions with participants and mentors of EUvsVirus. At the same time, we intensively searched for data sources to match our idea with real data. With the knowledge about the current status quo, about what information is needed at which points and the final decision about the functionalities of YourChain, we conducted a market analysis to find comparable products. The obvious lack of comparable ideas and the clear need for more information in T&L business has strengthened us in our idea and we have implemented a business plan and user stories to complete our YourChain project.

Challenges we ran into

Our greatest challenge was the complexity of our topic. We did not choose a problem, that can be tackled by one individual or one company, but requires trust among each other, a solid technical architecture and the backing of national governments as well as the EU and other unions of states. On the flip side, YourChain has the potential to improve the everyday workflow of all participating players. The next challenge was the lack of real data for our proof of concept, however, we see the lack of data as an indication, that our approach, the idea of a collaborative datalake in the T&L industry is long overdue. After putting much work in the design of the database and API we did not manage it, to implement a working database and API prototype in time - an initial goal we had.

Accomplishments that we`re proud of

We are proud of a well structured concept that we created blazingly fast with greater in-depth details than we imagined 3 days ago. We are also proud, that we worked as an organized team and learnt a lot about the topic itself, as well as the tools offered and recommended by EUvsVirus.

What we learned

As professionals from the transport and logistics industry we were aware of the high complexity of the subject. After almost three days of intensive research however, we learned that the actual complexity of the status quo in the supply chains exceeds our expectations. But we have also learned that there is a way to master it. One major source of complexity is the lack of information. In fact, this information is available, but it is not in the right hands. The key is sharing.

What's next for logisticcollective

We think the ideas we formed and the approach we developed over the last three days will keep on following us - not only as YourCain, but as an eyeopener in many other domains. We believe that sharing is the key and that a cooperative and collaborative environment can help us solve many problems, not only within the supply chains und during a hackathon. We as logisticcollective would be proud to prove our belief and the concept of YourChain with the logistic and transportation partners of EUvsVirus.