Anticounterfeit Tech Archives

How Companies Benefit from Blockchain

O4S on February 11, 2020

The supply chain today comprises a series of decision-making processes that are largely taken in discrete siloes within different departments such as marketing, product development, manufacturing, and distribution, and finally into the hands of the customer. Digitization has the potential to bring down these walls, thus helping the chain to become one completely integrated ecosystem transparent to all the players involved.

Companies have started to realize the core business value of traceability and Supply Chain visibility, which in turn would help them increase efficiency and cost savings targets. However, first they need to overcome the mistrust which are generally associated with product identity and traceability. Blockchain, which is a type of distributed ledger technology, has increasingly gained market traction in supply chains for several isolated used cases such as product provenance and track ad trace of products across the supply chain. When implemented effectively, blockchain can connect and enable increased business efficiency, higher transparency, and enforce accountability among the participating nodes. With better and more reliable data business decisions can be optimized. Across industries, there has been a growing number of pilot projects where use of blockchain technology has successfully helped in streamlining supply chain transactions through the provision of visibility and reliability of transaction information.

It is the transactional transparency, tamper- evidence, along with trust which blockchain provides which can help take the entire supply chain management a step further.

Companies are faced with significant challenges while digitizing their supply chains such as:

Coordination of the process with digital transformation across multiple and often disconnected supply chain partners
Lack of connectivity
Data reconciliation processes is heavy on Cost Incurred
Ineffective solutions for handling large amounts of inconsistent data.

While other technological options are there which help manage supply chains, with blockchain, different parties that necessarily do not have a trusted relationships with each other can communicate on the same platform. What blockchain does is that it stores every transaction or exchange of data that occurs in the network, this potentially reduces the need for third parties as all parties in the network now can access and share same data, in a chronological order. Blockchain helps eliminate a costly and complex effort towards data reconciliation which is a prerequisite for most systems today.

Blockchain alone does not solve the human challenges or the need for digital transformation, however when implemented effectively it can act as a powerful tool to encourage new ways of working, increasing accountability and trust. Additionally blockchain has a few more value additions to the existing system, which may include:

1. Substantial gains in efficiency and a reduction in manual processes which are needed for cross- party data reconciliation.

2. Increase in product provenance and consumer confidence for quality, societal, and environmental impacts.

3. Deeper market penetration and easier new product/markets development.

4. Reduced risk of the proliferation of counterfeit products and risk mitigation from lower-quality components.

5. By Leveraging innovation Brands can increase efficiency and eventually work towards change management

When considering the feasibility of blockchain for a specified use case, various costs and trade-offs should be considered. Further, supply chains in different stages might be more suitable and feasible for leveraging blockchain than others.

Product Digitization with O4S

O4S on December 23, 2019

The average consumer is more informed now than ever in the past and with increasing technological advancement, things are about to change further. It would be redundant to say that digitization is here or your organization should focus on digital to remain competitive in the market. We are past that! Today, the focus has shifted towards taking digitalization to products or services which were once considered outside the digital purview. Irrespective of whether a company sells physical or digital products, it requires to make a digital connection with the consumers.

With multiple options available to customers, creating an experience will be the key to ensuring brand loyalty. As per a Salesforce report, 95 percent of customers said that they were more likely to be loyal to a company they trust, and 80 percent mentioned that experience provided by the company was as important as the product or the service. So, what can companies do to create a unique digital experience and increase the trust-factor?

Product Digitization

For companies producing physical products, digital has at best been used for marketing activities. However, with the arrival of Next-Gen technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, etc. the usage of the digital platform can go far beyond. When thinking about the application of these technologies, both companies and consumers imagine smart devices, driverless cars, and perhaps, even a flying jet pack. What if these technologies could be applied to the most basic products? A bottle of cold drink or a packet of biscuits?

Product digitization is a process of adding smart tags to the products which will enable the end-users to interact digitally with the products. It can open new avenues to increase customer loyalty and create personalized communication with the consumer at the point of sale. Product digitization can be achieved by adding scannable QR codes on the products. The end-user has to simply point their camera, and get all the product details right on their mobile phones.

Brands have absolute control over what information is displayed to the customer once they scan the code with their phones. Besides ensuring the fact that the product is original, customers can get a wide range of information about the product life-cycle. You can share product development videos, pictures of the manufacturing plant, or details of the upcoming products. Product digitization with O4S is easy to implement without making any significant changes to the existing technology.

Product digitization will have a positive impact across departments from supply chain to marketing. For organizations dealing in physical goods, a supply chain is the core of the business. The transparency obtained due to product digitization can help organizations create a robust supply chain. Besides, as per a study conducted by PwC, 33 percent of respondents said their companies have already digitized the supply chain while another 72% added that their companies would do it within the next five years.

Advantages of Product Digitization

Product digitization will have both immediate and long-term benefits for an organization. From impacting customer loyalty to optimizing the supply chain, it has immense benefits. Let us look at some of the top benefits offered by product digitization.

1. Enhanced Security

Product digitization helps the brand in ensuring better security of their products. The products are protected against counterfeiting as every stakeholder will have the option to scan the product and ascertain its authenticity. It also allows you to improve the supply chain visibility of products. An organization will be able to track the product during its entire supply chain. The increased visibility will help in improving the efficiency of the supply chain. Cumulatively, this will help in optimizing the supply chain.

2. Build Customer Trust

With product digitization features offered by O4S, customers will have more reasons to trust the brand. With the point and scan feature, customers can determine the authenticity of the product with their mobile phones. The customer can get all the information about the product from manufacturing all the way to the delivery. Product digitization adds an extra layer of trust so that customers can purchase products without any doubt in their minds.

3. Increased Engagement

Product digitization can be used to interact with customers in real-time. This information can be used by brands to arrive at crucial business decisions for improving engagement as well as sales. Dynamic content can be shared with the end-users to increase brand loyalty and introduce new products. With product digitization, brands can effectively use data to implement marketing automation. Based on real-time locations, content in regional languages can also be shared with the users.

4. End-to-End Customer Experience

Customer experience is a major factor that impacts loyalty and repeat purchases. Today, customers want a seamless and integrated digital experience. Product digitization creates an opportunity for the brand to not only offer a comprehensive customer experience but also pave the way for future innovations. A brand can keep the customers both intrigued and satisfied by delivering engaging digital content.

5. Process Optimization

While product digitization will have a wide range of benefits pertaining to customers, it will also have positive effects on the end-to-end process. Based on the abundant data that will be generated at each stakeholder, every team from procurement to marketing will be in a better position to make informed decisions. As a result, the demand and supply gap at every stage will be as less as possible.

Product digitization gives a digital identity to your physical products. Your organization can get better control over the products, ensure increased connectivity, and offer a better context to your customers. O4S product digitization technology enables you to digitize your existing products without the need to reinvent or substantially alter them. If done correctly, product digitization can offer immense competitor advantages. Get in touch with us to know how product digitization can help your organization. Feel free to reach out to us, we are just an email/ call away.

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