Introduction

Inventory data is monitored by IoT devices and fed to the analytics engine, which uses this data to forecast sales and optimise pricing. This, in turn, triggers inventory replenishment orders. These orders are processed via smart contracts in a distributed network of store managers, vendors, banks, merchants and insurance companies.  

Key Challenges

• Loss of sales/revenue due to incorrect inventory data.
• Improper contract negotiations with vendors.
• Incorrect data for financial decision-making and risk assessment.

The Solution

Real-time forecasting, trust and transparency assured. The solution has three architectural layers:  

• IoT layer to collect and monitor Inventory data in real-time.
• The Analytics/Big Data layer for processing inventory data and other relevant external and internal information to create forecasting models for predicting sales and optimising prices.
• The Blockchain layer to enable multi-party decision-making and foster transparency and trust in contract execution.

When the inventory level falls below a predetermined level, automated replenishment orders are placed. The smart contract codifies the contract execution terms with the vendors while maintaining an adequate amount of transaction privacy.

Bringing trust and visibility across contract execution and risk assessment cycles, enabling accurate sales forecasting and inventory optimisation.

Benefits

Establishing transparency across the value chain:

• The solution was able to mitigate potential revenue loss by automatically triggering orders.
• Vendor selection and contract terms were data-driven and accurate (reducing disputes).
• The solution fostered transparency across financial stakeholders during contract execution and risk assessment.