The logistics accelerator of the French e-commerce leader Cdiscount presented to the press on 1 October 2019 a startup company that has successfully developed a tangible use case in traceability.
Indeed, among the business applications selected in the 2nd panel of startups is Ownest and its blockchain solution applied to the supply chain.
A field application, the result of an agile collaboration with Cdiscount
Ownest is part of the second batch of Cdiscount's startup acceleration program called "The Warehouse by Cdiscount".
"Offering a supply chain playground" in the words of James Rebours, Innovation and Performance Director at Cdiscount, The Warehouse is located just a stone's throw from the Bordeaux headquarters of the French e-commerce leader. The Warehouse offers entrepreneurs optimal conditions to experiment and refine their solutions in the field thanks to a 500 m2 warehouse/laboratory and a 6-month mentoring program by partners who are experts in supply chain and e-commerce.
Cdiscount has chosen to rely on a digital transformation specialist already active in the retail and industrial sectors (with clients such as Carrefour, Michelin, Orange, etc.) and experienced in the traceability of large volumes of goods in complex supply chains.
Monitoring the transfer of responsibilities via the blockchain to meet the demand for responsiveness in e-commerce.
Ownest creates, for each tracked parcel, a blockchain tracker of responsibilities according to the tokenization concept. As a reminder, this one consists in linking a physical product (merchandise, merchandise support...) to a unique, tamper-proof and transferable digital asset.
As our CEO and co-founder Clément Bergé-Lefranc explains, at each stage of the chain, "from preparation to delivery, forklift drivers, carriers and delivery men scan the package and transfer responsibility to the next link [which is free to accept or refuse it]". Responsibility" should be understood to include the verification of the conformity of the quantities as well as the condition of the goods. The open - and therefore decentralised - aspect of the blockchain makes it possible to secure all these exchanges".
Cdiscount's objective is to benefit from complete traceability in real time for all its parcels weighing more than 30 kg.
This solution has already been deployed on 1,500 parcels delivered in the last three months. In addition, the tracking of transfer of responsibility makes it possible to reduce delivery times by almost 15%. "We move from one stage to the next much faster and this makes all the players in the chain more accountable," notes Rebours.
For his part, Clément Bergé-Lefranc assures that "It is a virtuous circle of trust that is being set up: each player participates in the global consolidation of the logistics chain and verifies movements. And everyone has an interest in participating, whether logisticians, shippers or carriers".
For the moment limited to delivery to collection points in Paris, the scope of deployment is about to open up to home delivery and relay delivery in Bordeaux.
