In this day and age of rapid globalization, the rise in international trade is very much a double-edged sword. Although on the one hand, the opening up of the global market presents a sea of opportunities for industry players to tap into, the potential repercussions if something goes wrong are grave indeed. A notable case study in this regard is the recall by Japanese automaker Toyota in 2011 of an estimated 20.5 million vehicles worldwide due to an issue with the gas pedal. 

Apparently, the wide scope of the recall was due to a lack of a mechanism to identify the cars which have been fitted with defective gas pedals made by the culpable supplier. This resulted in the need for Toyota to recall whole batches of vehicles instead of only those which have been fitted with defective gas pedals. The whole saga which cost Toyota financial losses amounting to US$2 billion highlights the importance of having a tracking mechanism as part of a supply chain management system to ensure that goods can be traced post-production and sales.

WOWTRACING the Origin and Quality of Goods

Fast forward to 2020, WOWTRACE has developed a state of the art blockchain-based supply chain traceability solution which combines the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) as well as data and cloud computing. One area in which WOWTRACE has brought about a profound impact is in Southeast Asia (SEA)’s agricultural sector. Based on statistics collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the contribution of SEA’s agriculture sector to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen by 10% from 1980 when it stood at 22% to 12% in 2015. The shrinking of SEA’s agriculture output has led to the issue of imitation of agricultural produce particularly high-quality organic produce which were grown using advanced farming techniques.

In comes WOWTRACE with its blockchain-based QR code solution. Prior to using WOWTRACE’s QR code solution, My Xuong Cooperative faced the issue of counterfeit products which imitated its brand label of mangoes. Through the use of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution, the customers of My Xuong Cooperative can ascertain whether mango produce is genuine in nature by scanning the QR code affixed to the produce. The uniqueness of the information which is recorded in the QR code renders it impossible to be imitated by impostors. The effectiveness of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution in tackling the issue of counterfeit products plaguing My Xuong Cooperative is evidenced by the sharp increase in the sales of the Cooperative’s mango produce since it started using WOWTRACE’s solution.

Besides the issue of counterfeit products, another issue faced by manufacturers in SEA is with regard to convincing their customers about the quality of their products. As the Southeast Asian population grows increasingly affluent in tandem with a rise in the regional economy, they have become more discerning in terms of their consumption choices. In this regard, WOWTRACE’s QR code solution can be used to ascertain the quality of products, particularly those which are targeted at upmarket customers. In this connection, a notable use case of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution is that by L’indochine Chocolate whereby the customers of the high-end chocolate producer can obtain information about its products by scanning WOWTRACE’s QR codes which are affixed to the products. 

The use of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution has enabled L’indochine Chocolate to reduce the costs associated with data management by 10% and the time expended in this regard by 23.8%. In the commercial world where time is money and cost reduction is the ultimate goal, the use of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution certainly comes in handy as a data management tool for manufacturers to secure customer satisfaction and trust with regard to the quality of their products. Another similar use case of WOWTRACE’s QR code solution is that by DalatFOODIE to assure its customers that its products are 100% organic in nature. When it comes to matters involving health, there can certainly be no compromise because as the saying goes, “health is wealth”.

WOWTRACE: Ensuring SEA’s Producers and Manufacturers Against Commercial Vicissitudes

Given the intricate distribution networks of goods in the modern day world of international trade, the absence of a tracking system may render the potential impact both financial and reputational to be catastrophic in the unfortunate event something goes wrong in the supply and distribution chain. Through the use of WOWTRACE’s suite of blockchain-based tracking solutions which generate an imprint of traceability flow, SEA’s producers and manufacturers can rest easy as critical supply chain information such as the originating source, product quality and current location of goods is just a QR code scan away.

References:

• The Atlantic, Who Was Really at Fault for the Toyota Recalls? (1 May 2011). Accessible at https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/05/who-was-really-at-fault-for-the-toyota-recalls/238076/
• WOWTRACE, Blockchain-Based Traceability Solution. Accessible at https://www.wowtrace.io/en
• FAO, State of Food and Agriculture in Asia and the Pacific Region, including Future Prospects and Emerging Issues (April 2018). Accessible at http://www.fao.org/3/mw252en/mw252en.pdf 

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