UPDATED 10:13 EST / APRIL 27 2020

COVID-19 mask N95 BLOCKCHAIN

IBM launches Rapid Supplier Connect to fix COVID-19 health supplies shortages

Computer giant IBM Corp. today announced its next step in helping combat COVID-19 using distributed ledger blockchain technology to relieve shortages in medical supply chains.

IBM Rapid Supplier Connect uses blockchain technology to ensure trustworthy information and high transparency through medical equipment supply chains that will help government agencies and healthcare organizations identify nontraditional suppliers to help address shortages.

Among the suppliers and buyers joining the network are hospitals, warehouses and industrial manufacturers, including several major New York healthcare providers and the Worldwide Supply Chain Federation, which has added more than 200 American suppliers from its global community of more than 3,000 members.

Buyers will be able to benefit from the presence of nontraditional suppliers – such as textile facilities making masks, gowns and gloves and distilleries making hand sanitizer – that ordinarily exist outside the healthcare ecosystem. Many of those companies are currently working to pivot into producing medical supplies and most are not visible through traditional networks.

The IBM Rapid Supplier Connect system will work to onboard these new suppliers, provide accessible credentials and vetting, as well as real-time inventory information.

Over the past few years, blockchain technology has come to the forefront of connecting separate segments of supply chain networks with real-time insights into inventory movement and management. IBM’s work on that has also led to several commercially available blockchain networks that enhance safety and provisioning.

For example, the IBM Food Trust blockchain, launched in 2018, connects farms, delivery trucks, food processing plants, warehouses and retailers together into one transparent supply chain solution. The blockchain allows any segment of the supply chain to easily discover the origin and route that any product took through the supply chain, enabling easier recalls of potentially tainted food as well as providing real-time analysis of the availability of food.

With the current COVID-19 outbreak affecting the world globally – putting great strain on the healthcare ecosystem – IBM’s blockchain solution is aimed at ensuring buyers can get what they need from trustworthy suppliers.

To do that, IBM used the Trust Your Supplier blockchain-based identity platform built by Chainyard and combined it with its own Sterling Supply Chain Suite and the high-scalability Inventory Visibility microservice to maintain visibility.

Rapid Supplier Network will complement existing supply chain networks and payment systems by adding extra visibility and authentication for these new suppliers. Buyers will also have the option to use third-party paymaster CDAX, which can also secure funds on behalf of buyers using a custody and settlement account in a consignment arrangement.

Project N95, a service clearinghouse for information on COVID-related suppliers, has also joined to assist with supplier vetting. Identity resolution will be done through Dun & Bradstreet alongside filmographic data and supplier risk scores. Finally, KYC SiteScan will provide “Know Your Business” due diligence reports.

In light of the current pandemic and its widespread effect on the economy and businesses, as well as the humanitarian need, IBM is making Rapid Supplier Connect available at no cost until Aug. 31 to qualified buyers and suppliers in the U.S. and Canada. More information is available at IBM’s information portal.

Photo: Pixabay

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