Case Study - Mildura Cellular IoT Tracking System
Commonwealth Bank (CBA) addressed traceability and food spoilage issues in the food industry's complex supply chains through a pilot project, utilizing an Ethereum-based blockchain, temperature-humidity sensors, and off-the-shelf hardware, successfully integrating sensors, cloud technology, and power optimization.
- Customer
- Commonwealth Bank
- Year
- Service
- Research & Development
Problem: Loss of traceability of food because of the complex supply chain
Solution: Ethereum Blockchain based CAT M1 IoT Tracker
The food industry involves complex supply chains where there is a grower, packer, Freight forwarder and a port landlord at play. Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Australia’s largest bank saw 2 major issues in this highly complex business interaction. One was that due to the nature of the complex logistic supply chain, the traceability of the food went missing. Second was that the food in containers at times got rotten when they arrived at the destination. Hence they embarked on a pilot project where they trialed an Ethereum based blockchain for traceability and temperature + humidity data for environment monitoring.
All of this was then sent to the cloud when there was cellular connectivity. As part of the experiment, CBA partnered with global agriculture player Olam Orchards Australia Pty Ltd, Pacific National for rail haulage, port landlord Port of Melbourne, stevedore Patrick Terminals and shipping carrier OOCL Limited. Since the prototype had a short development time frame, we had to use an off shelf hardware module (Particle B Series LTE CAT M1 development board ). The hardware logged the data and uploaded the information onto the cloud when there was cellular connectivity. The Hardware was battery powered and had to have low power optimizations done to it as the scenario dictated an average battery life of at least 4 Months. This is an example of an interaction of Sensors, Cloud and power optimization that was successfully trialed.
What we did
- Research
- Analysis
- Documentation
I believe in leveraging technology to address challenges in complex supply chains, and the trial with Commonwealth Bank illustrates the power of blockchain, IoT sensors, and cloud connectivity in enhancing traceability and monitoring conditions in the food industry. By collaborating with key players in the supply chain, we can achieve meaningful improvements and build more resilient systems.
Author
- Traceability Rate
- 95%
- Connectivity Uptime
- 99%
- Battery Life
- 5 months