Assignment TakenBuild Supply chain process and secure the process using Blockchain.

Case UnderstandingOur Company has decided to venture into "Hyper Local Delivery System". We have got all the necessary permissions to start the business and successful Validation is already completed. Short range drone base services are preferred over long range. We have already performed successful Beta deliveries and looking forward to explore into more cost effective cargo deliveries. As a head of IT and Business analytics, end to end Drone operations and Management platform is required to be made to expand the business. Also more business areas needs to be identified.

BCS Solution SummaryOur solution will focus on 2 major aspects:- 1. Process Building: - We will focus on finding use cases for our drones so that they do not sit idle and are used in various fields increasing our portfolio. 2. Customer satisfaction: - the use of drones have the biggest drawbacks that it is prone to theft, damage and cybercrime. With drone deliveries quickly becoming a reality, the need for security, coordination and proper logging is a must for the future. Using block chain can help solve these problems immensely, and, combined with an IoT monitoring device that enables for multiple inputs from the drone, will allow any drone to become a more secure flying aircraft. It's imperative to be able to secure drones from malicious parties, create a verified trail of audibility, and pave the way for the future through proper communication and protocol standardization amongst different manufacturers and operators.

Solution

In order to become Market Leader, our company will focus on 2 prior tasks:-

1. Process build: Ensure a robust Supply chain process is build considering different business use cases.
2. Customer Trust: Ensure customers that our delivery is safe from theft, damage and cybercrime.

 

PROCESS BUILD:-

To discuss in details about Process Build , Short Range drones can be used for the following use- cases :-

1. a) Drones in Delivery :- Short range delivery as in Pharmaceuticals, Food delivery , local market items delivery
2. b) Drones in Warehouses: - Drones in distribution centres could actually make a lot of sense, especially within warehouses that are already largely automated (meaning fewer people below the flight path). In these environments, drones could be very useful replacements for rigid, hard-to-configure conveyor systems. In addition, we will develop a system comprising small drones that can fly around a warehouse or yard scanning inventory bar codes and RFID tags, greatly reducing the counting workload for humans in large distribution centres.

Warehouse drones can:

• Improve how long it takes to count inventory
• Provide better accuracy by eliminating human error
• Reduce human labor costs on repetitive tasks
• Cut down on workplace injuries
• Shorten downtime due to inventory checks

1. c) Drones in healthcare :- Short range Drones can be used for lab sample pick-up and delivery and transportation of medical supplies

Process:-

Fig (1): Supply Chain Process

Through the logistics analysis approach, we will focus on the importance of analysing the activity in order to support the evolution of the fleet with an appropriate logistics support system. The approach is based on the standard of logistics support analysis MIL-STD-1388-1A. In fact, in order to implement an appropriate support system for a drone delivery fleet, we will determine the system dimensioning and its evolution as a function of various parameters like delivery time, the number of customers to deliver to, etc. In addition, the modification of equipment may have an impact on the functional capacity of the system and, as a consequence, may result in the change of the mission plan. Through this analysis, we conclude that, in order to update the logistics support of a drone fleet, we should study the impact of every modification in the operation management and the dimension of the support system instantaneously. These types of services require a high level of availability and an economic advantage to make them appealing.

We will build the app that find the available drones. The website will have 2 pages: Login page for customers and other will be for operators.

 

CUSTOMER TRUST:-

Currently, There can be a chance of a drone's backend architecture being compromised or having an outage due to its traditional, centralized nature. Drones also need to be able to communicate securely to one another, regardless of brand. Interoperability between devices is a must for the future of IoT - drones included, as they're essentially unmanned, flying computers.

Malicious actors may also try to take advantage of drones through hacking and malware. Drones need to be secure and deemed safe from the perspective of the public eye as well, as it would not bode well for delivery drones to be considered a threat.

In delivery, there are multiple stakeholders who demand some level of information transparency to protect their interests, namely the sender, recipient, regulatory agencies, and insurance companies. Using blockchain technology, we can alleviate many of the pain points for drone delivery, and provide solutions for the aforementioned problems and also bring out the true meaning of IoT through a fully distributed, resistive and fault-tolerant solution. A multipurpose, miniature and blockchain-enabled IoT device will be responsible for facilitating all drone to blockchain interactions. This IoT device communicates directly to the blockchain without intermediary servers to ensure full security.

Why blockchain: - Blockchain combines many aspects of a good, backend solution: decentralization, redundancy, fault tolerance, security, and scalability. Besides being architecturally sound, blockchain acts as a verifier of all information that's sent to it. Through unique cryptographic keys, this allows digital identities, signatures, and ownership to be easily verified and recorded in a ledger-like format. Sensor, analytical and trip data from drones can also be signed and recorded immutably on the blockchain, leaving a permanent trail of audibility behind.

 

Fig (2): Block Chain Enabled Drone

ConclusionIn order to become a market leader, our company will expand the portfolio to different use cases. To do that, necessary IT Infrastructure needs to be build. Also safety is the need of the hour. Our customized block chain solution will ensure that our product is seen as safe to use for all the customers involved during Supply chain processes.