Supply Chain Partner Data Integration
Overview
Rivello are working with two clients who are partners delivering different but complimentary services based on subsets of the same data. They have an enduring need to efficiently and effectively integrate their IT solutions to create a robust real-time link between their two companies.
This is common challenge in many supply chain situations, whether the relationship between the parties is a mutual partnership, or a more transactional relationship.
The Rivello Data Integration solution removes complexity for both of our clients, enabling them to concentrate on their core offering, and delivers configurable real-time data sharing with perfect audit records of data state on both sides of the transfer.
Case Study Details
The Challenge
The transfer, sharing, and integration of data between supply chain participants is a common problem faced by almost all supply chains. Solutions to this challenge are varied, but the parameters of what needs to be solved are well understood,
Data - The transfer, sharing, or integration of data between parties; taking into account sensitivity, ownership, and accountability throughout the lifecycle.
Provenance - A shared understanding of what the data represents, and also what it doesn’t. Depending on the depth of integration between supply chain partners can have a significant impact on the granularity, openness, and transparency of the provenance shared.
Timeliness - Knowing when a data point is valid from / to is crucial to understanding how much downstream processes can rely on the data shared.
Evidence - Dispute resolution across supply chains is a massive drain on resources, and generally only happens due to a failure to have a common evidence source of the data points above.
The challenge our clients faced was their own unique combination of all of the above. They needed data to be transferred in near real-time. They had a partnership agreement in place which enabled them to share the provenance of the data openly. They needed an absolute measure of timeliness for data points, and a mechanism for knowing that they were working with the latest possible data. And they needed an evidence trail to protect both their businesses around what data had been shared, why had it been shared, and with whom.
The Solution
The Rivello Data Integration solution sits between the two supply chain participants and handles the transfer of data between the two parties. It reduces the work required by both companies, and comes with in-built audit evidence that provides surety to both companies that they can openly see what data has been shared when.
The solution works in three phases, with a universal fourth phase covering every action and available to both parties (and potentially authorised third parties) for independent verification,
Source Data - The set-up of the data that has been authorised to be shared with the other party into lightweight append-only ledgers. The key being to retain the provenance of the data by retaining links into sensitive data sources without the need to reveal these links unless it is authorised.
Data Replication - Create a verifiable, linked copy of the data ledgers for the supply chain partner. The data both parties are viewing is verifiably the same, without risk of man-in-the-middle style attacks or misinterpretation.
Supply Chain Partner Receipt - Unpack the source data into the right form for use by the IT systems of the supply chain partner, retaining metadata to ensure traceability.
Evidence Records - Every step within the processes above is independently and unattributably logged to the Rivello Beacon, creating a public evidence trail that can be privately verified by both parties, and if authorised and relevant, can also be publicly verified by third parties.
The Results
Our observation over many years of working with supply chain data integration challenges is that often the biggest barrier to success is the business complexity of working out which data to share, whether you are allowed to share it and how do you control permissions over time, and designing a solution that delivers all of this that is often tangential to core business. All of which tends to see simple solutions put in place that do the minimum required, storing up problems for later in the lifecycle (e.g. disputes), and contributing to missed opportunities for greater synergies between partners.
First and foremost, the Rivello Data Integration solution works! It was simpler to implement for both of our clients, enabling them to concentrate on their core business offerings, and in an architecture that is easier to maintain and adapt over the longer term. The increased granularity in data, and metadata, that can be shared has already opened up a progressive dialogue between the two supply chain partners, with further data integrations being planned to enhance their partnership.
Outcomes
Cost Savings - The solution was cheaper to implement for both parties, and cheaper to maintain.
Dispute Risk - The comfort of knowing exactly what data has been shared and used has vastly decreased the risk of future disputes.
Granular Provenance - Retaining verifiable links from the shared data into the source generation process is opening up new possibilities around what can be shared and used by our clients. The increased granularity is proving to be a significant potential upside.