Project Description
Executive summary:
The Startup BlockForge was created during a students project to develop a fully planned
business. Its goal is to develop a software/hardware solution for companies from the
automotive sector, which will enable these companies to use the blockchain technology to
uniquely mark their products. Their perceived value would be higher traceability and various
positive side effects, like getting more data about the lifecycle of their products which in turn
can be used for marketing purposes.
For the duration of the project the team worked on pitches, strategies and yearly budget
plans to proof that the plan is realistic, marketable and can be successfully implemented.
The structure for this report is first following a recap of our development and the feedback
we received. In the beginning we describe the development of the idea of the project. In the
following chapters the business model, market analysis and added values are explained.
Furthermore we explain how we plan to manage our risks and give an insight how we plan to
improve our Prototype to an MVP. We conclude with a Strategy of development and a look
in the future.
Business model:
The startup will use the blockchain technology to increase traceability of product parts and
subcomponents for companies and their customers in specializing in imprinting a unique
identifier on each of those parts to create higher traceability.
This will also enable the users of BlockForge to proof the creation of products through the
blockchain and seeing the life cycle of the product, which in turn can be used for marketing
purposes.
Traceability can be identified as a risk management tool for companies – but there are
important differences to keep in mind. The term “tracking” is used to monitor the movement
of products in different stages of production and in what kind of production processes could
be optimized until the product is assembled and completed. The term “tracing” is used to
describe the method of following a component/product through the supply chain, which
enables companies to better organize their shipments and ordering of new parts.
The goal for companies is to have 3 generated values through traceability:
- Call back for product recalls
- Tracking to see who is using the components / used for marketing purposes
- Battling the counterfeited and grey market
BlockForge will aim to deliver on all points to our customers and will specialize in products
which are highly used to be counterfeited by criminals, namely brakes, airbags, and filters.
Also, we will specialize in high-security parts, which are important to track and expensive to
create. With a higher precision in identifying the creation process and shipping, the profit
margin can be improved vastly for customer companies, if not all products have to be
recalled. The scope of the BlockForge startup has changed from a very assured and
aggressive approach to a more steady and practical one.
“The idea behind BlockForge is and can be adapted to many respective markets and so we
had a discussion about which market we want to choose as our entry market.”
Many companies already work on Blockchain technology and are actively developing
relationships and corporations to increase their chances of successful businesses and
technology.
5The mobility open blockchain initiative, called MOBI, and events like international
hackathons show, the industry is aware of the potential of the technology. Like other EIT
students we want to use these opportunities and follow the possibilities these events offer.
EIT news articles show that it is possible for young people to be recognized by big
companies to work as partners with them, to realize their projects.
“Two weeks after the Junction hackathon, out of the blue, Daimler invited the boys to present
their solution at its booth at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, where Daimler was one of the 4,500
exhibiting companies” . Every bigger company is capable to develop a BlockChain
technology and use it within their companies like Toyota , but companies are also looking
for startups to realize their ideas as the above example shows.
Startups are unique partners for these companies as they are by far more agile than bigger
companies and can adapt to their individual niche markets and customers. As well, they are
by far as not expensive and have smaller initial costs for their R&D, compared to bigger
companies who have not as agile structures.
The picture above shows the main product line BlockForge aims to deliver to its customers.
When we have found an introduction to the market and our first customers which produces,
airbags, brakes or filters, we will installate our hardware solution into the production line of
our customer. The price for such an installation is around 40.000 Euros and includes the
server costs, the installation costs and a laser marker to imprint the unique blockchain code
onto the product. With the unique blockchain code now imprinted on the product the
customers have the possibility to follow their product around its lifecycle an. Furthermore the
partners of our customer scan the QR codes and get the authenticity check if the product is
true or not.
6The scan also allows to see the product information, repair and maintenance info, statistical
orders, how many parts were ordered. This enables our customer to plan their marketing
more appropriate and increase their profits.
Our entry point into this market would be to convince one constructor from our solution,
which he can use to decrease the counterfeited parts sold from this type of product. After
succeeding with the implementation of BlockForge in one security risky product line,
BlockForge would be applied to other product creations. By doing so our automotive partner
would increase security for their customers and would also increase revenues through
selling more original products. As well these products will become more easy for a callback
from the company, which would increase also the profit for the company, as mentioned
above. After being successful within one company we can adapt and look for other
companies who want to use our technology.
Team:
Axel Brouland
Hugo Allain
Grey Skipwith
Dominik Koehler
Mohamed Abdullah Amanullah