Making sense of your supply chain

When implemented across a full supply chain, Wholechain helps companies document and verify claims related to quality and sustainability, while enabling compelling storytelling for both stakeholders and consumers. There are a multitude of ways Wholechain can be leveraged given each business’ specific and unique context in the product journey.

Examples of the various ways different users might use Wholechain include:

• A producer/Supplier using Wholechain may log events related to raw materials' harvest (Commission) and shipment to the processing facility (Ship). 
• A processor using Wholechain will likely need to capture the event that describes processing of the goods (Transform), followed by a shipment to another storage facility (Ship), and then on to a retailer’s distribution center (Ship). 
• A retailer might have a distribution center, which will need to receive the product shipment (Receive) and send lots out to individual stores (either Ship or Decommission)
• A brand or retailer might want to take advantage of Wholechain's storytelling tool, Sourceview, to educate and engage consumers

In an attempt to cater our support accordingly, this article provides some relevant starting points for users to best take advantage of our event-based traceability system. Here's an overview to help you familiarize with the various functions to identify where how your business' context fits in: 

• Producer/Supplier
  • Description: Upstream trading partners that usually represent producers and deal with raw materials pre-processing. They’re logging the events that reflect the very beginning of the traced supply chain - i.e. harvest, catch, or other origin. 
  • Common event types: Commission, Ship
• Processor
  • Description: Any party that processes, manufactures or otherwise irreversibly changes a product’s form. This could be processing at a factory, changing into final packaged product, or performing another type of value-add activity. 
  • Common event types: Transform, Ship, Receive
• Transport/Distribution
  • Description: Distribution centers, freight forwarders or storage facilities that receive product in its final form, and then either store, ship or pass along for distribution. 
  • Common event types: Ship, Receive
• Retailer
  • Description: Typically the farthest downstream party in a supply chain before consumption, 
  • Common event Types: Receive, Decommission

We understand (and expect) that some companies encompass multiple business types, especially when it comes to actually logging in Wholechain. All users have access to all of the core traceability features, even if there are certain features your company rarely utilizes. We’ve also intentionally designed Wholechain to allow event logging at other companies' facilities, which you can add as locations in your Account Settings. There's a checkbox that lets you indicate whether the location represents a partner's facility.

Here’s a good starting point: 

1. Identify which profile(s) match your position in your supply chain
2. Get organized and break your supply chain down step by step. This will help you to pare down which events you want to capture in Wholechain and which are implied or unnecessary
3. Determine whether Wholechain's consumer engagement tool, Sourceview, makes sense for your business