Circulor: Blockchain A.I. Supply Chain Enhancing Technology?

Circulor, found online at Circulor.com, aims to use blockchain to revolutionize supply chain economics. Find out how it works today in our review.

What Is Circulor?

Circulor is a London-based blockchain startup that aims to use blockchain to provide better supply chain management.

Circulor made headlines in March 2018 after partnering with German car manufacturer BMW. BMW will use Circulor’s blockchain to ensure the batteries for their electric vehicles contain cobalt made without the use of child labor.

The overall goal of Circulor is to create better global supply chain ethics using blockchain technology.

How Does Circulor Work?

Obviously, improving ethics across global supply chains is an ambitious task. That’s why Circulor aims to start small by focusing on cobalt.

Circulor’s pilot project with BMW will focus on the global cobalt industry. Circulor will test their system using cobalt that’s already assumed to be clean – including cobalt sourced from countries like Australia and Canada. Then, Circulor will begin focusing on unregulated “artisanal” cobalt mines worldwide.

Why is supply chain tracking such a big deal in the cobalt industry? Well, two thirds of the world’s cobalt comes from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 20% of all mines in the DRC are highly unregulated. UNICEF reported in 2014 that there were as many as 40,000 child miners in the country’s southern region alone. Amnesty International, meanwhile, reports that the cobalt industry is rampant with illegal and unethical practices.

Circulor wants to use blockchain technology to track cobalt’s journey through the complex global supply chain. Obviously, cobalt doesn’t go directly from a mine in the DRC to BMW’s production facility in Germany; instead, it jumps through a number of different partners on the supply chain before ending up in the hood of an electric BMW.

With that in mind, Circulor will use a barcode to track cobalt through the main stages of its journey. This will ensure that BMW is sourcing its cobalt ethically. It also may lower regulatory compliance costs.

If the Circulor pilot project is successful, then the company may set a new standard for ethical sourcing. The system could also ripple over into a number of other elements and minerals prone to illegal and unethical practices worldwide. Circulor could become the preferred platform that allows manufacturers to track materials across the supply chain.

Technically speaking, Circulor is building its solution on a modular, open-source platform. That platform will include distributed or decentralized applications that manage various aspects of the supply chain. The over-arching goal of all of these applications is to help participants prove provenance, improve supply chain efficiency, and reduce counterparty risk and exposure.

Circulor Blockchain A.I. Supply Chain Enhancing Technology Features

Circulor’s platform will focus on three core features, including:

Storing Digital Records:

Circulor will use blockchain to digitize information between untrusted counterparties, thereby controlling information through secure, auditable, and immutable records of transactions and digital representations of physical assets.

Using Digital Assets:

Users can issue new assets and transfer ownership in real-time without the need for banks, clearinghouses, or payment processors and without the need for letters of credit. This will reduce friction in the supply chain, improving efficiency and lowering costs.

Business Rules Are Enforced By Code:

Self-governing contracts and tokens simplify and automate lengthy and inefficient business processes, removing administrative costs from both counterparties. Key features include ground rules (terms and conditions recorded in the code of a smart contract), implementation (the shared network automatically executes smart contracts and monitors compliance), and verification (outcomes are validated instantly without a third party verifier).

Overall, Circulor has published limited information about their blockchain online. We know the company is developing blockchain-enabled systems to improve provenance within complex supply chains. We also know it will be a modular open-source platform with decentralized applications. However, the firm has not published a whitepaper, and the website features only basic details of the platform.

Circulor is still in active development, and we expect more details to be released as the pilot project with BMW nears completion.

Who’s Behind Circulor?

Circulor’s core team has all held senior executive roles in sectors like banking, IT services, and gaming. Key members of the team include Doug Johnson-Poensgen (CEO), who has 25 years of international experience as an executive and non-executive director operating in TMT, financial services, IT, and management consultancy sectors. He has served leadership roles in large corporations like Barclays, BT, Serco, and AIMIA as well as startups like Snapdragon.

Other listed members of the team include Ben Brophy (Strategic Director), Tim Holmes-Mitra (Technical Lead), and Colin T. Mcintyre (COO).

Circulor has partnered with JCA, Blocklab, and Cadence Innova to bring their platform to life. Circulor is based in London, UK.

Circulor Conclusion

Circulor aims to use blockchain to regulate, automate, and manage supply chain processes. The company’s blockchain will feature decentralized apps dedicated to managing various aspects of the supply chain.

BMW and Circulor have partnered together for the company’s pilot project. Circulor will help BMW track the cobalt used in BMW’s electric car batteries. Today, a significant amount of the world’s cobalt comes from unethical mines – including mines in the Congo that use child labor. Circulor will use barcodes and blockchain to track cobalt through major steps in the supply chain, helping BMW ensure ethical sourcing.

To learn more about Circulor and how it works, visit online today at Circulor.com.