Supporting Supply Chain Innovation: A Sound Digital Asset Strategy?

Fact: Current Supply Chain solutions are expensive. It is also a fact that companies with global supply chains could be standing on a cost base of which 90% is attributable to supply chain expenditure. The constant question for entrepreneurs, small companies, and large companies alike is: Can costs be saved by improving, streamlining, and optimizing the supply chain process?

Challenge

According to the Logistics Bureau, a 2014 survey conducted by PwC revealed that businesses with optimal supply chains have 15% lower supply chain costs, less than 50% of the inventory holdings and cash-to-cash cycles that are at least three times faster than those not focused on supply chain optimization. In another study conducted by Aberdeen group in 2013, top-performing companies that implemented supplier performance management initiatives had achieved average cost savings of around 12%.

Opportunity

The number of U.S. warehouses has grown 6.8% over the past five years and the number of companies not looking at supply chain automation is currently as high as 40%, but will drop to 17% by the end of 2018. Supply chain management companies such as Hercules SEZC are launching protocols that utilize public blockchains to help eradicate racketeering and collusion by transforming supply chain ecosystems and creating value for customers and partners.

Hercules, powered by HERC tokens (which act as software access keys), is the first commercially viable blockchain protocol platform leveraging Bitcoin, Ethereum and other public blockchains to lower volatility through layering and least cost routing techniques.

Through blockchains, companies gain a real-time digital ledger of transactions and movements for all participants in their supply chain network. According to EY Global Innovation Blockchain Leader, Paul Brody, “It’s important to clarify that the blockchain isn’t merely a prerequisite piece of software to buy. It’s actually the opposite — a solution to current fragmented supply chain infrastructure.”

Solution

The first live version of the Hercules supply chain protocol was made public on October 29, at which time, the supply chain software access keys, in the form of HERC tokens, were made available publicly for the first time. The HERC tokens are expected to make the cost of using blockchain software more predictable and streamline the sequence of processes involved in the production,distribution, and management of commodities and physical assets.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Market Growth

According to Statista, In 2017, the global blockchain technology market is predicted to reach 339.5 million U.S. dollars in size and is forecast to grow to US$2.3 billion by 2021. The number of cryptocurrencies and exchange platforms are also increasing each year.

Benefits of Supply Chain Management on the Blockchain

According to a survey by Deloitte from 2014, 79% of companies with high-performing supply chains achieve revenue growth greater than the average within their industries. Conversely, just 8% of businesses with less capable supply chains report above-average growth.

Hercules blockchain software tracks physical inventory in a supply chain with a digital source to store and review auditing information. The HERC software access token is designed to erase ongoing problems in centralized supply chain management and provide many benefits to token holders. See how HERC works here.

Looking Ahead…

According to the Fidelity Global Institutional Investor Survey: The Future of Investment Management, 73% percent of institutional investors agree that a new asset class will emerge due to advances in technologies such as blockchain. The recently published 2018 Survey, which focuses on what the world of investing could look like in 2025, collected responses from more than 900 institutions across 25 countries, including decision-makers at private and public pensions, insurers, endowments, defined contribution plans, and sovereign wealth funds. With more than $29 trillion in assets under management represented, the survey presents a wide-angle view of the current state of institutional investing, and the industry’s expectations for the future.

Institutional investors such as hedge funds, family offices, and market intermediaries cite that the rising popularity of the store of value, relative non-correlation to the broader market, potential to power low-cost global payments, and the emergence of protocols which could power new industries are some of the main reasons they are entering the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

About Hercules SEZC

The history of Hercules rests on the foundation and legacy of the Blanchard family’s group of companies situated within the gold industry. In 1973, James U. Blanchard III hired a biplane to tow a “Legalize Gold” banner over President Nixon’s inauguration, an act which helped restore the right of Americans to own gold. The first use case of Hercules was for AnthemGold Inc., a business that has developed liquid ways to buy, own and sell physical gold through a gold-backed cryptocurrency called AGLD.

With its launch on October 29, Hercules is now helping solve the problem of provenance in the gold and precious metals market. Furthermore, Its scope is wide-ranging and could transform supply chains in the automotive, food, pharmaceutical, and retail industries, just to name a few. To date, major milestones have been completed including MVP for HERC development.

The HERC Token

The HERC is a Software Access Token designed to provide access to universal, decentralized standardization and documentation for the verification of physical assets throughout a supply chain. In essence, the tokens allow access to the software which stores inventory information.

HERC tokens are available for sale at US$0.40 per token.

The HERC TOKEN SALE is now live at: https://purchase.herc.one/

Visit the official website: https://herc.one/

Learn about where to store HERC tokens at: https://herc.one/tokeninfo

Find out more about the team behind the project here.

Read the Hercules Supply Chain Protocol White Paper here and Research paper here.

Check out the code: https://github.com/hercone