Deutsche Verkehrszeitung. Frederic Witt | 08. octobre 2022
Supply Chain Due Diligence Act - these 36 letters will influence the actions of many companies based in Germany from January 1, 2023. According to the text of the law, companies with more than 3,000 employees will then be required to "observe human rights and environmental due diligence obligations in an appropriate manner with the aim of preventing or minimizing human rights or environmental risks or ending the violation of human rights or environmental obligations." As of January 1, 2024, the threshold for affected companies will then be lowered to 1,000 employees. Many of these companies are already passing on some of these conditions to their suppliers - so it is already having a massive impact not only on large companies, but also on medium-sized businesses.
Companies and corporations are thus faced with the major challenge of making their supply chains transparent as quickly as possible. One possible solution is now offered by Ziffereins founder Thomas Rödding, who promises nothing less than "the digital value chain" with the digital ecosystem Narravero. Rödding, who has been a programmer since his youth and built up the software company Diron after graduating from high school, sees Near Field Communication (NFC) as the key to the transparent supply chain of the future.
Digital company Narravero's digital Saas platform offers compliant digitization of a product's complete life history. (Photo: Narravero)
Digital company Narravero's digital Saas platform offers compliant digitization of a product's complete life history. (Photo: Narravero)
Since 2017, CEO Thomas Rödding has already been using a similar concept in the field of game meat marketing to make game meat products traceable. The "diwima" developed for this purpose, the digital game brand of the company of the same name, is now considered a benchmark in digital hunting organization for hunters and authorities, for example in the fight against and prevention of African swine fever (ASF).
NFC chips, which transmit data contactlessly via electromagnetic induction even without a battery or electricity, can store and share product information, according to Rödding's vision. Using cloud & blockchain technology, Narravero can not only provide government agencies and businesses with the information they need, but also provide end customers with product information in a level of detail that is unattainable with traditional sewn-in "care instructions" or QR codes. "We let the products speak," is how Rödding succinctly summarizes his technology.
Thomas L. Rödding
Thomas Rödding, born in Münster, has been familiar with algorithms since his youth and moved in the digital world early on. He founded his first IT consulting and software company "diron" in 1991 and successfully sold it to a listed public company in the summer of 2008. In 2013, he founded his current Ziffereins group of companies. Since 2017, he has been advising DAX corporations and ministries on digital and technological issues and is involved in various committees, including DIN and CEN.For logistics in particular, however, Narravero's technological platform offers many advantages, as Rödding explains in an interview with DVZ: "At the moment, many different scanners are in use in logistics. But NFC chips can be scanned with a smartphone. So it saves a lot of hardware costs." At the same time, the flexibility of the chips offers Rödding almost unlimited possibilities in use: "You can put them on containers, on boxes, labels or on the individual products themselves."
The transparency enthusiast, as Rödding is known by colleagues, sees Narravero as a solution for three fields of application at once. On the one hand, the NFC chips can be used to store all the information that will be required in the future by the Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act. In addition, however, the chip also provides end consumers with information on origin, working conditions or the raw materials used in retail. Thirdly, Narravero's technology opens up unimagined possibilities in the after-sales area with the "Digital Product Passport" (DPP). For example, instruction videos, supplementary product offers and information on disposal or further recycling can be brought to the customer with the NFC chips. "Today, accurate information on components and raw materials is often missing when disposing of products. A circular economy is thus hardly possible," says Rödding, explaining the current problem that Narravero aims to solve.
Currently, Narravero is in the test phase with various partners from the food, fashion, special equipment and pet food sectors. According to Rödding, the initial findings here are very promising. He is certain: "We will be able to help many companies make their supply chain more transparent as early as this year and even more so in 2023."