Olam

As we progress into the 21st century the demand for global shipping is increasing rapidly. This growth is driven by the vast array of consumer goods, food and pharmaceuticals. Serving the endless needs and desires of the consumer has become the driving force behind this industry.

The rapid increase in shipping traffic is accompanied by both old and new problems. From planning to execution, the most critical challenges concern the efficiency and security of transportation. These concerns, combined with the global waste problem of perishables, leaves the industry in need of innovative solutions. Furthermore, it may come as a surprise that still most processing of shipments is paper-based and that the digitization of the logistics process is considered cutting edge technology. This outdated paper processing mechanism greatly reduces the efficiency of the supply chain flow.

The Olam project was born of the notion that the road to a digitized supply chain starts with a common language among all stakeholders. Beginning with the shipper, through the brokers and carriers, and all the way up to the receiver, an efficient communication platform for all stakeholders is required to achieve the full potential of the supply chain industry. This conceptual language is based on Information Technology (IT) and will enable enterprises and various other supply chain vendors to thrive, compete and even cooperate in a decentralized, trusted and fair environment.


The Olam team has come up with a fresh approach to these problems which involve the following:
 A revolutionary yet non-disruptive solution for a rapidly growing $9 trillion industry.
A neutral Not-for-Profit organization supporting a standard for the logistics space.
APIs where an ecosystem of solutions and services can thrive.
Cooperation and alignment with governmental authorities and regulatory bodies.
Enhancement and automation through the use of smart contracts and IoT (Internet of Things).

The aim is to establish a common platform with a single IT language that stakeholders can utilize to drive efficiency up and delivery times down, while reducing or eliminating the aforementioned challenges to the industry.

The Olam team alongside world leaders in logistics, IoT, big data and analytics technologies, is initiating a Not-for-Profit (NFP) project that will offer an innovative decentralized platform which aims to become the standard for the digitization of logistics processes in the supply chain. The NFP is an efficient and completely neutral way to run the platform, as stakeholders will be confident about the platform longevity derived from the NFP funding and the open source approach. The foundation will receive funding through the selling of the platform’s tokens, OLM, that will allow users to make use of the platform’s services.

In this white paper, we explore the challenges of the global supply chain market. We then describe Olam’s endeavor to provide solutions, which will overcome the challenges that hold the industry back from reaching its full potential. This includes the ability to automate manual processes and enable new types of logistic services, processes and transportation models. It is our aim to make Olam’s platform the standard choice for all logistics activities and services in the supply chain.