What is Chain of Custody?
A chain of custody in the supply chain, is a documented account of the people or entities that handle a product (and its constituent parts or ingredients), from its journey from raw material to the end customer.
Identifying the chain of custody of a product across a supply chain is a difficult task, given the complexity of today’s global business, and the number of trading partners involved in moving raw materials, components, and final product. However, such chains of custody are becoming increasingly important, especially where product is high value, or contamination is an issue, as in food and pharmaceuticals.
Modern digital supply chains, with multi-party transaction based on a single data model, are making it easier to identify and document the chain of custody across the supply chain.
One Network's Perspective on Chain of Custody
Traditional supply chain technologies that involve standalone systems and hub-and-spoke portals, create disconnects in the supply chain, and make identifying and documenting a product's chain of custody extremely difficult.
One Network provides a Digital Supply Chain Network™ which connects all trading partners through a single data model, to a single platform. This enables thousands of member companies to share information, transact, and collaborate in real-time to satisfy customer demand. This network-based approach, with a real-time single version of the truth across all trading partners, elegantly enables a robust chain of custody and traceability, without the need to create complex integrations between systems and add-ons. This is because, all the data to compile the chain of custody, usually already exists in the system. Chain of custody and traceability is simply a byproduct of transacting on the network.
Chain of Custody Resources
How to Achieve Product Traceability Across Your Supply Network
How to track the full chain-of- custody for every item from start to finish, providing visibility across final products, intermediates, and raw materials in real time from their source, across trading partners and to the end consumer.
How Blockchain Can Enhance Food Safety
How Blockchain, combined with a multi-party network, can help secure the food supply chain and mitigate food safety issues. It can also help execute rapid and targeted recalls when necessary.
Webinar: Imperial Logistics Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Listen to Clinton DeSouza, Director of Public Health at Imperial Logistics, as he discusses how Imperial Logistics is leveraging One Network to provide an end-to-end fulfillment backbone spanning their entire distribution process for essential medical supplies, including serialization and authentication of HIV and antimalarial drugs.
