Circular economy
Supply Chain Traceability Engineering
EPCIS 2.0 events and W3C Verifiable Credentials, so a supply chain claim can be checked rather than merely trusted.
We build supply chain traceability on open standards: EPCIS 2.0 for event capture and query, W3C Verifiable Credentials for cryptographically signed claims, and decentralised identifiers for supplier identity. The result is provenance that a downstream party can verify independently, without trusting your database.
The problem this solves
Most traceability systems are a database with a good interface. They faithfully record what a supplier told you. What they cannot do is let a customer, auditor or regulator verify that claim without trusting your system — and increasingly, that is exactly what is being asked for.
Verifiable traceability changes the trust model rather than the storage technology. Events are captured using EPCIS 2.0, the GS1 standard for recording what happened to which object, when, where and why; version 2.0's JSON-LD binding and REST API made it substantially easier to implement than earlier XML-based versions. Claims — a certification, a test result, a statement of origin — are issued as W3C Verifiable Credentials, cryptographically signed by whichever party is making them, so any recipient can check the signature offline. Identity is anchored in decentralised identifiers rather than in one vendor's account system, which is what allows the evidence to outlive the platform that produced it.
Notably, none of this requires a distributed ledger. That surprises people, because traceability and blockchain have been marketed together for a decade. A ledger solves the narrow problem of shared state that no single party can be trusted to host; most supply chain requirements are met more cheaply by signed credentials and standard APIs.
What we build
- EPCIS 2.0 capture and query interfaces using the JSON-LD binding
- Event modelling: object, aggregation, transformation and transaction events
- GS1 identifier design: GTIN, SSCC, GLN and Digital Link resolution
- W3C Verifiable Credential issuance, presentation and verification flows
- Decentralised identifiers with key management that survives staff turnover
- Selective disclosure so suppliers prove compliance without exposing commercial data
- Interoperability testing against partner implementations, not only your own
How we approach it
Define what must be provable
Not everything needs cryptographic verification. We identify the specific claims that a third party must be able to check independently, and scope the system to those.
Model events in EPCIS 2.0
We map your real supply chain steps onto EPCIS event types. Transformation events — several inputs becoming one output — are where most models break, so we design those first.
Issue claims as credentials
Certifications, test results and origin statements become signed Verifiable Credentials, issued by the party actually making the claim rather than aggregated by you.
Design selective disclosure
Suppliers must prove compliance without revealing their own supplier relationships. This requirement is nearly universal and is far harder to retrofit than to design in.
Test against someone else's implementation
A traceability system validated only against itself will fail on first contact with a partner. We test interoperability against external implementations before launch.
Frequently asked questions
What is EPCIS 2.0?
A GS1 standard for recording supply chain events: what object, at what time, at what location, and for what business purpose. Version 2.0 added JSON and JSON-LD bindings plus a REST API, which made it far more practical to implement than earlier XML-based versions.
Do we need blockchain for supply chain traceability?
Usually not. Signed Verifiable Credentials plus standard APIs provide tamper-evidence and independent verification without a ledger's operational cost. A distributed ledger is justified when no participant can be trusted to host shared state, which is rarer than the marketing suggests.
What are Verifiable Credentials?
Cryptographically signed claims issued by a specific party — a certification body, a testing lab, a supplier. Any recipient can verify the signature without contacting the issuer, so the claim can be checked even if the original system is offline or has been replaced.
How do suppliers prove compliance without revealing their suppliers?
Through selective disclosure, where a credential proves a specific property without exposing the underlying commercial relationships. This is one of the main reasons to use credentials rather than sharing raw supply chain data.
How does traceability relate to the Digital Product Passport?
Traceability supplies much of the evidence a passport presents. EPCIS events establish chain of custody, and Verifiable Credentials let the passport carry claims a recycler or authority can verify independently rather than accept on trust.