Vaccine Cold Chain Distribution

Building trust and transparency for secure vaccine cold chain transfers

CHALLENGE

Existing COVID-19 vaccine supply chain processes are fragmented, making it difficult to capture and collate the data generated at every touchpoint while ensuring product authenticity and continuity of cold chain. Without aggregated data, it becomes difficult to get visibility into assets and conditions throughout the value chain, leading to the following challenges:

• Maintaining process and transaction transparency across all parties
• Ensuring product authenticity and secure transfer of vaccines without breaking cold chain
• Tracking secure box in real time for temperature control and ownership
• No real-time data availability for decision making
• Lack of a seamless process for controlled vaccine delivery
• No process for dispute settlement in case of violation

TCS SOLUTION

Built on SAP cloud platform and powered by IoT and blockchain, TCS’ Vaccine Cold Chain Distribution helps transfer the vaccine from manufacturers to providers securely, with real-time tracking and temperature monitoring. The vaccine receivers and/or administrators can check and confirm the shipment health before opening the secure box, ensuring cold chain throughout.

The solution offers three features:

• A physical secure box (hardware) containing the vaccine. The box is IoT-enabled and embedded with sensors. It also has an actuator to close or open the box, based on user inputs.
• A web application typically used by the vaccine manufacturers to securely lock the box before shipping it to the vaccine provider.
• A mobile application typically used by the vaccine administrators to check the box for any temperature violation while receiving. The application also unlocks the box securely to take the vaccine vials out.

The transactions performed on the secure box throughout the supply chain are visible thanks to blockchain. The temperature of the secure box is monitored during its subsequent distribution for any violation. Vaccine providers can use smart contract mechanism to assess temperature violations.

BENEFITS

TCS’ Vaccine Cold Chain Distribution leverages advanced IoT and blockchain to ensure intelligent and effective cold chain monitoring. The solution provides the following business benefits:

• Improved visibility and control over supply chain for controlled vaccine transfer
• Security, trust and transparency in operations
• Enhanced end-user experience through app-based authentication
• Product authenticity and cold chain continuity
• Real-time data for decision making
• Dispute resolution with proof of violation and ownership
• Revised final payment based on parameter violations
• Plug-and-play solution built on top of SAP installations

TCS ADVANTAGE

Besides our deep expertise across digital technologies such as AI, IoT, blockchain and analytics, and contextual knowledge of cold chain management, TCS offers:

• Strong multi-industry experience coupled with technology leadership to provide plug-and-play solutions
• Large SAP practice with cross industry vertical capabilities
• Global presence and ability to deliver remotely through Location Independent Agile™