Friday, June 20, 2014

Our Newest Patent Has Issued -- A Look at What It's All About.

Our newest patent issued this week on June 17.  U.S. Patent No. 8,756,124 “Systems and methods for tracking and tracing products through a supply chain utilizing unique URLs”.   Most people wonder what it’s all about.  If asked to describe it in one word, well I had to make one up – infotory.  Infotory is about combining information and inventory management to improve supply chain outcomes and that’s the essence of what we’ve claimed in our most recently issued patent. 

Our cloud-based technology is building a layer of information on top of pure inventory to ensure up-to-date digital information is available in the right context for the relevant party in the supply chain.  We make it possible to know not just if you have something or if you’ve used it, but who used it, where, when and even how.  Our platform allows manufacturers to improve a customer’s relationship with not only the product but also the manufacturer itself.

Imagine your company manufactures high chairs.  Whether you have a child using one today or not, you likely sat in one at one time in your life so I expect you can understand why ensuring high chairs are used properly and safely is important.  With our technology a manufacturer can deploy micro-sites that ensure easy and direct access to the instructions to properly assemble the high chair.  Our geolocation rules ensure the user gets the instructions in the right language.  Providing all information in one website, we can also provide registration forms for the product – no more postcards to mail back.  The digital experience also allows the company to show the parents other products.  Most special of all, the platform allows safety notifications to be pushed to the website, so if there’s a problem the customer can find about the moment they access their direct website for the product.


Our technology is focused on improving supply chain outcomes and more importantly customer experiences.  If you have an idea for how your technology could use a platform like the one I describe, please drop me a line at foster@121nexus.com.