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Use cases

Platform 6 is a perfect fit for applications that require:

  • structured data exchange with remote computer systems and blockchain ledgers
  • data transformation and enrichment
  • business process orchestration
  • workflows allowing users to take action (such as review, complete or validate transactions)

Blockchain use cases

Following are two examples of typical applications built on the platform.

Automated Material Master Quote System

Supported process:

  1. Recover a Bill Of Material (BOM) in different formats (CSV, XML, JSON, etc.) from a manufacturing application using a shared directory on the file system (SFTP connections, HTTPS call, etc.).
  2. Transform each line of the BOM into a Request For Quotation (RFQ) in XML. This transformation could use calls to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to determine which suppliers to send the RFQ to, or use a simple lookup table directly loaded on the platform.
  3. Propagate the RFQs to the suppliers using a smart contract running on a blockchain.
  4. Receive the suppliers quotes from the blockchain smart contract.
  5. Aggregate and process the quotes and trigger a user workflow to review the quotes and accept/reject them.

IOT triggering work orders

Supported process:

  1. Receive via Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) a stream of readings from Internet of Things (IoT) devices or sensors monitoring the health state of selected equipment.
  2. Process the readings and trigger an alert when the readings meet certain thresholds.
  3. Trigger a user workflow with notification to a maintenance technician.
  4. Generate in parallel a work order in a customized Intermediate Document (IDoc) format to be pushed to an existing SAP system.
  5. Offer a custom form to be filled by the technician with work details on its mobile device.
  6. Convert the details entered to IDoc for integration in the SAP system.

B2B integration use case

Applications developed on Platform 6 can support the integrated exchange of electronic business documents (orders, shipment advices, invoices…) between trading partners, helping automating Order-to-Cash or Procure-to-Pay processes.

Order-to-Cash

Sample process supported by a P6 application:

  1. Receive an electronic Purchase Order from a Customer (via a secure transport protocol such as AS2, SFTP, HTTPs, FTPs) and store it on P6
  2. Transform the Purchase Order to a pivot/canonical format
  3. Trigger a workflow for the Customer Service person to review and approve
  4. Once approved, insert the PO in the ERP (either putting the PO in a format accepted by the ERP, or making web service / API calls to the ERP)
  5. Receive an Advanced Shipping Notification file from the ERP, transform it to the format requested by the Customer and send it
  6. Receive an Invoice data file from the ERP (or retrieve the information via web service / API calls), transform it into a pivot/canonical format
  7. Launch a review or completion workflow if need be (for example if data elements required by the Customer are missing or incorrectly formatted)
  8. Once the invoice is valid, transform it to the format requested by the Customer and send it
  9. Receive Invoice Status Updates from the Customer, update the Invoice status on P6 as well as on the ERP and the Collections Management Solution (if exists)

Logistics

Sample process supported by a P6 application:

  1. Receive an electronic copy of a shipment from the ERP, including the shipper’s name and tracking reference, and store it on P6
  2. Depending on the shipper’s ability, either periodically retrieve shipment tracking information from the shipper’s system (pull mode), or receive such information from the shipper’s system (push mode)
  3. Update shipment tracking information in P6 and push it to the ERP
  4. Once shipment is delivered, collect the Proof of Delivery (PoD), store it on P6 and sent the hyperlink and shipment status to the ERP
  5. Periodically check the status of shipments to make sure tracking information is received if applicable and PoD is receive on time - trigger a notification if not the case