Project Overview
A major Japanese sogo shosha (general trading company) managing complex supply chains across Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan needed a solution to a growing problem: lack of transparency and traceability across their multi-party supply chain. With hundreds of suppliers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and distributors involved, documentation fraud and disputes were costing the company millions annually, while manual customs processes were causing significant delays. BCT Global was engaged to design and build a permissioned blockchain platform that would provide end-to-end traceability for their Southeast Asian operations.
The Challenge
The client's supply chain operations faced several critical obstacles that were eroding profitability and operational efficiency:
- Complex multi-party supply chain involving 200+ suppliers across Vietnam and Thailand, with goods flowing through multiple intermediaries before reaching Japanese ports
- Documentation fraud was a recurring issue: falsified certificates of origin, altered quality inspection reports, and duplicate invoicing costing an estimated ¥300M annually
- Customs clearance averaging 5 business days due to manual document verification processes and frequent discrepancies between declared and actual shipment contents
- No unified system for all stakeholders — suppliers used paper records, freight forwarders used their own systems, and the trading company relied on spreadsheets and email
- Language barriers between Japanese headquarters, Vietnamese suppliers, and Thai logistics partners required a trilingual solution
- The solution needed to integrate with existing ERP systems (SAP) without disrupting current workflows
Our Solution
BCT Global deployed a hybrid lab team: 2 blockchain engineers in Hanoi, 3 full-stack developers, 1 DevOps engineer, 1 UX designer specializing in multilingual interfaces, 1 systems integration specialist, and 1 bilingual project manager coordinating between Tokyo and Hanoi.
- Phase 1 — Blockchain Architecture (Months 1-4): Selected Hyperledger Fabric as the permissioned blockchain platform for its enterprise-grade privacy controls and performance. Designed the network topology with separate channels for different trade routes (VN→JP, TH→JP). Defined smart contracts for key supply chain events: order placement, production completion, quality inspection, shipment, customs declaration, and delivery confirmation.
- Phase 2 — Platform Development (Months 4-10): Built a Vue.js web portal supporting Japanese, Vietnamese, and English interfaces. Each stakeholder type (supplier, freight forwarder, customs broker, buyer) got a role-specific dashboard. Developed mobile-friendly QR code scanning for warehouse and port workers to record events on the blockchain. Implemented document upload with hash verification — any document tampering is immediately detected.
- Phase 3 — Integration & Pilot (Months 10-14): Integrated with the client's SAP ERP for automated purchase order and invoice reconciliation. Connected to Vietnam Customs (VNACCS) and Thailand Customs (NSW) electronic systems for pre-clearance document submission. Piloted with 50 suppliers across 2 trade routes, processing 500+ shipments.
- Phase 4 — Rollout & Optimization (Months 14-16): Expanded to full 200+ supplier network. Trained 300+ users across 3 countries in their native languages. Optimized blockchain query performance for real-time traceability dashboards.
System Architecture
Technology Stack
Results & Impact
Within 6 months of full deployment, documentation disputes decreased by 70%, directly saving the client an estimated ¥200M annually in fraud-related losses. Customs clearance time was reduced from an average of 5 days to 1.5 days thanks to pre-verified blockchain records accepted by customs authorities. Over 3,000 SKUs across the supply chain achieved full traceability from source to destination. The trilingual platform achieved 85% adoption rate among suppliers within 3 months — a testament to the intuitive UX design. The client is now exploring expanding the platform to their Middle East and Africa trade routes.
"Supply chain transparency has always been our biggest challenge in Southeast Asian operations. BCT Global built a system that not only solved our documentation fraud problem but fundamentally changed how we interact with our suppliers. The fact that their team in Vietnam could communicate directly with our Vietnamese suppliers in their native language was an unexpected advantage that accelerated adoption dramatically."
VP of Supply Chain Operations Japanese Sogo Shosha — Top-tier trading company