3D Printing goes Blockchain

 Additive manufacturing as a new component in the supply chain will bring huge changes. A startup has a solution for the challenge of security and payment in the additive world.

Concerns about logistics and supply chains are as old as humanity. It is almost a truism that it is important to have the right good in the right spot at the right time. Today, not only in terms of Industry 4.0, completely new requirements are demanded from the material flow, the material flow itself must merge to a component in the digital supply chain. This does not just mean the increasing usage of digital twins.The mega-trend of Additive Manufacturing in its many different forms also brings completely new opportunities and great risks related to the supply of goods with it. It is no longer futuristic that even complex products made of different material components will soon be printable in the highest quality.Product design and development, prototypes and their first application in the form of a digital twin, suggestions for improvement after first use as a real printed product — all these steps will have a place in the future digital value chain. This presents new challenges: How is digital property protected? How is ensured that a user uses the correct original file? Who pays for an elaborate development?

A start-up has answers

A start-up from Augsburg has the answers to these questions, working on using Blockchain technology to secure transactions of real and digital products in the field of additive manufacturing, for example, to secure documents or CAD-drawings. The Blockchain technology is no longer new, but it is not used in the industry very often yet. That is going to change, soon.The start-up erecoin uses the cryptotoken of the same name as an application of the Blockchain to make the flow of data between contracting parties transparent and secure.In the intelligent contracts of the respective transaction, in the future, authorizations for groups of persons or time periods can be stored, business details and licensing questions can be recorded, and a payment for the service can be made directly.Erecoin is going to start its ICO (Initial Coin Offering) on February 18th.