SyncFab — The P2P Hardware Manufacturing Supply Chain Blockchain

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SyncFab — The P2P Hardware Manufacturing Supply Chain Blockchain

Introduction:
In the past 200 years, we have faced a drastical industrial revolution. Starting back then from year 1800, the first production mechanization constructions powered by water and steem were invented. This was the start of the industry 1.0. Followed by the industry 2.0 in the 19th century, mass production in form of assembly lines started to ease human work. 1970 was the start for the industry 3.0 with a big focus on electronic systems and IT. Automation increased and substituted human work drastically, while increasing productity, reliability and profit overall.
Today, we are in the middle of the industry 4.0 revolution. The industry 4.0 is characterized with another increasement of automation, and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, including cyber-physical systems, the IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud- and cognitive computing.

Problems:
The revolution with industry 4.0 is not bringing advantages only, but also new problems arise. As with the revolution new small and medium-sized enterprises enter the market, they face difficult entry barriers set by intermediaries and large procurement firms, since they are controlling the access into many hardware manufacturing companies. As a result of that, high prices are set and intellectual property protection is barely or not provided . This often results in great losses due to wrong choosen manufacturing suppliers, security breaches or inefficient product procurement processes.

The Solution:
A currently ongoing project called “SyncFab” is having a solution for those problems. SyncFab aims to connect buyers directly to hardware manufacturers, by using the blockchain. By doing so, buyers and hardware manufacturers will be able to streamline the procurement and supply chain processes, protect intellectual properties as well as source, and track parts production in real time or on demand.
The SyncFab project started already in 2013. SyncFab has so far developed a online decentralized platform for buyers to manufacturers. If a buyer sets an order, manufacturers will be getting a notification if the requirements on the Smart Manufacturing Blockchain are matched. Advantages in doing so are besides eliminating costly intermediaries, also the elimination of wasted labor-hours because of miscommunication, that again leads to manufacturing mistakes and delivery delays. How this exactly works can be also seen in a more understandable way in the following graphic:

MFG token:
SyncFab will use their own cryptocurrency called “MFG tokens” for their ecosystem. MFG tokens are utility tokens and has the functionality of rewarding purchasers and manufacturers. Besides that it will be used for the execution of smart contracts. The benefits are:

The benefits for hardware purchasers:

• Cheaper and high quality quotes from the source
• On-demand purchasing, tracking, & reordering
• Connect with a network of local vetted manufacturers
• Secure transactions and communications through smart contracts

The benefits for hardware manufacturers:

• Eliminate marketing costs by having buyers directly connect to your manufacturing facility
• Guaranteed payments through smart contracts
• Complete control of your pricing & capabilities
• Less headaches of overhead and processes to focus on producing the best quality products

Some general information about MFG tokens:

• Exclusive sale for early adopters on the 15th November 2017 (successfully completed)
• Public presale from the 1st january 2018 (successfully completed)
• Public main sale starting from the 15th february 2018 (currently ongoing)
• 1.000.000.000 total supply of MFG tokens
• 300.000.000 accessible for the sale with 1 ETH grantins 5000 MFG tokens
• Hardcap of 30 million USD (equals about 33k ETH)
• Payment method: Ethereum
• Any unsold tokens after the ICO will be burned

Roadmap:
The SyncFab roadmap is set up into 9 milestones until the end of 2019. These are:

• Milestone 1​ — Q1 2018: MFG Token Generation Event and Distributio
• Milestone 2​ — Q2 2018: MFG Token Acceptance Integration
• Milestone 3​ — Q3 2018: Format Ethereum Blockchain Smart Contracts for Purchasers
• Milestone 4​ — Q4 2018: Format Ethereum Blockchain Smart Contracts for Suppliers
• Milestone 5​ — Q1 2019: Implement MFG ETH Supply Chain Blockchain Smart Contract
• Milestone 6​ — Q2 2019: Survey Machine Shop Upgrade Requirements
• Milestone 7​ — Q3 2019: Formulate Upgrade Solution for Machine Shops
• Milestone 8​ — Q4 2019: Begin Implementing Machine Live Data Feed Upgrade Solution

My opinion:
In my opinion SyncFab is a really interesting project with a really useful use-case trying to solve nowadays problems of the industry 4.0. As we are currently in the middle of the revolution, I truly believe that now is the right time to find a solution for those problems. Besides the project idea I also think that the project will be a success due to the increasing demand for hardware manufacturers, because new enterprises will enter the market on a daily basis. Especially with China’s growth in the industry, I definitely see a huge potential for this whole market overall, thus also for SyncFab. Personally, I’m very interested in the project and will keep an eye on how it will develop in the near future.

Further information:
If you are interested in the SyncFab project, kindly check out their official website, their whitepaper for more detailed information about the project and also their official communication channels for open questions:

Website: https://blockchain.syncfab.com/
Whitepaper: https://blockchain.syncfab.com/SyncFab_MFG_WP.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/syncfab
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/syncfab/
Telegram Chat: https://t.me/syncfab
Bitcointalk ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2286102.0

My Bitcointalk Profile (Rano): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1609093