DLT360: cardaBAN - Blockchain-based Industrial KANBAN System

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

DLT360

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

Detailed Requirements/Solution Specification and PoC of an open, blockchain-based, industrial KANBAN System for global participation, with connectors to major material management systems such as SAP.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

No

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Publicly available deliverables

Our ambition is to make this application, once developed, available based on a suitable open source license. Nevertheless, establishing this Requirements/Solution Specification and PoC requires the cooperation with external partners, who might require certain information to only be shared as part of the confidential commercial business processes of DLT360. It is therefore currently impossible to decide, if the results of the project can be published according to openSource licensing. Therefore we decided to declare the following outcome as 'publicly available deliverables' (and some other outcome as 'not publicly available' as described further below). Here the publicly available deliverables:

• cardaBAN Pitch-Deck: see detailed description later in this proposal
• cardaBAN Promotion-Video: see detailed description later in this proposal

Not publicly available (can be made on-demand available upon request and agreement)

The availability of the actual output of this project needs to be restricted due to the above mentioned reasons. This output consists of:

• cardaBAN Requirements Specification (see detailed description later in this proposal)
• cardaBAN Solution Specification (see detailed description later in this proposal)
• Design Thinking PoC under involvement of a pilot customer
• cardaBAN Business Model as basis for later development and scaling

[METADATA] SDG rating

[8] Descent Work and Economic Growth

[9] Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

[10] Reduced Inequalities

[16] Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

The Challenge 

DLT360’s overall mission is to drive real-world blockchain adoption in business and industry. After extensive preparations funded by Catalyst Fund 6, 7 and 8 and with a leadership team coming from major players in the manufacturing industry, DLT360 is now well prepared to tackle the most promising and value-creating Web3.0 supply chain applications. This proposal focuses on the careful specification and proof-of-concept (PoC) of an unique Material KANBAN Solution. KANBAN supply has become major elements of modern supply chains, but is currently very costly in setup and management, especially in today's complex geopolitical environment.

The white frame in the graphic below shows, how the cardaBAN application fits into our overall DLT360 approach:

Our Approach and Deliverables

With this project, we establish a solid basis for the subsequent application development and scaling of cardaBAN as a dApp-product and service (MVP development planned for submission in Fund 12). Within this Fund 11 proposal, we will cooperate with well-known industry partners and academic domain experts and establish:

• A detailed Requirements Specification, which will cover:

1. Market Analysis
2. Regulatory Analysis
3. Business Requirements regarding benefits ad risks
4. UX and User-Requirements
5. Analysis of implementation-relevant Enterprise Architectures and Business Processes
6. Three representative Case Studies with Customer Business Value Proposition

• A detailed Technical Solution Specification, which will cover:

1. Specification of Development Process, Development Tools and Documentation
2. Specification of Application Lifecycle Management
3. Relevant Standards (quality management, cybersecurity, open Source and alike)
4. Specification of business interfaces and key deliverables derived from business requirements (e.g. transaction costs, transaction volume and speed determinism etc.)
5. Specification of technical interfaces
6. Solution Architecture
7. Technology Stack
8. Specification of frontend solution
9. Specification of backend solution
10. Integration and test specification
11. Specification of PoC Process based on Design Thinking
12. Outlook: Project development milestones and roadmap

• PoC under involvement of a pilot customer

1. Preparation of Design Thinking process
2. Execution of Design Thinking Workshop with pilot customer engagement
3. Summary and documentation of results

• Business Model as basis for later development phase and scaling

1. with Business Model Canvas
2. Financial Planning
3. Financing Concept

• Pitch-Deck: A short presentation introducing this exciting supply chain application, acting as pitch-deck for future investors in the subsequent development and commercial roll-out phase (as already mentioned, we plan to introduce the MVP development of this project also in Fund 12).

. 

• Promotion-Video: This is a short and concise promotion video, that explains the USP, benefits and ease-of-use-and-integration. Our goal is to integrate and share the feedback given by the supply-chain experts who are involved in the PoC process, in best case in form of powerful testimonials. This video will be used for getting attention and interest in the target group of supply-chain innovators within business and industry.

As shown in the graphic above, this proposal is independent but nevertheless builds upon our overall DLT360 approach, which focuses on creating an effective and efficient 'Launch Platform' for a multitude of scalable applications for business and industry. While substantial pre-work in the Knowledge-Management and ThinkTank Layer has already been completed thanks to funding by Fund 6, 7 and 8, our new Fund 11 proposals aim for completing our approach, allowing us to start the piloting-process with real-world pilot clients (see our 'Business Development Sandbox' proposal submitted under 'Use Cases: Solution').

With this concept of cardaBAN and two other important concepts for scalable applications (twinSHARE and auditSHARE, all three submitted under 'Use Cases: Concept'), we want to establish a solid basis for subsequent application development and scaling, hopefully already subject to submission to Fund 12. A fifth proposal can be found under Fund 11 'Cardano open: Ecosystem', focusing on investigating 'FUNDING & business opportunities based on the EU Digital Decade 2030 Program' for the benefit of the Cardano ecosystem.

All our Fund 11 proposals can be easily found by typing DLT360: into the IdeasScale search field.

Rationale: 

cardaBAN is a door-opening and scalable Web3.0 application for supply-chains of the future. For a successful development and market acquisition, it is crucial to observe the following requirements:

• Understanding the hottest current pain points concerning the available supply-chain KANBAN solutions
• Alignment with existing real-world technology-stacks: Web 3.0 solutions must fit into existing enterprise architectures and technology stacks
• Regulatory compliance and future-proof approaches: Due to the dynamic landscape of Web3.0, it is not enough to just follow existing regulations. It is furthermore important to be closely engaged with authorities and organizations that are shaping the future.
• Specialist Expertise: The involvement of architects and business analysts is crucial for the market adoption of Web 3.0 tools 
• Industrial Partnerships: Early collaboration with strategic partners from business, industry, academia and Web3.0 space is important for ensuring business relevance. 

Strategy

Our strategy is set as follows:

• Assemble a strong team of business analysts, architects, and developers. People and partner-network are key for our success.
• Establish a solid Requirements and Solution Specification: A lot has changed and is currently changing in the Web3.0 world and in the political and economic environment around it. Before developing the technical solutions, we therefore take another deep-dive into the latest requirements. This shall ensure that whatever we develop is relevant and provides the required business benefit.
• Proximity to European Union Digital Decade 2030 Program. This program is currently the strongest approach worldwide and is - despite all political difficulties - aiming for utilizing Digital Commons and creating a Next Generation Internet as am 'Internet for Humans'. We will take a critical stance, but work in close proximity to the major actors, organizations and authorities. This brings us also closely together with renowned players from business and industry.
• Early engagement of pilot customers in form of participation in the specification and PoC process
• Creating appealing promotion material (pitch-deck and promotion video) for creating attention and interest
• Professional preparation of subsequent development and scaling by creating a solid business model and financial planning

Summary

Due to the dynamics of technical developments and regulation, the coming 2 to 3 years might still be difficult for seeing large-scale applications in mainstream business and industry. Nevertheless, this is the time for gaining knowledge and performing Proof-of-Concepts. With the cardaBAN application we want to shape one of the key-applications of Web3.0 in the supply-chain of the future. Together with our overall DLT360 Business Launch Platform we want to actively use the window of opportunity for PoCs during 2024 and 2025, thus being ready when business and industry will be ready to scale in 2026 and beyond.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community.

Value to the Cardano Community:

• Bringing industrial adoption to Cardano - the proposal is increasing the outreach of Cardano to industrial clients, who will be involved in the specification process, Proof-of-Concept (PoC), in subsequent developments and implementations. This application has the potential to scale very rapidly, thus driving the adoption of Cardano in the supply chain automation area.

• Proximity and compliance with the emerging European NGI initiatives and solutions (NGI: Next Generation Internet initiatives within the European Digital Decade 2030 program)

• Utilization of latest Web 3.0 architectures like Midnight, Hydra, Wallet-technology and alike. This is crucial, as KANBAN solutions will create substantial traffic that cannot and should not be handled on a layer 1 blockchain.

• Increase of transaction volume and usage - Based on this potential to drive a high transaction volume, there will be a positive effect on the overall market position of Cardano, once the real applications are developed and implemented at scale.

How to measure the impact ?

To measure the success of the project, we will employ a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. The following are some key areas we intend to measure: 

• Measuring the impact of this cardaBAN Concept Project

1. Number of business and industry experts attracted and interested
2. Number of business and industry experts involved in specification process and PoC
3. Number of Cardano Community members and projects involved

• Measuring later impact of actual development (not subject to this proposal)
• Measuring final impact of implementing at scale (not subject of this proposal)

How we will share the outputs and opportunities that result from this project?

The way we plan to make the results of this project available has been described in the 'Open Source Section' earlier in this proposal. Due to the nature of the project, this will be a mix of publicly available and not publicly available outputs (this is unavoidable due to the nature of the resulting outputs).

The publicly available parts of our outputs will be shared as following:

• Accessible in our GitHub repository
• Over the DLT360 Website
• Ober LinkedIn and YouTube (the promotional elements)
• By delivering to the Cardano Catalyst Community based on the valid reporting standards

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

DLT360 was founded by an ambitious core-team coming from many years of leadership experience in business and industry, combined with the fresh perspective of young talents in various disciplines (see team description later in this proposal). DLT360's core-team and extended domain expert team in the knowledge areas of Economy,Technology, Regulation, Politics and ESG.

The senior founders have also been active members of and contributors to the Catalyst community since early-on. DLT360 has successfully completed 20 projects in Fund 6, 7 and 8. This project is now a major element of orchestrating many of the previous projects and to make us ready for piloting and scaling up the work with Commercial Clients from business and industry.

Our team (including the closely linked free-lancers) has many years of experience in:

• Innovation Management
• Specific deep knowledge about industrial process and supply-chain transformation
• Specific knowledge of activities and regulations of the European Union
• Strong network to key-players within academia and within the various EU-initiatives
• Quality Management according to ISO9001
• Cybersecurity according to ISO27001
• Specific knowledge in Business Model & Value Proposition Development
• Specific knowledge in UX, design and branding
• Program Management
• Project Management
• Full-stack development resources
• Knowhow in business administration, controlling and reporting

We use best-practice infrastructure and tools like e.g. GitHub and MIRO for supporting our collaborative processes and document management.

[Project Milestones] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone Title:

Project setup, project infrastructure, planning and team in place

Completion:

End of Month 1 of 6

Outputs:

1. Project infrastructure and detailed planning of the project
2. Team in place, kickoff event and training
3. Definition of the required project deliverables

Acceptance Criteria (for Outputs):

1. Project setup including project plan in GitHub, project boards prepared in MIRO
2. Roles defined and allocated to resources, team in place, kickoff-meeting with all required communication and training done
3. Detailed definition of deliverables drafted and available for the project team

Evidence (for Acceptance Criteria fulfilled):

We will deliver a brief video in which we will go through the individual outputs, the acceptance criteria and the evidence. As evidence we will provide:

1. Going through the basic Github setup and the detailed project planning & controlling, Demonstrating the project setup in MIRO
2. Showing the project organization chart, report of the kickoff meeting, training activities and introducing the key-people
3. Demonstrating and explaining the MIRO Board with the detailed definition of the deliverables of this project

Milestone Title:

First draft of Requirements Specification in place (note: further improvements will be made along the execution of the project based on our learning during the journey)

Completion:

End of Month 2 of 6

Outputs:

1. Market Analysis of the market for Material KANBAN Systems
2. Regulatory Analysis
3. Business Requirements regarding benefits and risks
4. UX and User-Requirements
5. Analysis of implementation-relevant Enterprise Architectures and Business Processes
6. Three representative Case Studies with Customer Business Value Proposition

Acceptance Criteria (for Outputs):

1. Requirements Specification chapter 1) 'Market Analysis' available in first draft
2. Requirements Specification chapter 2) 'Regulatory Analysis' available in first draft
3. Requirements Specification chapter 3) 'Business Requirements' available in first draft
4. Requirements Specification chapter 4) 'UX/User Requirements' available in first draft
5. Requirements Specification chapter 4) 'Implement. Requirements' available in first draft
6. Requirements Specification chapter 5) 'Case Studies' available in first draft

Evidence (for Acceptance Criteria fulfilled):

We will deliver a brief video in which we will go through the individual outputs, the acceptance criteria and the evidence. As evidence we will provide:

• For Criteria 1 to 6: Introduction to the draft document of the Requirements Specification, presenting the key-content and providing a link for deeper-going inspection

Milestone Title:

First draft of Technical Solution Specification in place (note: further improvements will be made along the execution of the project based on our learning during the journey)

Completion:

End of Month 4 of 6

Outputs:

1. Specification of Development Process, Development Tools and Documentation
2. Specification of Application Lifecycle management
3. Relevant Standards (quality management, cybersecurity, open Source and alike)
4. Specification of business interfaces key deliverables derived from business requirements (e.g. transaction costs, transaction volume and speed determinism etc.)
5. Specification of technical interfaces
6. Solution Architecture
7. Technology Stack
8. Specification of frontend solution
9. Specification of backend solution
10. Integration and test specification
11. Specification of PoC Process based on Design Thinking
12. Outlook: Project development milestones and roadmap

Acceptance Criteria (for Outputs):

1. Solution Specification chapter 1) available in first draft
2. Solution Specification chapter 2) available in first draft
3. Solution Specification chapter 3) available in first draft
4. Solution Specification chapter 4) available in first draft
5. Solution Specification chapter 5) available in first draft
6. Solution Specification chapter 6) available in first draft
7. Solution Specification chapter 7) available in first draft
8. Solution Specification chapter 8) available in first draft
9. Solution Specification chapter 9) available in first draft
10. Solution Specification chapter 10) available in first draft
11. Solution Specification chapter 11) available in first draft
12. Solution Specification chapter 12) available in first draft

Evidence (for Acceptance Criteria fulfilled):

We will deliver a brief video in which we will go through the individual outputs, the acceptance criteria and the evidence. As evidence we will provide:

• For Criteria 1 to 12: Introduction to the draft document of the Technical Solution Specification, presenting the key-content and providing a link for deeper-going inspection

Milestone Title:

First draft of Business Model, Pitch-Deck and Promotion Videos available (note: further improvements will be made along the execution of the project based on our learning during the journey)

Completion:

End of Month 5 of 6

Outputs:

1) Business Model as basis for later development phase and scaling

• with Business Model Canvas
• Financial Planning
• Financing Concept

2) Pitch-Deck: A short presentation introducing this exciting supply chain application, acting as pitch-deck for future investors in the subsequent development and commercial roll-out phase

. 

3) Promotion-Videos: This is a short and concise promotion video, that explains the USP, benefits and ease-of-use-and-integration. Our goal is to integrate and share the feedback given by the supply-chain experts who are involved in the PoC process, in best case in form of powerful testimonials. This video will be used for getting attention and interest in the target group of supply-chain innovators within business and industry.

Acceptance Criteria (for Outputs):

1. Business Model document with approximately 5,000 words and supportive graphics
2. Pitch-Deck with premium design and about 10 slides
3. Promotion Videos (a 60 seconds version and a 3 minutes version)

Evidence (for Acceptance Criteria fulfilled):

We will deliver a brief video in which we will go through the individual outputs, the acceptance criteria and the evidence. As evidence we will provide:

1. Showing and explaining of the Business Model Document (link will be provided)
2. Showing and presenting the PitchDeck (link will be provided)
3. Showing and presenting the Promotion Videos (link will be provided)

Not applicable

Milestone Title:

Proof-of-Concept with Pilot Customer and Closing of the Project

Completion:

End of Month 6 of 6

Outputs:

1) PoC under involvement of a pilot customer

• Completed Dersign Thinking Workshop with pilot customer engagement
• Summary and documentation of results

2) Finalization of all Deliverables

• Updating all Deliverables according to feedback
• Release of Deliverables

3) Internal Project Closing with

• Conducting Retrospective Meeting
• Gathered reportable data & facts

4) External Project Closing

• Closeout Report
• Closeout Video

Acceptance Criteria (for Outputs):

1. PoC Workshop Summary completed
2. Deliverables completed
3. Closeout Report completed
4. Closeout Video completed

Evidence (for Acceptance Criteria fulfilled):

We will deliver a brief video in which we will go through the individual outputs, the acceptance criteria and the evidence. As evidence we will provide:

1. Showing and explaining the PoC Workshop results
2. Present all finalized and released Deliverables
3. Hand over Project Closeout Report
4. Present Closeout Video

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Project Lead & Technical Specification

• Thorsten Pottebaum, co-founder and CTO of DLT360 is a very active player in the Cardano Catalyst community. Thorsten comes with a long industry experience in financial management, IT and cybersecurity (cybersecurity audit program manager). See LinkedIn

Requirements Specifictation, Business Model, Pitch Deck and PoC

• Heinz Gassner, founder of DLT360 comes from 30+ years of experience in technology marketing, strategic business model development and innovation leadership positions in renowned manufacturing companies. In addition to this this, Heinz has education and experience in general business administration and regulatory matters and is just completing his latest M.Sc. in DLT/Blockchain at University of Malta. Due to his long industry-career, Heinz also has a strong personal network within the business and industry leadership community. Heinz has been engaged with CARDANO since 2017 and is an active player within the Catalyst community since the very first town-hall. See LinkedIn 

 Regulatory Matters, Research Assistant & UX Design

• Jonas Weinberger, co-founder of DLT360. Jonas has recently graduated from the Brussels School of Governance. Jonas is a regular contributor to DLT360’s legal workstream and is an active part of the DLT360 research team. Jonas is also our internal mastermind in design, presentation as well as video production. Currently, Jonas is Master Student in Branding, Design and UX at University of Barcelona, Spain. See LinkedIn 

 

Project Management / Quality control & Development Coordinator

• Guilherme Pereira, co-founder of DLT360, just completing his M.Sc. in Mechatronics in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Guilherme is active in our research team and is our program- and project management lead. Guilherme also coordinates our Brazilian free-lancers for back-office and software (PoC) coding. See LinkedIn

 

Domain Experts from Academia and Industry

• During this project, we will consult with our various domain experts from academia and industry for securing the required academic and practical anchoring.

Development Resources and Freelance Assistance

Besides our core-team, this project will be supported by the freelance and partner resources:

• Back-office team (Brazil)
• Full-stack Development team, freelance but closely linked (Brazil)
• Domain Experts from industry and academia for assisting us on demand 
• External partnerships

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Please see next chapter (value for money) in this proposal for our comments on how we calculated the average hourly rates applied herein.

Milestone 1: Project setup, project infrastructure, planning and team in place

Completion: End of Month 1 of 6

Budget Positions:

• Project infrastructure and project planning (5 hours x 250 ADA/h = 1,250 ADA) 
• Team in place, kickoff event and training (5 hours x 250 ADA/h = 1,250 ADA) 
• Definition of the required project deliverables (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA) 
• Total: 7,500 ADA 

------------------

Milestone 2: First draft of Requirements Specification in place

Completion: End of Month 2 of 6

Budget Positions:

• Market Analysis (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA) 
• Regulatory Analysis (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Business Requirements (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• UX and User-Requirements (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Enterprise Architectures & Processes (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Case Studies (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Writing Specification Draft Document (25 hours x 200 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA) 
• Total: 20,000 ADA 

------------------

Milestone 3: First draft of Technical Solution Specification in place

Completion: End of Month 4 of 6

Budget Positions:

• Spec of Dev. Process, Tools and Docu (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Spec of Application Lifecycle Man. (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Spec of Relevant Standards (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Specification of business interfaces (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Specification of technical interfaces (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Solution Architecture (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Technology Stack (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Specification of frontend solution (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Specification of backend solution (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Integration and test specification (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Spec of PoC Process (Design Thinking) (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Outlook: Project dev. milestones & roadmap (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Total: 37,500 ADA 

------------------

Milestone 4: First draft of Business Model, Pitch-Deck and Promotion Video available

Completion: End of Month 5 of 6

Budget Positions:

• Establish Business Model Document (30 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Establish Business Pitch-Deck (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Establish Promotion Videos (20 hours x 250 ADA/h = 5,000 ADA)
• Total: 17,500 ADA 

------------------

Final Milestone: Proof-of-Concept with Pilot Customer and Closing of the Project

Completion: End of Month 6 of 6

Budget Positions:

• Preparing Design Thinking Workshop (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Workshop with pilot customer engagement (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Summary and documentation of results (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Updating & Releasing Deliverables (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Conducting Retrospective Meeting (5 hours x 250 ADA/h = 1,250 ADA)
• Gathered reportable data & facts (5 hours x 250 ADA/h = 1,250 ADA)
• Closeout Report (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Closeout Video (10 hours x 250 ADA/h = 2,500 ADA)
• Total: 17,500 ADA 

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The following background is important for understanding the calculation of our average global hourly rates (we applied 250 ADA for senior expert level and 200 ADA for operational level)

 

• For the applied average hourly rates, please note that the DLT 360 Team is located in Europe, UK and Brazil 
• Our applied hourly rate covers
• average costs for travel & accommodation
• general administration, operations and marketing overhead
• tax and social security expenses
• special crypto-related legal and tax consulting expenses
• EXCHANGE RATE RISK MANAGEMENT
• For this project, we need to engage high-level external experts on-demand, coming from various disciplines in academia and industry. This requires rather high hourly rates.
• We compensate this by allocating tasks to our team in Brazil wherever possible (eg. back-office work, project management work, research and development assistance)

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund Rules and also that data in the submission form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept