Data types

To enable product tracing and data sharing, IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply supports multiple data types based on GS1 standards. Each data type is encoded in an XML message, in a unique format, which is derived from GS1 Business Message Standards and GS1 XML 3 Standards.

Each message uploaded to IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply must be in the supported XML format for its data type. The data types that are shown in Table 1 are implemented by IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply.

Table 1. IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply data types
Data type	Description	Standard
Master data	Product (item), facility (location), and lot (batch) information	GS1 GDSN Standard
Business transactions	Purchase Order (PO), Despatch Advice (DA/ASN), and Receive Advice documents	GS1 XML Standard
EPCIS events	Observation, Transformation, Commission, Decommission, Aggregation, and Disaggregation events.	GS1 EPCIS Standard
Payload data	Generic string-encoded payloads	IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply

The IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply data types, and their associated message types, are explained in the following sections.

Master data

Master data describes an organization's facility locations (GLNs or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply facility IDs) and trade items (GTINs or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply product IDs), and are expected to be largely static. Three types of master data are supported by IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply, as listed in Table 2.

Table 2. IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply master data types.
Master data type	Message type	Sample XML message
Master facility data	Basic facility registration	MasterData_Facility_Annotated
Master item data	Item data notification	MasterData_Item_Annotated
Instance/Lot Master data (ILMD)	Object Add or Transformation	EPCIS_Commission / EPCIS_Transformation

Note: IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply Master data message types are based on the GS1 GDSN Standard (download this standard .zip file and refer to the /Schemas/gs1/gdsn/ files).

Master facility data

The Master facility data XML message type is derived from the GS1 Basic Party Registration XML message type and describes facility information in IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply.

Master facility data consists of the following data points:

Facility GLN (Global Location Number) or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply facility ID
Facility address (physical)
Facility type (for example farm, warehouse)

Master item data

The Master Item Data XML message type is derived from the GS1 Item Data Notification XML message type, and is used for registering trade items (products) in IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply.

Master Item Data is class-level master data corresponding to a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply product ID. Master item data is typically uploaded by the creator of the trade item in IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply, and consists of the following data points:

Text description
GTIN (or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply product ID)
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

Instance/Lot master data (ILMD)

Unlike master facility data and master item data, Instance/Lot master data (ILMD) has no message type that is specific to IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply. For ILMD, IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply uses EPCIS Commission and EPCIS Transformation events (events that lead to the creation of a trade item or product), with optional ILMD fields.

Instance/Lot master data (ILMD) is master data corresponding to a specific item lot or item instance, and includes the following data:

Item expiration (best by) date
Item weight
Item harvest date

When a specific item lot is defined on the network, an LGTIN (GTIN with a preceding Lot/Batch number) is used in ILMD. When a specific item instance is defined, an SGTIN (Serialized GTIN) is used.

Business transactions

The three types of business transactions that are supported by IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply are Purchase Orders, Despatch Advice (Advance Shipping Notice) and Receive Advice:

The buyer sends Purchase Orders and Receiving Advice to the seller. The seller sends Despatch Advice to the buyer.

Table 3. IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply business transaction data types.
Business transaction data type	Message type	Sample XML message
Purchase Order	Order	PurchaseOrder_Annotated
Despatch Advice (Advanced Shipping Notice; ASN)	Despatch Advice	DespatchAdvice_Annotated
Receive Advice	Receive Advice	ReceiveAdvice_Annotated

Note: IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply Business transaction message types are based on the GS1 XML standard

Purchase order (PO)

The Purchase Order (PO) XML message type corresponds to the GS1 Order XML message type, and describes a specific trade item transaction in IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply.

Purchase Order data is generally uploaded by the buyer and includes the following data points:

Buyer GLN (or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply facility ID)
Receiving facility GLN (or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply facility ID)
Trade item GTINs (or IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply product IDs) and quantities

Despatch Advice (DA)

The Despatch Advice (DA) XML message type corresponds to the GS1 Despatch Advice XML message type (aka Advance Shipping Notice or ASN), and describes the trade items being sent (one Purchase Order per line).

Despatch Advice data is generally uploaded by the shipper and includes the following data points:

Shipper GLN
Receiver GLN
Shipping Facility GLN
Receiving facility GLN
Trade Item GTINs and quantities
Purchase Order identifiers

Note: IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply identifiers are also supported in place of GLNs and GTINs.

Receive Advice (RA)

The Receive Advice (RA) XML message type corresponds to the GS1 Receiving Advice XML message type, and describes the trade items received and their condition.

Receive Advice Data is generally uploaded by the receiver and includes the following data points:

Shipper GLN
Receiver GLN
Shipping facility GLN
Receiving facility GLN
Trade Item GTINs and quantities
Condition of received trade items
Purchase Order identifiers
Despatch Advice identifiers

Note: IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply identifiers are also supported in place of GLNs and GTINs.

EPCIS Events

Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) Events correspond to the GS1 EPCIS XML message type, and describe trade item observations, transformations, and creation and removal, for both individual and aggregated objects.

The GS1 EPCIS Standard is used to codify the event data that member Organizations upload to IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply. An EPCIS event specifies the What, Where, When, and Why of an event, for one or more trade items (products). Six EPCIS event types are supported by IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply.

A commission event records that apples were harvested, then a transformation event records that apples were used to produce apple sauce. An observation event records details about the cans of apples sauce. An aggregation event records that the cans were packed into a shipping container and shipped, then a disaggregation event records that the shipping container was received and unpacked. A decommission event records that cans of apple sauce were removed from the supply chain.

Table 4. EPCIS event types
Event Name	EPCIS Event Type	Event Action	Sample XML Message
Commission	Object	ADD	EPCIS_Commission
Decommission	Object	DELETE	EPCIS_Decommission
Observation	Object	OBSERVE	EPCIS_Observation
Transformation	Transformation	Transformation	EPCIS_Transformation
Aggregation	Aggregation	ADD	EPCIS_Aggregation
Disaggregation	Aggregation	DELETE	EPCIS_Disaggregation

Note: IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply EPCIS Event Message formats are based on the GS1 EPCIS Standard.

Commission Events

Commission Events data describes the creation of objects (commissioning of a new object EPC), such as a new trade item lot from a harvest event.

Each Commission Event involves one of the following data points:

List of class-level trade items (LGTINs) or instance-level trade items (SGTINs) (or both).

Commission Events can also contain Instance/Lot Master Data (ILMD).

Decommission Events

Decommission Event data describes the deletion of trade items from the network (removal of an object EPC).

Each Decommission Event involves one of the following data points:

List of class-level trade items (LGTINs) or instance-level trade items (SGTINs) (or both).

Observation Events

Observation Event data describes trade item observations, such as a product scan at a retailer.

In general, observation events involve one of the following data points, observed at a specific location at a specific time in the course of a business process.

Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC)
List of class-level trade items (LGTINs) or instance-level trade items (SGTINs) (or both).

Transformation Events

Transformation Event data describes an irreversible combination of input objects into output objects :

Each Transformation Event involves both of the following data points:

List of class-level input items (LGTINs) or instance-level input items (SGTINs) (or both)
List of class-level output items (LGTINs) or instance-level output items (SGTINs) (or both).

Transformation Events can also contain Instance/Lot Master Data (ILMD).

Aggregation Events

Aggregation Event data describes a reversible aggregation of input objects into output objects, such as boxes of produce into pallets of produce.

Each Aggregation Event involves both of the following data points:

Single parent item (represented, for example, by an SSCC)
List of class-level child items (LGTINs) or instance-level child items (SGTINs) (or both).

Disaggregation Events

Disaggregation Event data describes a disaggregation of objects from an aggregation event, such as pallets of produce into boxes of produce.

Each Disaggregation Event involves both of the following data points:

Single parent item (represented by an SSCC)
List of class-level child items (LGTINs) or instance-level child items (SGTINs) (or both).

Payloads

You can submit generic string-encoded payloads to IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply. Refer to Payload data and the annotated sample of an XML payload.