Labor Supply Chain Risk Intelligence Platform

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Solution Overview

Problem

Global companies face challenges in identifying and addressing forced labor and human trafficking risks in their supply chains due to lack of visibility and effective oversight mechanisms, particularly in international labor migration, where excessive and illegal recruitment fees are common, and gathering information on labor agent practices is costly and time-consuming.

Innovation Solution

A cloud-hosted platform, Cumulus, performs electronic supply chain due-diligence intelligence by mapping and analyzing labor supply chain data from multiple organizations, integrating confidential and public data to assess risks, generate risk reports, and provide a graphical user interface for identifying and prioritizing risks, while maintaining data privacy and security.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If companies gather information about labor agent practices on a facility-by-facility basis, then they can identify specific risks, but the cost and time required become prohibitively expensive and time consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverisk identification accuracyVSAvoidtime required for data collection

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines data from multiple organizations' supply chains into a centralized database, allowing risk patterns to be identified across the industry rather than requiring each company to collect data independently from every facility. This merging approach maintains precise risk identification while dramatically reducing the time and resources each individual company must invest.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary risk assessments by analyzing coded labor supply chain data from multiple organizations before individual companies need to conduct their own facility-by-facility investigations. This preliminary action identifies high-risk areas in advance, allowing companies to focus their resources only on the most critical risks rather than conducting exhaustive investigations of all facilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If companies share confidential labor supply chain data, then they can collectively identify risks more effectively, but data privacy and security concerns arise

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverisk assessment reliabilityVSAvoiddata privacy risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes identifiable confidential information from labor supply chain data before storing it in the centralized database. By taking out specific identifying details while retaining the essential risk-related information, the system enables collective risk identification without exposing individual companies' proprietary data or creating privacy risks.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces a trusted intermediary platform that handles data collection, coding, and analysis. This intermediary acts as a mediator between multiple organizations, allowing them to benefit from shared intelligence while the intermediary maintains control over data security and ensures that confidential information is properly protected throughout the process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Measurement precision

If companies conduct comprehensive due diligence on all suppliers, then they can identify forced labor risks, but the complexity and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverisk detection accuracyVSAvoidoversight mechanism complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex manual due diligence processes with an automated electronic system that uses standardized coding and data analysis. Instead of requiring companies to manually investigate each supplier, the system automatically processes coded labor supply chain data, performs risk assessments, and generates reports, dramatically simplifying the oversight mechanism while maintaining or improving detection accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS11301795B2Supply chain labor intelligence

Publication Date: 2022.04.12 VERITE SA

AI summary

Techniques are described for performing intelligence on supply chains used by organizations. A system performs a risk assessment of a labor supply chain of a particular organization by accessing, from a database, a first set of coded confidential labor supply chain data for the particular organization and a second set of coded confidential labor supply chain data for other organizations that are different from the particular organization. The system analyzes a combination of the first set of data and the second set of data to assess whether risks exist within the labor supply chain of the particular organization. Based on the analysis, the system generates a risk report for the labor supply chain data of the particular organization by desensitizing at least a portion of the second set of data for inclusion in the risk report and integrating the desensitized portion of the second set of data with confidential labor supply chain data of the particular organization. The system uses the risk report to present a graphical user interface that identifies whether risks exist within the labor supply chain of the particular organization.