TWI843399B - Blockchain platform system - Google Patents

Abstract

A blockchain platform system includes a center factory node, a supplier node, a bank node and at least three order-consensus nodes. The center factory node is communicatively connected with a center factory system. The supplier node is communicatively connected with a supply-chain management system. The bank node is communicatively connected with a bank financing system. The center factory node, the supplier node, the bank node and these order-consensus nodes are configured to mutually maintain an alliance blockchain based on a smart contract.

Description

Blockchain Platform System

The present disclosure relates to a blockchain platform system, and in particular to a blockchain platform system that provides supply chain financial services.

There are many small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan, accounting for about 97.6% of the total number of enterprises. Generally speaking, in the supply chain of a product, the central factory that mainly produces the product will cooperate with upstream suppliers and downstream dealers. Taking car manufacturers as an example, the central factory that produces vehicles usually cooperates with many upstream suppliers of vehicle parts and many downstream dealers responsible for selling vehicles. These upstream and downstream manufacturers are often small and medium-sized enterprises with smaller scales than the central factory.

In order to speed up the flow of funds and increase the efficiency of production/sales, the central factory and upstream and downstream manufacturers usually apply to the bank for various financing loans to quickly recover funds, make subsequent investments or extend production plans. In order to conduct risk control, banks need to evaluate the content and objects of financing loans. Taking accounts payable (AP) financing as an example, from the time when the upstream supplier ships the produced components to the central factory until the central factory is due to complete the payment period, accounts payable (outstanding payments to upstream suppliers) will be generated for the central factory. Suppliers can submit accounts payable financing service requirements to the bank based on the accounts payable that will be recovered by the central factory in the future (the above-mentioned accounts payable) as the subject.

After lending, the bank obtains the debt rights of the central factory. Since the credit rating of the central factory is usually higher than that of smaller suppliers, if the bank can confirm the existence of the accounts payable, it is usually willing to provide financing so that the upstream supplier can quickly get the funds back.

Due to the large number of possible upstream suppliers in the supply chain, and their different scales, it may be difficult to provide sales figures verified by accounting or lack of professional personnel. Generally speaking, it is difficult to achieve the credibility of credit data. It is more troublesome for banks to verify whether each account payable is true. If the bank refuses to finance the supplier due to the difficulty in verification, it may make it difficult for the supplier to obtain sufficient operating funds. The supplier will only be able to obtain raw materials and produce components with the funds on hand, and can only produce the next batch after obtaining payment, which makes it difficult to maximize the production efficiency of the supply chain.

Supply Chain Finance (SCF) refers to the financial services such as financing and lending provided by banks to central factories, upstream suppliers and downstream distributors regarding accounts receivable and accounts payable. According to research reports, there is a large amount of accounts payable that can be financed and is highly secure in the global market. If banks can finance them and charge fees, supply chain finance can be a huge potential source of income for banks. In addition, banks financing the upstream and downstream supply chains is also conducive to small and medium-sized manufacturers to quickly recover funds, carry out subsequent product production and sales, and improve the efficiency of the overall market.

In addition, as the global manufacturing industry is changing due to the epidemic, manufacturing orders will tend to be short-term and urgent, and the biggest impact will be on small and medium-sized enterprises in the supply chain. The operating environment will become increasingly difficult, and corporate funds and operating turnover will become more urgent and tight. For example, when raw materials and freight prices rise, suppliers will not be able to obtain production materials with limited funds on hand, which may lead to the inability to smoothly produce upstream components, which may indirectly affect the development and manufacturing of subsequent products in the central factory.

One aspect of the present disclosure discloses a blockchain platform system, including a central factory node, a supplier node, a bank node, and at least three sorting consensus nodes. The central factory node is connected to the central factory system. The supplier node is connected to the supplier system. The bank node is connected to the bank financing system. The central factory node, the supplier node, the bank node, and the sorting consensus nodes are used to jointly maintain the alliance blockchain according to the smart contract.

When the central plant system and the supplier system conduct a procurement process, the central plant node and the supplier node jointly maintain the purchase order book, purchase order confirmation book, delivery notice book, goods acceptance book, purchase voucher book, and accounts payable book of the alliance blockchain based on the information in the procurement process.

When the supplier's supplier system transmits an accounts payable financing request to the bank financing system, the supplier system shares the purchase order book, purchase order confirmation book, delivery notice book, goods acceptance book, input voucher book and accounts payable book with the bank node. The bank financing system approves the accounts payable financing request, generates a financing approval confirmation and performs a transfer operation. The supplier node and the bank node jointly maintain the alliance blockchain's financing transfer book based on the financing approval confirmation and transfer operation.

It should be noted that the above explanation and the subsequent detailed description are illustrative of the present invention in the form of embodiments, and are used to assist in the explanation and understanding of the invention content claimed in the present invention.

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different features of the present disclosure. The components and configurations of specific examples are used to simplify the present disclosure in the following discussion. Any examples discussed are used for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or its examples in any way. Where appropriate, the same reference numerals are used between the drawings and in the corresponding text description to represent the same or similar components.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a functional block diagram of a supply chain financial platform 100 in some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the supply chain financial platform 100 is used to establish a channel for sharing transaction information and providing financial services between a central factory, a supplier and a bank.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the supply chain financial platform 100 includes a blockchain platform system 110, a central factory system 120, a supplier system 130, and a bank financing system 140. The blockchain platform system 110 is used to collect, store, and aggregate transaction information between the central factory system 120, the supplier system 130, and the bank financing system 140, thereby making credit data transparent, credible, or automated, reducing the difficulty of the bank's credit verification process, and accelerating the process of banks providing supply chain financing services. The blockchain platform system 110 includes at least a central factory node N1, a supplier node N2, a bank node N3, and three ranking consensus nodes NC.

These central factory nodes N1, supplier nodes N2, bank nodes N3 and a plurality of sorting consensus nodes NC are connected to each other and form an alliance blockchain ALBC. The above nodes are connected in a point-to-point manner and are used to process blockchain transactions. In some embodiments, the central factory node N1, supplier node N2, bank node N3 and a plurality of sorting consensus nodes NC can be servers, computer hosts, laptops, tablets, smart phones, industrial computers, Internet of Things devices or other networked devices with information processing capabilities.

In some embodiments, the sorting consensus nodes NC include at least three sorting consensus nodes, namely, sorting consensus node NC1, sorting consensus node NC2, and sorting consensus node NC3. In other embodiments, the sorting consensus nodes NC are not limited to three, and the blockchain platform system 110 may include more than three sorting consensus nodes NC, depending on the actual scale of the alliance blockchain ALBC.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the central plant node N1 is connected to the central plant system 120. For example, the central plant system 120 may be a supply chain management (SCM) system, inventory management system, order management system, or other similar systems in the central plant. The central plant user U1 (e.g., the purchasing staff or other employees of the central plant) may log in and operate the central plant system 120 to manage the central plant's orders, invoices, purchases, shipments, etc.

The supplier node N2 is connected to the supplier system 130. For example, the supplier system 130 may be a supply chain management (SCM) system, a sales management system, or other similar systems within the supplier, which is set up at the supplier's location (e.g., the supplier's office, factory, shipping warehouse, etc.). The supplier user U2 (e.g., the supplier's business personnel) can log in and operate the supply chain management system (i.e., the supplier system 130) at the supplier's location. For smaller suppliers, an independent supplier system 130 may not be set up, so that the supplier node N2 is directly connected to the mobile phone or personal computer held by the supplier's business personnel.

The blockchain platform system 110 shown in FIG. 1 includes a single supplier node N2 to correspond to a single supplier, but the disclosure document is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, if the central plant cooperates with multiple suppliers at the same time, for example, the central plant purchases components or required materials from multiple suppliers at the same time, then multiple supplier nodes N2 (not shown in the figure) can be set up in the blockchain platform system 110 to correspond to the business needs of multiple suppliers. In this embodiment, the central plant node N1 can establish different channels with different supplier nodes N2, and the account information of the central plant node N1 and a certain supplier node N2 is only shared in the same channel and will not be read by nodes in other channels (such as other suppliers).

The bank node N3 is connected to the bank financing system 140. For example, the bank financing system 140 can be a financing credit management system or other similar systems set up by the bank. The bank user U3 (such as a credit officer of the bank) can log in and operate the bank financing system 140.

The blockchain platform system 110 shown in FIG. 1 includes a single bank node N3 corresponding to a single bank, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. In other embodiments, if the central factory cooperates with multiple banks at the same time, multiple bank nodes N3 (not shown in the figure) can be set in the blockchain platform system 110, corresponding to multiple banks respectively. In this embodiment, the central factory node N1 or the supplier node N2 can establish different channels with different bank nodes N3 respectively. The account information of the central factory node N1 or the supplier node N2 and a certain bank node N3 is only shared in the same channel and will not be read by nodes of other channels (such as other banks), thereby ensuring that the account information of the central factory or supplier will not be arbitrarily read by any bank.

In addition, the blockchain platform system 110 shown in FIG. 1 exemplifies a single alliance blockchain ALBC established for a single central plant, but is not limited to this in actual application. When the blockchain platform system 110 serves multiple different central plants at the same time, different central plants will each establish multiple independent alliance blockchains ALBC. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, only one alliance blockchain ALBC is shown for the sake of simplicity.

In the following paragraphs, the detailed process of the application process of the blockchain platform system 110 for accounts payable financing will be described by way of an example. Please refer to FIG. 2 , which shows a flow chart of the supply chain financial platform 100 and the blockchain platform system 110 in FIG. 1 for a control method 200 for managing accounts payable (AP).

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the supply chain financial platform 100 first performs step S210. When the procurement process is carried out between the central factory system 120 and the supplier system 130, the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2 jointly maintain the purchase order ledger AC1, purchase order confirmation ledger AC2, delivery notice ledger AC3, goods acceptance ledger AC4, input voucher ledger AC5 and accounts payable ledger AC6 of the alliance blockchain ALBC based on the information in the procurement process. The above-mentioned various ledgers recorded on the alliance blockchain ALBC are used to register all purchase orders, delivery notices, goods acceptance notes, purchase vouchers (such as invoices) and accounts payable and other information occurring between the central factory and the supplier in accordance with the order of each transaction time in the procurement process, and the information registered in the purchase order ledger AC1, purchase order confirmation ledger AC2, delivery notice ledger AC3, goods acceptance ledger AC4, purchase voucher ledger AC5 and accounts payable ledger AC6 have all been verified by the central factory node N1, supplier node N2 and sorting consensus node NC in the same channel of the blockchain platform system 110, and it is difficult to delete and modify it in the future.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a flowchart showing further detailed steps of step S210 in the control method 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, step S210 includes detailed steps S211 to S219. As shown in FIG. 3, first, when the central factory user U1 intends to purchase raw materials or components from the supplier, in step S211, the central factory system 120 issues a purchase order (PO). For example, the central factory user U1 can send a purchase order to the supplier system 130 (e.g., the supplier's supply chain management system) through the central factory system 120. Or in another embodiment, the central factory user U1 can also directly log in to the supplier system 130 through the account number and password to issue an order thereon. Or in yet another embodiment, the central factory user U1 can also notify the supplier user U2 (e.g., the supplier's business personnel) by phone to log in to the supplier system 130 through him to create a purchase order thereon. In addition, in step S211, when the central factory system 120 issues a purchase order, the central factory node N1 obtains the purchase order information from the central factory system 120 and writes it to the purchase order account AC1 on the alliance blockchain ALBC, thereby leaving a detailed and unalterable record on the alliance blockchain ALBC.

It should be noted that in step S211, when the central factory system 120 generates a transaction message (for example, purchase order information in this example), until the central factory node N1 records the transaction message in the ledger of the alliance blockchain ALBC (the purchase order ledger AC1 in this example), the transaction message must not only be recognized by the initiating node (central factory node N1), but also be endorsed by the nodes related to the transaction in the same channel, and must be recognized by the consensus of the sorting consensus node NC to ensure the accuracy of the transaction message.

Please refer to Figure 4, which shows a further flow chart of transmitting transaction information, obtaining endorsements, and writing to the ledger between nodes in the alliance blockchain ALBC. In one embodiment, the smart contract includes blockchain code (chaincode), which can be a software program in the Fabric blockchain architecture to execute smart contracts according to the planned software logic. The blockchain code mainly handles the business logic of the smart contract. The information to be recorded in each supply chain process must go through data verification, node endorsement and other processes before it can be written into the alliance blockchain ALBC.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in step S211a, the central factory system 120 sends a transaction message (e.g., purchase order information) to the central factory node N1. In step S211b, the smart contract on the central factory node N1 is triggered. In step S211c, the transaction message (e.g., purchase order information) is sent through the central factory node N1 to at least one endorsement node related to the transaction message. In the example shown in FIG. 4 , the endorsement node includes the supplier node N2. This is because the transaction message is a purchase order involved in the procurement process between the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2, so the endorsement node at least includes the supplier node N2. If the transaction message involves other transaction contents, such as an application for bank financing, the endorsement node will include bank node N3.

In another embodiment, different transaction message contents may involve different settings for the endorsement nodes. Depending on the transaction message contents, the endorsement nodes include at least one of the central factory node N1, the supplier node N2, and the bank node N3. Please refer to Table 1 below: Transaction Information Central plant node N1 Supplier Node N2 Bank Node N3 Central factory purchase order necessary necessary Non-essential Supplier responds to order necessary necessary Non-essential Supplier responds to order delivery date change necessary necessary Non-essential The central factory replied that it agreed to the change in delivery date necessary necessary Non-essential Supplier Shipping Notice necessary necessary Non-essential The central factory replies to receive and confirm the acceptance necessary necessary Non-essential Suppliers request payment and provide invoices necessary necessary Non-essential Central factory confirmation and account opening necessary necessary Non-essential Supplier participation in financing Non-essential necessary necessary Bank financing payment notice necessary necessary necessary Central Plant Financing Payment Notice necessary necessary necessary Bank Financing Repayment Cancellation Notice necessary necessary necessary Table 1

Table 1 is used to list an exemplary description of the allocation of required endorsement nodes and non-required endorsement nodes in different transaction messages.

As shown in FIG. 3, in step S211d, the supplier node N2 verifies whether the purchase order information currently transmitted is correct based on the purchase information received from the supplier system 130. If the verification is correct, the supplier node N2 endorses the transaction message (purchase order information) and returns the endorsed result to the central factory node N1. As further shown in FIG. 4, in step S211d, the endorsing node (in this case, the supplier node N2) calls the blockchain code to execute the transaction verification and generates at least one transaction verification result. In step S211e, the supplier node N2 returns the transaction verification result to the central factory node N1, and the central factory node N1 can further return the transaction verification result to the central factory system 120. In this way, the central factory system 120 collects at least one transaction verification result through the central factory node N1 and determines whether the at least one transaction verification result passes the endorsement policy.

In some embodiments, the purchase order information is generated and issued by the central factory node N1, and the central factory node N1 can automatically recognize it as a transaction message endorsement. In other embodiments, the central factory node N1 can also call the blockchain code to read the records on the central factory system 120 to perform transaction verification. If it is confirmed to be correct, the transaction verification result is also generated for endorsement.

In one embodiment, if a transaction message needs to be endorsed by the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2, it is sufficient to collect the two nodes for verification. In another embodiment, if a transaction message needs to be endorsed by the central factory node N1, the supplier node N2 and the bank node N3, if only two nodes are collected for verification, it is determined that it has not passed the endorsement policy.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in step S215 , the central factory node N1 transmits the endorsed transaction message to the sorting consensus node NC. Further as shown in FIG. 4 , in step S211f , the central factory system 120 transmits the endorsed transaction message to the central factory node N1 , and transmits the transaction message to the sorting consensus node NC through the central factory node N1 .

As shown in Figure 4, in step S211g, the sorting consensus node NC performs consensus verification on the endorsed transaction message. In step S211h, the three sorting consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3 return the consensus-verified transaction message to the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2, and the central factory node N1 or the supplier node N2 writes it into the purchase order account AC1 of the alliance blockchain ALBC. As shown in Figure 4, the sorting consensus node NC can push the transaction message to the central factory node N1, the supplier node N2 or the bank node N3 in the same channel. In this example, since the transaction message only involves the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2, the sorting consensus node NC pushes the transaction message to the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2, and the central factory node N1 and the supplier node N2 in the same channel check it again. After the transaction message check is completed, the checked transaction message is written into the purchase order ledger AC1 in the alliance blockchain ALBC.

In one embodiment, the three ranking consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3 use majority consensus to determine the correctness of the purchase order ledger AC1. When more than half of the ranking consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3 believe that the current purchase order information is correct, the information verified by consensus can be written into the purchase order ledger AC1 of the alliance blockchain ALBC.

In one embodiment, the three ranking consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3 jointly maintain the alliance blockchain ALBC according to the smart contract. For example, the transaction information that occurred first needs to be written first according to the time it occurred, and the transaction information that occurred later needs to be written later according to the time it occurred. All transaction information is recorded in the purchase order account AC1 in the alliance blockchain ALBC in order of time (similarly, other transaction information will be written into other purchase order confirmation accounts AC2, delivery notice accounts AC3, goods inspection accounts AC4, etc.). The subsequent transaction information can only be added to the end of the purchase order book AC1, and cannot overwrite or delete the previous transaction information. Therefore, the transaction information in the purchase order book AC1 in the alliance blockchain ALBC can have a high degree of credit credibility, which is convenient for bank-side user U3 to check.

In step S212, the supplier system 130 receives the purchase order from the central plant. The supplier user U2 can confirm the content of the purchase order in the supplier system 130, such as whether the quantity is reasonable, whether the purchase price is as stipulated in the contract, whether the delivery period can be achieved, etc. If there are any questions about the content of the purchase order, the supplier user U2 can also check with the central plant user U1 by phone or other means. When the content of the purchase order is confirmed to be correct, in step S213, the supplier node N2 obtains the information of the confirmed purchase order from the supplier system 130 and writes it to the purchase order confirmation account AC2 on the alliance blockchain ALBC.

In one embodiment, the process from step S213 initiated by supplier node N2 to writing into purchase order confirmation account AC2 must also go through the endorsement of relevant nodes (such as central factory node N1), consensus verification of sorting consensus node NC, feedback and writing, etc. The detailed process is similar to the detailed steps of endorsement and consensus verification of transaction information in step S211 in Figure 4 (such as step S211a to step S211h). Please refer to the specific description of Figure 4. The operation process is similar and will not be described here.

Then, after receiving the purchase order and completing the confirmation, the supplier system 130 can start to produce the agreed products (or count the products in stock), and when the shipment preparation is completed, the agreed products can be sent to the central factory through logistics transportation. In the procurement process, when the supplier is going to ship based on the requirements of the purchase order, in one embodiment, the supplier can send a delivery notice (Advanced Shipping Note, ASN) to the central factory to let the central factory know in advance that the goods will be delivered to the central factory in the near future.

As shown in FIG. 3, in step S214, the supplier system 130 sends a delivery notice to the central plant system 120 to notify the central plant user U1. At the same time, in step S214, the supplier node N2 writes the delivery notice information to the delivery notice account AC3 on the alliance blockchain ALBC. Similarly, in an embodiment, step S214 also needs to go through the endorsement of relevant nodes, consensus verification of the sorting consensus node NC, return and write processes, and its detailed process is similar to the detailed steps in FIG. 4 (such as steps S211a to S211h), and the specific description of FIG. 4 can be referred to. The operation process is similar and will not be described here.

After receiving the delivery notice, the central plant can arrange storage space to receive the batch of goods and inspect the delivery. For example, the purchasing staff or quality control staff of the central plant can check the quantity, quality, deadline, etc. of the goods, and input the inspection results into the central plant system 120 (for example, the supply chain management system set up by the central plant). Then, as shown in Figure 3, in step S215, when the central plant system 120 receives the information that the goods inspection is completed, the central plant node N1 obtains the information that the goods inspection is completed from the central plant system 120 and writes it into the goods inspection account book AC4 on the alliance blockchain ALBC. Similarly, in one embodiment, step S215 also needs to go through the endorsement of relevant nodes, consensus verification of the sorting consensus node NC, feedback and writing, etc. The detailed process is similar to the detailed steps in Figure 4 (such as steps S211a to S211h). Please refer to the specific description of Figure 4. The operation process is similar and will not be described here.

In addition, when the central factory system 120 receives the information that the goods have been inspected and accepted, in step S216, the central factory system 120 transmits the information that the goods have been inspected and accepted to the supplier system 130, so that the supplier knows that the goods have been inspected and accepted. At this time, the supplier system 130 can issue relevant invoices and discount information for the goods that have been inspected and accepted.

That is, the supplier's purchase order has been completed and payment can be requested. At this time, the central factory user U1 must check the invoice and discount information to determine whether the payment is correct. For example, the central factory user U1 can log in to the supplier system 130 (the supplier's supply chain management system) or connect to the supplier system 130 through the central factory system 120 to check the invoice and discount information.

As shown in FIG. 3, in step S217, after the invoice and discount information on the supplier system 130 is confirmed by the central factory login, the supplier node N2 writes the invoice and discount information into the input voucher account AC5 on the alliance blockchain ALBC. Similarly, in an embodiment, step S217 also needs to go through the endorsement of relevant nodes, consensus verification of the sorting consensus node NC, feedback and writing, etc. The detailed process is similar to the detailed steps in FIG. 4 (such as steps S211a to S211h), and the specific description of FIG. 4 can be referred to. The operation process is similar and will not be described here.

In one embodiment, the central plant system 120 can obtain the invoice and discount information issued by the supplier from the supplier system 130, as shown in FIG. 3. In step S218, the central plant system 120 uses the invoice and discount information to create accounts payable information. This accounts payable information records the amount of money that the central plant expects to pay to the supplier, the payment due date, and other related agreements. This accounts payable information also needs to be confirmed by the supplier to avoid a discrepancy between the amounts recognized by both parties. For example, supplier user U2 can log in to the central plant system 120 to check the accounts payable information.

In another embodiment, the central factory and the supplier may establish a common procurement platform, and the central factory and the supplier may confirm the invoice and discount information and the accounts payable information by logging into the procurement platform.

As shown in FIG. 3, after the accounts payable information is verified by the login of the supplier user U2, in step S219, the central factory node N1 writes the accounts payable information to the accounts payable account book AC6 on the alliance blockchain ALBC. Similarly, in an embodiment, step S219 also needs to go through the processes of endorsement by relevant nodes, consensus verification by the sorting consensus node NC, feedback and writing, etc., and its detailed process is similar to the detailed steps in FIG. 4 (such as steps S211a to S211h), and the specific description of FIG. 4 can be referred to. The operation process is similar and will not be described here.

When step S219 is completed, the information of the procurement process between the central plant node N1 and the supplier node N2 has been properly written into the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6. At this time, the supplier has shipped the product to the central plant, and the supplier can expect to receive the payment for the shipped product (the accounts payable of the central plant). However, in the supply chain, the central plant is usually allowed not to pay immediately, and can wait until the payment period of the accounts payable expires before the central plant needs to pay the supplier. Although this situation can solve the financial pressure of the central factory, for the supplier, the shipment has been completed but the funds cannot be recovered immediately, which may cause financial pressure on the supplier and make it impossible to continue to produce other products.

In addition, suppliers are usually small in scale and have limited liquidity. Generally speaking, it is difficult for them to directly apply for bank loans based on their own credit. If suppliers can obtain financing from banks using accounts payable of the central factory as the financing target, it will effectively improve the financial stability and capital application efficiency of suppliers. However, when suppliers apply for accounts payable financing from banks, banks must review whether the so-called accounts payable actually exist to prevent suppliers from obtaining financing with forged transaction data, which will prevent banks from being unable to recover the financing funds in the future. The credit investigation process of the above accounts payable requires a reliable data source that is easy to check. This disclosure document can provide complete evidence for the entire transaction process through the purchase order book AC1, purchase order confirmation book AC2, delivery notice book AC3, goods acceptance book AC4, input voucher book AC5 and accounts payable book AC6 stored on the alliance blockchain ALBC.

As shown in FIG. 2, executing step S220, when the supplier system 130 transmits an accounts payable financing request to the bank financing system 140, the supplier node N2 may share the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6 with the bank node N3.

Next, in step S230, the bank financing system 140 is used to approve the accounts payable financing request according to the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6, thereby generating a financing approval confirmation and a transfer operation. Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a flow chart of further detailed steps of step S230 in the control method 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, step S230 includes detailed steps S231 to S234.

In step S231, the bank financing system 140 obtains the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the purchase voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6 from the bank node N3. In step S232, the bank financing system 140 is used to verify the authenticity of the purchase order and the purchasing process based on various information records in the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6. For example, it can verify whether the central factory has really submitted a purchase order, whether the supplier has really had a shipping record, whether the central factory has a receipt record, whether the supplier has issued a sales invoice, etc. All of this transaction information will be recorded in the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6. Therefore, the bank financing system 140 or its bank-side user U3 can easily verify whether the purchase order and the purchase process actually exist, thereby avoiding fraudulent financing through fictitious purchase orders, and reducing the cost of executing financing credit investigation and speeding up the process.

In step S233, the bank financing system 140 determines the approved interest and approved amount of the financing approval according to the payment period and the invoice amount of the invoice information in the accounts payable book AC6. For example, the shorter the payment period, the lower the approved interest; the larger the invoice amount, the higher the approved amount. The approved interest and approved amount in the financing approval can be jointly determined by the bank financing system 140 based on the contents recorded in the purchase order book AC1, the purchase order confirmation book AC2, the delivery notice book AC3, the goods acceptance book AC4, the input voucher book AC5 and the accounts payable book AC6, as well as the credit investigation results of the bank financing system 140 on the central factory and the supplier.

In step S234, the bank financing system 140 transfers the approved amount to the supplier account corresponding to the supplier node N2 to perform the transfer operation. In this embodiment, the bank financing system 140 can also transmit the approved interest and the approved amount to the supplier system 130 to notify the supplier user U2.

Next, when the bank financing system 140 issues financing, the supplier's accounts payable (relative to the central plant) will be transferred to the bank. The bank will have the right to collect payment from the central plant. Therefore, it is necessary to let each node in the blockchain platform system 110 record its transaction information in detail to avoid subsequent disputes. As shown in Figure 2, step S240 is executed, and the supplier node N2 and the bank node N3 jointly maintain the financing transfer account AC7 of the alliance blockchain ALBC based on the financing approval and transfer operation.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a flowchart showing further detailed steps of step S240 in the control method 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 , step S240 includes detailed steps S241 to S245.

As shown in FIG. 6 , after the bank financing system 140 determines the financing approval and the execution of the call operation, step S241 is executed, and the bank node N3 triggers the smart contract to provide the financing approval and the call operation to the supplier node N2, and requires the supplier node N2 to endorse. Among them, the detailed method of requiring the node to endorse the transaction information in step S241 can refer to the embodiment in FIG. 4 . The two are similar, and the difference is that in this step S241, it is initiated by the bank node N3 and requires the supplier node N2 to endorse, and in step S211, it is initiated by the central factory node N1 and requires the supplier node N2 to endorse. Other technical contents are similar and therefore will not be described separately here.

At this time, the supplier system 130 (or the supplier user U2) can execute step S242 to check whether there is any money credited to the supplier account and check whether it is consistent with the approved amount of the transfer operation.

When the amount is verified to be in the account and is consistent with the approved amount, step S243 is executed, and the supplier node N2 is used to endorse the financing approval confirmation and the transfer operation. Then, in step S244, the supplier node N2 (or the bank node N3 collects and forwards it) transmits the endorsed financing approval confirmation and the transfer operation to the sorting consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3. In step S245, the sorting consensus nodes NC1, NC2 and NC3 are used to perform consensus verification of the financing approval confirmation and the transfer operation, and then the financing approval confirmation and the transfer operation after consensus verification can be written into the financing transfer account AC7 of the alliance blockchain ALBC.

When step S245 is completed, the transaction information (financing approval and transfer operation) between the supplier node N2 and the bank node N3 has been properly written into the supplier node N2. At this time, the supplier has recovered the shipment payment and transferred the creditor's rights of accounts payable to the bank. Through the records in the financing transfer book AC7, the ownership of the creditor's rights can be clearly confirmed, and it can also be clear which purchase order it corresponds to. When the central factory needs to pay the accounts payable in the future, it can repay according to the records in the financing transfer book AC7.

As shown in Figure 2, in step S250, the supplier node N2 shares the financing transfer account AC7 with the central plant node N1. In step S260, when the accounts payable are due for payment, the central plant system 120 transfers the due payment amount of the accounts payable to the corresponding bank account of the bank node N3 according to the financing transfer account AC7. In this way, the central plant system 120 or the central plant user U1 can transfer the accounts payable to the corresponding bank account of the bank node N3 to settle the debt of the previous accounts payable. When the bank financing system 140 confirms the payment, the record of the debt can be erased.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which shows a functional block diagram of a supply chain financial platform 700 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The supply chain financial platform 700 includes a blockchain platform system 710, a central factory system 720, a supplier system 730, and a bank financing system 740. The blockchain platform system 710 is used to collect, store, and aggregate transaction information between the central factory system 720, the supplier system 730, and the bank financing system 740, thereby making credit data transparent, credible, or automated, reducing the difficulty of the bank's credit verification process, and accelerating the process of banks providing supply chain financing services. The blockchain platform system 710 at least includes a central factory node N1, a supplier node N2, a bank node N3, and three ranking consensus nodes NC, which are connected to each other to form an alliance blockchain ALBC. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the central factory node N1, the supplier node N2, and the bank node N3 each include more than a single node.

As shown in FIG. 7, the central plant node N1 includes the central plant main transaction node N1m and the central plant backup transaction node N1b. When the central plant main transaction node N1m operates normally, its function is similar to the central plant node N1 in the embodiment of FIG. 1. When the central plant main transaction node N1m is abnormal, the central plant backup transaction node N1b is activated to replace the central plant main transaction node N1m.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the supplier node N2 includes the supplier main transaction node N2m and the supplier backup transaction node N2b. When the supplier main transaction node N2m operates normally, its function is similar to the supplier node N2 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 . When the supplier main transaction node N2m is abnormal, the supplier backup transaction node N2b is activated to replace the supplier main transaction node N2m.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the bank node N3 includes the bank main transaction node N3m and the bank backup transaction node N3b. When the bank main transaction node N3m operates normally, its function is similar to the bank node N3 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 . When the bank main transaction node N3m is abnormal, the bank backup transaction node N3b is activated to replace the bank main transaction node N3m.

Through the above implementation, the business process of accounts payable (AP) financing in the supply chain is that the central factory initiates a purchase order, places an order with the supplier, the supplier ships the goods, the central factory receives and inspects the goods, notifies the supplier to issue an invoice for payment, and the central factory confirms the invoice and transfers it to the account book in the blockchain to the bank side, thereby providing the supplier with financing, obtaining bank funds and paying interest. When the payment is due, the central factory pays it to the designated bank account. In the operation of the above alliance chain, the central factory assists the supplier in financing, speeds up financing and creates a win-win situation. For example, suppliers can obtain financing smoothly and quickly, relieve the supplier's financial pressure, and reduce the difficulty of the bank in the credit verification process. In addition, through the financial credit of the hub factory, suppliers can obtain better financing conditions.

Although specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been disclosed with respect to the above-mentioned embodiments, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Various substitutions and improvements may be performed in the present disclosure by a person skilled in the art without departing from the principles and spirit of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure is determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

100, 700: Supply Chain Finance Platform

110, 710: Blockchain platform system

120, 720: Central factory system

130, 730: Supplier system

140, 740: Bank financing system

N1: Central Plant Node

N1m: Central plant main transaction node

N1b: Central plant backup transaction node

N2: Supplier Node

N2m: Supplier's main trading node

N2b: Supplier backup transaction node

N3: Bank Node

N3m: Bank's main transaction node

N3b: Bank backup transaction node

NC, NC1, NC2, NC3: Sorting consensus nodes

ALBC:Alliance Blockchain

AC1: Purchase Order Book

AC2: Purchase Order Confirmation Book

AC3: Delivery Notice Book

AC4: Goods Acceptance Account Book

AC5: Input Certificate Book

AC6: Accounts Payable

AC7: Financing transfer account

U1: Central factory user

U2: Supplier User

U3: Bank users

200: Control Method

S210, S220, S230, S240, S250, S260: Steps

S211, S212, S213, S214, S215, S216: Steps

S217, S218, S219: Steps

S211a, S211b, S211c, S211d: Steps

S211e, S211f, S211g, S211h: Step

S231, S232, S233, S234: Steps

S241, S242, S243, S244, S245: Steps

In order to make the above and other purposes, features and embodiments of the disclosure more clear and easy to understand, the attached figures are described as follows: Figure 1 shows a functional block diagram of a supply chain financial platform in some embodiments of the disclosure; Figure 2 shows a flow chart of the supply chain financial platform and blockchain platform system in Figure 1 to perform a control method for accounts payable; Figure 3 shows a flow chart of further detailed steps of the steps in the control method in some embodiments of the disclosure document; Figure 4 shows a further flow chart of transmitting transaction messages, obtaining endorsements and writing accounts payable between nodes in the alliance blockchain; Figure 5 shows a flow chart of further detailed steps of another step in the control method in some embodiments of the disclosure document; FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing further detailed steps of another step in the control method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a supply chain financial platform according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Domestic storage information (please note in the order of storage institution, date, and number) None Foreign storage information (please note in the order of storage country, institution, date, and number) None

100: Supply chain financial platform

110: Blockchain platform system

120: Central factory system

130:Supplier system

140: Bank financing system

N1: Central factory node

N2: supplier node

N3: Bank node

NC, NC1, NC2, NC3: Sorting consensus nodes

ALBC: Alliance Blockchain

U1: Central factory user

U2: Supplier User

U3: Bank users

AC1: Purchase order book

AC2: Purchase order confirmation ledger

AC3: Delivery notification account book

AC4: Goods acceptance account book

AC5: Input voucher account book

AC6: Accounts payable ledger

AC7: Financing transfer account book

Claims (15)

A blockchain platform system, the blockchain platform system includes: a central factory node, which is connected to a central factory system; a supplier node, which is connected to a supplier system; a bank node, which is connected to a bank financing system; and at least three sorting consensus nodes, wherein the central factory node, the supplier node, the bank node and the sorting consensus nodes are used to jointly maintain a consortium blockchain according to a smart contract, wherein: when a procurement process is carried out between the central factory system and the supplier system, the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain a purchase order book and a purchase order of the consortium blockchain according to the information in the procurement process. A confirmation book, a delivery notice book, a goods acceptance book, an incoming voucher book and an accounts payable book. When the supplier system transmits an accounts payable financing request to the bank financing system, the supplier system shares the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book, the goods acceptance book, the incoming voucher book and the accounts payable book with the bank node. The bank financing system approves the accounts payable financing request and generates a financing approval confirmation and performs a call operation. The supplier node and the bank node jointly maintain a financing call book of the alliance blockchain according to the financing approval confirmation and the call operation. A blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the order of the information required to jointly maintain the alliance blockchain is determined by the consensus nodes according to the smart contract. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the ranking consensus nodes are further used to distinguish the correctness of the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book, the goods acceptance book, the input voucher book and the accounts payable book by majority consensus. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the purchase order ledger of the alliance blockchain by: when the central factory system sends a purchase order to the supplier system, the central factory node obtains the purchase order information from the central factory system and writes it to the purchase order ledger on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the purchase order confirmation account book of the alliance blockchain by: when the supplier system receives the purchase order sent from the central factory system, the supplier system confirms the content of the purchase order; and the supplier node obtains the information of the confirmed purchase order from the supplier system and writes it to the purchase order confirmation account book on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the delivery notice ledger of the alliance blockchain by: when the shipment is made based on the purchase order, the supplier system sends a delivery notice to the central factory system, and the supplier node writes the information of the delivery notice to the delivery notice ledger on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the goods acceptance ledger of the alliance blockchain by: when the central factory system receives a message that the goods acceptance is completed, the central factory node obtains the information that the goods acceptance is completed from the central factory system and writes it into the goods acceptance ledger on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the input voucher account book of the alliance blockchain by: when the central factory system provides the information of the completion of the goods acceptance to the supplier system, the supplier system is used to issue an invoice and discount information, and when the invoice and discount information on the supplier system is logged in and confirmed, the supplier node writes the invoice and discount information into the input voucher account book on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node and the supplier node jointly maintain the accounts payable book of the alliance blockchain by: when the central factory system uses an invoice and discount information to create an accounts payable information, when the accounts payable information is logged in and verified, the central factory node writes the accounts payable information to the accounts payable book on the alliance blockchain. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the bank financing system generates the financing approval confirmation and the activation operation by: the bank financing system obtains the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book, the goods acceptance book, the input voucher book and the accounts payable book from the bank node; the bank financing system is used to calculate the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book and the accounts payable book according to the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book and the and the goods acceptance book verifies the authenticity of the procurement process; the bank financing system determines an approved interest and an approved amount determined by the financing approval based on the purchase order book, the purchase order confirmation book, the delivery notice book, the goods acceptance book, the input voucher book, and the accounts payable book; and the bank financing system transfers the approved amount to a supplier account corresponding to the supplier node to execute the transfer operation. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 10, wherein the supplier node and the bank node jointly maintain the financing transfer account book through: when the bank financing system determines the financing approval decision and executes the transfer operation, the bank node triggers the smart contract to record the financing approval decision and the transfer operation in the financing transfer account book, and requires the supplier node to endorse; when the supplier node verifies the approved amount from the supplier account, the supplier node endorses the financing approval decision and the transfer operation in the financing transfer account book. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the supplier node shares the financing transfer ledger with the central factory node, and when a payment corresponding to the purchase order is due, the central factory system obtains the financing transfer ledger from the central factory node and transfers the payment to a bank account corresponding to the bank node. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the central factory node includes: a central factory main transaction node; and a central factory backup transaction node, when the central factory main transaction node is abnormal, the central factory backup transaction node is activated to replace the central factory main transaction node; wherein the supplier node includes: a supplier main transaction node; and a supplier backup transaction node, when the supplier main transaction node is abnormal, the supplier backup transaction node is activated to replace the supplier main transaction node; wherein the bank node includes: a bank main transaction node; and a bank backup transaction node, when the bank main transaction node is abnormal, the bank backup transaction node is activated to replace the bank main transaction node. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 1, wherein the smart contract includes a blockchain code, the supplier system sends a transaction message to at least one endorsement node related to the transaction message through the supplier node, the at least one endorsement node calls the blockchain code to execute transaction verification and generate at least one transaction verification result, the at least one endorsement node includes at least one of the central factory node, the supplier node and the bank node, the supplier system collects the at least one transaction verification result through the supplier node, and determines whether the at least one transaction verification result passes an endorsement policy. The blockchain platform system as described in claim 14, wherein the supplier node transmits the transaction message that passes the endorsement policy and the at least one transaction verification result to the sorting consensus nodes, and the sorting consensus nodes perform consensus verification on the transaction message and the at least one transaction verification result. When the consensus verification passes, the sorting consensus nodes push the transaction message to the central factory node, the supplier node or the bank node in the same channel, and the central factory node, the supplier node or the bank node in the same channel rechecks and confirms the transaction message and then writes the transaction message into the alliance blockchain.