Optimal Shelf Availability Decentralized (OSA DC) aims to revolutionize the retail practice of the same name–namely, optimal shelf availability for supply chain businesses.

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With OSA DC, retailers and manufacturers will be able to manage their shared inventory more efficiently than they can under existing business models.  Current strategies are insufficient for optimizing product stocking and gauging purchasing trends, leading retailers to lose an estimated $500 bln in revenue annually from product waste and mismanagement.

Using Blockchain and AI-powered services, OSA DC will help store owners to reduce the overstocking and understocking that negatively affect their profit potential.  To this end, OSA DC is building a holistic network that connects retailers with their manufacturers to streamline product ordering, shipments, and future planning.

And let’s not forget about consumers.  OSA DC will give consumers more control over their shopping than ever before.  They’ll be able to provide input directly to their favorite stores, using the platform to leave reviews and submit vital data that store owners can use to improve the shopping experience.  Their feedback will help retailers to forecast future product needs and respond to issues as they arise in-store. Essentially, both consumer and retailer will be able to enter into a symbiotic relationship wherein they both work together to improve the retail landscape and protect each others interests.

Industry Ailments and the OSA DC Prescription

The supply chain and retail industries are rife with inefficiencies and outdated systems that cut into profit potential for retailers and manufacturers alike.  

Stock outs from understocking and waste from overstocking, for examples, cost the retail industry $500 bln annually.  $400 bln of this comes from overstocking goods that consumers don’t want or losing out on sales by understocking the goods that they do want.  The other $100 bln comes from general supply chain mismanagement and waste.

OSA DC will give retailers the ability to trim the fat of their business practices while packing on the pounds where it counts: their bottom lines.  To eliminate stocking problems, OSA DC combines its machine learning, AI-driven data models with leading inventory management hardware, like shelf-monitoring sensors.  These sensors will provide employees with real-time updates of product stock, and the AI will advise them on the best action to take when a store faces a stock out.

The AI will also help retailers to better collaborate with manufacturers to forecast purchasing trends and optimize their product orders.  Machine learning models will process information from research groups, in-store sales records, and even self-committed consumer data to formulate the best possible inventory planning.  Consumers get more of the products they actual want, retailers increase sales, and manufacturers and brands get more representative product exposure–everybody wins!

Alongside AI, the Blockchain has its own place in galvanizing retail practices, as well.  The Blockchain’s immutable distributed ledger will have a positive impact both on product transparency and inventory tracking.

With OSA DC’s Data Master Catalog, all products that circulate within its participants’ supply chains will have standardized names and information.  Under current systems, products may have dozens of names across the data master catalogs of various retailers and producers, creating a headache for both parties when accounting for inventory, especially so if that inventory is lost.  With all products listed on the Blockchain, retailers and producers can cut back on waste and mismanagement with reliable product tracking.

Consumers stand to benefit as well, as they can cross check product information (e.g. nutrition facts, origin, shipping history) on the Blockchain to ensure that they’re not purchasing anything unhealthy or hazardous.  This gives consumers purchasing power to keep manufacturers and retailers honest- if an item’s info doesn’t agree with the Blockchain

In addition, the Blockchain enables OSA with its own economy.  The OSA token (OSA) will be used as network fuel to execute platform functions and as a native reward system.  Consumers will be rewarded OSA for contributions to the network, and they can spend these OSA on promotional products, in-store purchases, and special offers at participating retailers.  Manufacturers may also reward retailers in OSA for meeting key performance indicators (KPIs), which will be stored as smart contracts on the Blockchain, and sales quotas.

OSA DC has also partnered with Neuromation, a synthetic data platform that is building a more efficient infrastructure to train AI models. Using image recognition and computer vision technology, Neuromation trains machine learning modules, labels data sets, and generates product data to help businesses better manage their AI backends. The Nuerotoken (NTK) will be used as the platform’s native currency to execute smart contracts and pay for its services. OSA DC has partnered with Neuromation to utilize its image recognition software, a cutting edge technology that will enable OSA to properly train its AI to respond to on-shelf stockouts in real-time.

The Token Sale and Team

The project opened registration for its token sale’s whitelist on March 20, which will close after May 15.  From May 27 to June 16, OSA will hold a public presale, which will feature an early bird bonus, while the main sale will start June 17 and run through July or until a hard cap of $40 mln is reached. All tokens will be distributed to contributors 30 days after the sale ends.  The ICO price for one OSA token (OSA) is 0.0002 ETH.

There’s risk in participating in token sales, but if you decide to support OSA, you’re supporting a project that has already produced tangible results in the retail industry. OSA DC is based on the OSA Hybrid Platform, the foundation for the newer platform’s AI-services. The Hybrid Platform is already in use by industry leaders like Danone, Mars, L’Oreal, Coca Cola, Pespico, JTI, Metro, and others. It has delivers a 5.4% profit increase for 70 retailers and manufacturers across 40 countries.  

These are the results of the hard work of OSA’s team, which features over a century of combined retail and supply chain industry experience. Founder Maximilian Musselius, now OSA DC’s Strategy and Vision Lead, has infused the project with the knowledge he’s accrued as the Executive Director of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) Russia, a retail industry organization that is working on retail solutions like OSA’s own.  Co-founder Alex Isaiev comes to OSA with over 17 years of experience in the fast moving consumer goods industry, working multiple jobs throughout the industry including management positions at Japan Tobacco International.

OSA DC’s advisors include industry big leagues like Don Swann, a former VP of Operations and COO of Walmart’s North American, Russian, and Brazilian branches. As business development lead, the project has recruited the help of Gary Fowler, who has held executive positions at Simiens and HP.

If you’d like, visit OSA’s website to learn more about the project and its token sale.