Newly launched Milwaukee startup
Aeroplicity Inc. has created a blockchain-based aerospace and defense platform geared toward small and medium-sized businesses.
The company’s “Traceability” application allows businesses to create digital twins of their documents, which can be shared through QR codes, eliminating the need for physical copies. The use of blockchain technology ensures the authenticity of the documentation and improves supply chain transparency, speed and efficiency, the company says.
Jerome Miastkowski, founder and chief executive officer of Aeroplicity, said the requirement to conduct business as an aerospace and defense supplier is becoming increasingly complex. Mandates are being passed down from the government to Tier 1 suppliers in the aerospace and defense space. This in turn trickles down and affects smaller manufacturers and suppliers within the supply chain.
“It’s really hard to implement (these mandates) without a product like ours,” Miastkowski said. “There’s all of these quality controls. There’s this entire set of requirements happening on the security side for data. That ties into this other side and now it’s starting to be funneling into the lower levels of the supply chain.”
Miastkowski earned his aerospace engineering degree from Iowa State University. After selling his company
CertifyNation, an aviation and aerospace component manufacturer, to Sussex-based The Angelus Corp. in 2016, Miastkowski moved to Wisconsin. He worked there for the past six years as part of the terms of the acquisition, and eventually took over IT for the company. This is when he began to notice the increasingly stringent mandates being passed down through the industry.
These requirements can put smaller suppliers and manufacturers at a disadvantage as they do not have the time and resources that a Tier 1 supplier might. With Traceability, users can conduct business as usual and meet the complex requirements of the aerospace and defense industry.
“This system would allow someone to literally transact on it along with some internal policies and say they’re fully compliant outside of their current systems,” Miastkowski said.
When you upload a document to the Traceability application, it is then written within a blockchain network. This allows users to verify that a document is authentic.
“When you send that in the system to someone else, they know that it hasn’t changed,” Miastkowski said.
Aeroplicity is designed to improve supply chain transparency, speed, and efficiency, making it easier for businesses to ensure compliance with aerospace and defense regulations and standards. With the Traceability (as a service) application, businesses can easily access, share, and request documentation in real-time, reducing the risk of errors and increasing the speed of transactions.
The blockchain-backed platform provides a secure and immutable record of documentation, providing an added layer of security and trust for businesses in the aerospace and defense industry.
“When you use a system like Aeroplicity, you (can) attach a QR code to your shipment and there are hundreds of documents your customers can access versus you having to print all of this,” Miastkowski said.
Now that Aeroplicity has officially launched, Miastkowski’s number one priority for the startup is earning sales. He’s planning on opening up a funding round in the near future.
“My goal for Aeroplicity is that a small or medium-sized business can literally run their aerospace and defense operations and comply with everything across the board by just being on it,” Miastkowski said. “The big companies design all this stuff in house but don’t give anyone else access to it for their own use.”
