Interview with Alyn Franklin, Chief Executive Officer of Oritain
Oritain, a New Zealand-based firm specialized in verifying product origins, utilizes advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect anomalies in a product's chemical composition. By doing so, the company offers valuable insights that help clients prepare for potential supply chain disruptions more effectively.
In an interview, Alyn Franklin, Oritain's CEO, explained their approach. Oritain identifies each product's unique "origin fingerprint," a chemical signature shaped by environmental factors such as soil, climate, and altitude. Using forensic and statistical methods, they analyze and compare these fingerprints against a global database to authenticate the product's claimed origin. The company primarily works with the cotton industry and aims to expand into high-risk commodities like coffee, wool, and cacao.
To make their process more efficient at scale, Oritain incorporates AI and machine learning. While scientific analysis remains the core of their verification, AI assists in identifying patterns across global supply chains, detecting subtle anomalies, and providing insights on potential sourcing risks. These tools continually improve the accuracy and responsiveness of their system as supply chains evolve.
Franklin addressed the challenge of verifying origins when supply chains mix materials from different sources. Oritain deals with this issue by refining their database and using machine learning models to recognize patterns that match known origin profiles and flag any discrepancies. They continually retrain their models to adapt to shifts in suppliers, regions, or seasonal factors.
Oritain also utilizes AI to predict disruptions in sourcing before they occur. By analyzing complex supply chain data, their models identify early warning signs, such as gradual shifts in sourcing regions or production patterns, and flag areas that may pose future risk. This foresight enables clients to prepare for potential disruptions by adjusting their sourcing strategies.
With nearly two decades of experience, Oritain has partnered with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enforce trade laws and combat counterfeiting, unethical sourcing, and fraud. They provide their services to agencies implementing measures such as the EU's Deforestation and Forced Labor Regulations. Oritain offers a more robust evidence base for supply chains meeting legal and ethical standards by analyzing products instead of relying on paperwork or blockchain.
As Oritain scales its technology and data infrastructure, they concentrate on expanding their mapping efforts to major commodity-growing regions worldwide and building a global network of labs for consistent, localized testing. This growth supports the company's mission to protect the planet, promote human and animal welfare, and improve overall quality of life by enabling companies in fashion, food, and pharmaceuticals to operate more sustainable, transparent, and resilient supply chains.
- Oritain, in an attempt to make their process more efficient at scale, incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to assist in identifying patterns across global supply chains, detect subtle anomalies, and provide insights on potential sourcing risks.
- Recognizing patterns that match known origin profiles and flagging any discrepancies is achieved by Oritain through refining their database and using machine learning models to adapt to shifts in suppliers, regions, or seasonal factors.
- Oritain's AI models predict disruptions in sourcing before they occur by analyzing complex supply chain data, identifying early warning signs, and flagging areas that may pose future risk, enabling clients to prepare for potential disruptions by adjusting their sourcing strategies.
- As Oritain scales its technology and data infrastructure, they focus on expanding their mapping efforts to major commodity-growing regions worldwide and building a global network of labs for consistent, localized testing, in support of their mission to enforce trade laws, combat fraud, and promote companies in fashion, food, and pharmaceuticals to operate more sustainable, transparent, and resilient supply chains.
