Arctic Edge Pilot 1 – Simulated Supply Chain Demonstration

What We Did

• We modelled a representative supply chain for a simple manufactured product (a pen).
• Level 0 – the finished product.
• Level 1 (OEM) – AIM assembled the main components.
• Level 2 (Tier 1 suppliers) – NKCCI and AIM handled sub-assemblies and moulded components.
• Level 3 (Tier 2 suppliers) – LTU demonstrated raw material and component supply.
• We used MQTT, a lightweight, industry-standard messaging protocol, to transmit supply chain events between these different tiers.
• Node-RED served as the orchestration and visualisation tool, allowing us to build real-time flows of information, monitor the messages being sent, and simulate how suppliers and manufacturers would communicate in practice.

Why It Matters

• Today, many SMEs still rely on emails and spreadsheets for procurement and order tracking. This creates delays, fragmented information, and risks during disruptions.
• With the Arctic Edge digital architecture, data flows automatically between partners – for example:
• A raw material availability update from Tier 2 can trigger a sub-assembly adjustment at Tier 1.
• Production start/stop signals from the OEM can be shared upstream instantly.
• Shipment and delivery confirmations can be tracked in real time.
• This simulation proved that real-time, cloud-based data sharing is possible across geographies and organisational boundaries, exactly as Arctic Edge is designed to achieve.

Bigger Picture

The pilot feeds directly into Arctic Edge’s wider goals:

• Creating a flexible, cloud-based digital architecture for rural SMEs.
• Showing how IoT, AI, and broker-driven interoperability can improve supply chain resilience.
• Building a scalable model that other SMEs across the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) region can adopt.
• Strengthening the resilience, adaptability, and competitiveness of small manufacturers by reducing dependency on manual processes.