Method and Apparatus for Presenting Supply Chain Information to a Consumer

A system for documenting information on a product selected by a consumer for delivery through a supply chain accessible on a mobile communications device comprising,

• a distribution pallet tor transporting, storing and displaying the products moving through a supply chain on the pallet to a consumer,
• a machine readable identifier associated with the product for movement in the supply chain,
• a smart device mounted on the distribution pallet,
• said smart device including a cellular transceiver, a microprocessor, sensors, antennae, and a power supply, said cellular transceiver providing communications between said pallet and a pallet management entity to document a pallet trip record by manifest data indicating use of the pallet, and
• said smart device including at least one of an ISO 18000 device and an IEEE 802.n device, said devices being connected to said cellular transceiver and said microprocessor to provide local communications between said distribution pallet and a wireless network included in the supply chain to generate data on the location and status of the product transported by the pallet through the supply chain.

A system for presenting supply chain information indicative of a product's journey on a pallet from a manufacturer to a consumer using a social media application comprising:

• supplying a smart pallet with a tracking device that is aware of its circumstances and can record pallet trip data and can communicate said data indicative of these circumstances to a portal accessible through at least one of an M2M module, an ISO 18000 device and an IEEE 802.n device,
• placing a product with a machine readable identifier onto the smart pallet and transporting, storing and displaying the product in a supply chain for delivering the product to a consumer,
• associating a unique identifier from one of the module or devices with a pallet with the product identifier in an external data base for linking the history of she product's journey on the pallet with a unique pallet trip record, to thereby association provide a record of the supply chain history for the product,
• extracting the useful information concerning the product from the aggregated information to present the useful information in a structured format, and
• accessing the information by reading the identifier with a mobile device using a radio frequency signal to establish a connection to an internet portal where the social media application presents supply chain information for a product of interest in the structured format.