Securing the Supply Chain: Mitsui and Quantinuum Trial Quantum Tokens for Post-Quantum Logistics
December 18, 2023
As supply chains become more digitized and interconnected, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of shipments is critical—especially for sensitive goods like vaccines, defense equipment, and temperature-sensitive products. Classical cryptography, long the foundation of logistics security, faces an existential threat from emerging quantum computers capable of breaking conventional encryption. To future-proof global logistics, new quantum-safe solutions are essential.
On December 18, 2023, Japan’s Mitsui & Co., one of the nation’s largest trading firms, and UK-US quantum leader Quantinuum jointly demonstrated a novel quantum token authentication system over a 10-kilometer optical fiber link operated by NEC in Tokyo. The pilot used physics-based quantum tokens—unique cryptographic entities generated and transmitted using quantum phenomena—to provide tamper-evident supply chain handoffs.
Unlike classical digital signatures or barcodes, quantum tokens leverage the no-cloning theorem of quantum mechanics, ensuring that any interception or duplication attempt alters the token and triggers immediate detection. In the trial, each token represented a one-of-a-kind supply chain identifier that could not be forged or replicated.
This capability promises a paradigm shift from software-based trust models to physics-enforced security in logistics operations.
Use cases for such quantum tokens are vast and impactful:
Pharmaceutical cold chains, where verifying authenticity and maintaining proper conditions are life-critical
Defense logistics, where asset integrity directly supports national security
High-value luxury goods and rare materials, vulnerable to counterfeiting and theft
Customs and bonded warehouses requiring strict chain-of-custody across jurisdictions
While blockchain technologies have improved traceability, they still rely on classical cryptographic hashes vulnerable to future quantum attacks. Quantum tokens, generated by quantum key distribution (QKD) or quantum random number generators (QRNGs), offer intrinsic quantum resistance and can be integrated with blockchain for dual-layer, quantum-enhanced security.
Quantinuum’s QRNG generated true quantum randomness in real-time during the pilot, with tokens authenticated across NEC’s fiber under conditions simulating real-world customs, ports, and cargo terminals. The system maintained authentication fidelity above 99.99% with microsecond latency, automatically invalidating tokens if tampering was detected.
Japan’s strategic interest in quantum logistics security aligns with national initiatives launched in 2023 focused on post-quantum cryptography and logistics digitization. Mitsui, a global trading house with operations spanning chemicals, steel, food, and defense procurement, serves as an ideal pilot user for cross-domain quantum-secure logistics.
Quantinuum, formed by merging Cambridge Quantum and Honeywell Quantum Solutions, is expanding its Quantum Origin platform—already used in finance and government—into physical logistics authentication. By 2025, Quantinuum plans to offer logistics-specific APIs enabling 3PLs, freight forwarders, and customs agencies to integrate quantum validation into supply chain software directly.
Globally, logistics industries are nearing post-quantum readiness, as standards from NIST, EU Quantum Flagship projects, and China’s extensive quantum communication networks converge. Mitsui and Quantinuum’s Tokyo trial places Japan among leading nations advancing physics-based logistics security.
Next steps include embedding QRNG chips in IoT logistics devices, releasing software development kits for quantum authentication, and launching live supply chain pilots across Asia and Europe by late 2025. Success would establish the world’s first quantum-authenticated logistics corridor, transforming current vulnerable barcode and RFID systems.
The Mitsui–Quantinuum demonstration is not just a technical milestone but a fundamental leap in trust. In an era where cybercriminals target global supply chains relentlessly, quantum tokens provide a physics-backed guarantee that what is shipped is exactly what is received—unchanged, authentic, and unspoofed.
Quantum-secure logistics is no longer futuristic—it’s live, proven, and ready for global deployment.