Traceability on the Blockchain — Supply Chain and Logistics
Blockchain Technology allows us to manage and keep record of information in a decentralised and immutable manner. This means that no single entity is in control of the distributed ledger, and no one person can edit it information after it has been recorded.
We did an in depth post about Blockchain technology and how it operates.
With the above in mind, many organisations and crypto projects are moving to leverage Blockchain technology for traceability purposes. Traceability is one of the natural characteristics with Blockchain technology. Supply chain and logistics companies could save huge amounts of money each year simply by having correct tracking information about the items they ship around the world.
Blockchain can allow products, commodities, food and much more to be tracked at every stage of the supply chain in real time. There is no doubt that blockchain technology will therefore revolutionise the way companies track and trace products all around the world.
Enterprise
On an enterprise level, many organisations are beginning to adopt blockchain technology for improving supply chain and logistics.
For example, IBM and Shipping giant Maersk have partnered up to create a blockchain supply chain company called TradeLens. So far, 94 companies have joined the collaboration which aims to give real time visibility of products being shipped around the world; All through the use of blockchain technology.
Large consulting firms like Deloitte are leveraging Blockchain along with Internet of Things (IoT) technology to enhance supply chain processes. They recognise that many of the challenges associated with the supply chain relate to sharing information between many stakeholders. Trust is therefore a huge factor in who information gets shared with and how often it is shared.
By combining IoT tech with Blockchain, Deloitte are seeking to help clients close the trust gap and make information more reliable and accessible. Visibility of products will be accessible at all touch points of the supply chain, from the producer right through to the consumer.
Crypto Projects
Aside from the enterprise solutions being proposed by the likes of IBM and Deloitte, there are many projects in the crypto space that are leveraging Blockchain to serve up offerings to better manage supply chain and logistics.
Vechain
As we wrote about previously, Vechain Thor is an enterprise level public blockchain protocol.They are connecting blockchain technology to the real world by “providing a comprehensive governance structure, a robust economic model as well as advanced IoT integration, and pioneers in real world applications.”
Vechain already has working implementations with helping companies to track products all the way along the supply chain. Using IoT and Blockchain to negate the issue of counterfeit goods in the luxury brands industry was one of their original use cases. They are maintaining food safety by tracking, tracing, logging, and locating goods and products in the food and drinks industry.
They are working with automobile manufacturers to build out digital maintenance logs and ‘green driving’ modules for vehicles. These initiatives can track vehicle diagnostics such as acceleration, speed, gas consumption and much more. These are stored on the blockchain and can be used to incentivise safe driving behaviour.
Te-Food
One of the smaller scale crypto projects looking at logistics and supply chain is TE-FOOD (TFD). Currently sitting at a market cap of only $4.9 Million they have recently partnered up with Deloitte Hungary and are one to keep an eye on. As their name suggests TFD are putting food traceability solutions on the Blockchain. They are serving farm to table data management for the supply chain. Integrating all participants into one ecosystem, from primary producer to wholesaler, to retailer, to customer.
Waltonchain
The Waltonchain project is also creating a business ecosystem and integrating Blockchain with Internet of Things (IoT) Technology. The Value Internet of Things (VIoT), as they are calling it, constructs a commercial ecosystem via the integration of the real world and the blockchain.Ushering human beings into the reliable digital life. Waltonchain unfolds the new era of Value Internet of Things.
Again we see this emerging trend of leveraging IoT for product traceability. The merging of Blockchain and IoT seems a natural evolution for supply chain and logistics.
ShipChain
Shipchain are disrupting transport and logistics on the blockchain. They are creating the next evolution of logistics. Full system integration throughout the entire supply chain is their promise, utilising trustless and transparent blockchain contracts.
Shipchain are utilising the Ethereum blockchain to track individual encrypted geographic waypoints across each smart contract. Information about shipment loading, geographic locations and other basic info is all validated within their side-chain.
Emerging Trends
In an increasingly globalised world there is an ever growing desire for traceability on products of all sorts. Consumers are also growing more conscious of product and environment sustainability. Being able to trace products and food back to source will be a growing demand in years to come.
The above consumer needs, coupled with the benefits that Blockchain can bring to all stakeholders along the supply chain is why so many companies are eager to serve this need. Traceability at all stages of the supply chain can save money, time and resources in a multitude of ways. We now live in a world where margins and cost saving can be improved with technology integrations. There is no doubt that we will see blockchain revolutionise the way all stakeholders interact with the supply chain.
Tagged with: blockchain, crypto, cryptocurrency, supply chain, traceability
Originally published at cryptosuss.com on September 11, 2018.
