Supply chain management remains an extraordinarily complex challenge for organizations as commerce continues to become more and more global. All links to create and distribute goods add up to potentially hundreds of stages, locations, and payments. These processes are rife with lack of transparency and potential for inefficiency. The industry has rightly begun to explore the application of blockchain technology to address this web of complexity.
While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are the most well-known applications of blockchain technology, it’s the underlying distributed, digital ledger that is appealing to supply chain management. Think of it as “a single version of the truth,” regarding the origin and distribution of a good. Since all transactions are recorded on a block and across copies of the ledger that are distributed over many nodes (computers), it is all highly transparent. It’s also very secure since every block must link to the one before it and after it.
Ultimately, blockchain can increase the efficiency and transparency of supply chains and positively impact every step along the way from warehousing to delivery to payment.
The key capabilities that are necessary for reliability and integrity in a supply chain are provided by blockchain. Blockchain provides consensus, that single version of the truth. There is no dispute in the chain regarding transactions because all entities on the chain have the same version of the ledger. Everyone on the blockchain can see the chain of ownership for an asset on the blockchain. Records on the blockchain cannot be erased which is important for a transparent supply chain.
Large technology providers like IBM, Amazon Web Services, Oracle and others are beginning to roll out products and services for very large manufacturers worldwide but we believe this technology and the available efficiencies are still in infancy.
With questions about blockchain and your business, please contact us today at (845) 735-3555 or visit our website at www.superiortechnology.com.
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