What is Supply Chain and How Blockchain is Transforming It?

4 years ago 0 4996

What is Supply Chain and How Blockchain is Transforming It?

Have you ever wondered where the food you’re eating came from? Probably from the farm, but how did it actually end up on your table?

Or the phone you’re using? What it has to go through so you can buy it in the local store?

Well, the answer is simple: supply chain.

As its name says, supply chain is a network stretching out from the company to the final buyer. Basically, it encompasses the steps taken to get the product from its original state to the customer.

And today, this technology is faced with numerous challenges, including visibility into origin and authenticity in international trades. In fact, a 2017 report found that 408 organizations from 64 countries are facing consistent visibility challenges.

Simply put, traditional and centralized supply chain is inefficient, can lead to data loss, and it’s expensive.

However, this is where blockchain technology can help save the day.

How can blockchain disrupt supply chain?

First things first, blockchain already proved to be a better alternative to centralized databases in many industries, including supply chain.

But there is more to it. Blockchain also adds visibility and efficiency across supply chains.

Moreover, with blockchain, parties can track an asset and its movement across a custodial chain and share information on its provenance.

Blockchain can also help with record keeping and tracking. Parties can access information with the help of embedded sensors and RFID tags. This way, customers can see the complete history of the product.

The blockchain technology can also reduce costs. Various reserarch has shown that tracking a product in a supply chain with the help of blockchain reduces the overall cost of moving items.

And since all movements are recorded on a transparent and distributed ledger, any issue can be identified faster than with the use of centralized supply chain.

But how does this looks in practice?

Let’s take a supply chain in the food industry as an example.

Every year, 200 million tons of food spoil before reaching market, in large part because of insufficient cold transport technology. From farms to the table, the food goes a long way and somewhere along the path, mistakes can happen. Moreover, non-GMO and organic certifications are in high demand and carry the risk of being faked.

However, with blockchain-based supply chains we can follow the path and see data such as ingredient origin, farming techniques used during the cultivation, and even storage conditions.

Now that we know how blockchain-based supply chain works in practice, let’s take a look at some startups transforming this sector with blockchain.

Multichain Ventures

Among its products, Multichain Ventures offers tools for decentralizing supply chain data on an immutable, distributed ledger. This toolset is called EDEN.

EDEN can track data such as what is being monitored, date and time of the event, its location, and why that step is even taking place.

They currently run an airdrop to built their community, jump in at the ground floor while you have the chance.

Provenance

Provenance combines blockchain and supply chain to gather and record the product’s journey and relevant information.

With Provenance, businesses can make their supply chain more transparent, traceable, and secure.

Blockverify

Blockverify offers a blockchain based anti-counterfeit solution for supply chains. The platform can track assets such as pharmaceutical products, luxury items, diamonds, and electronics.

Using the power of blockchain, Blockverify can identify counterfeits, duplicable products, and monitor the supply chains.