Blockchain is one of the advanced technologies with great potential to have an actual influence on the supply chain industry efficiency. And there are already some industrial applications in the real world, for example, Walmart established a corporation with IBM to build a Blockchain ledger to track the movement of pork for its Chinese supply chain in 2016.
To learn about how blockchain technology could help the supply chain industry, we shall know about what are the features of blockchain.
- Shared Ledger – decentralized & immutable
- Smart Contract – faster settlement
- Enhanced security – permissioned and encrypted
- Consensus – the algorithm embedded
So the main two benefits that blockchain brings to Supply Chain, or the Information flow and cash flow specifically, are Security and Efficiency.
First, with blockchain technology, the information flow becomes easier to trace back. This feature is significant in the food and medicine industry. The traceability replaces the traditional tracing activities that by emails and point-to-point communications with shared transparent real-time records (shared ledger).
Second, the smart contract features help to increase the efficiency in contract settlement and financing. There’s more potential beyond the current INCO term and payment term (e.g. open account).
Third, the supply chain information flow becomes safer and could be protected from hacker attacks. In 2021, one of the top forwarders – Expeditors’ servers was down for weeks due to an Internet attack.
If you’d like to learn more about blockchain, below are some recommended resources:
- What is Blockchain Technology? (IBM)
- Blockchain for Dummies (download from above page)
- Blockchain online courses (e.g. Coursera)
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