We lack connectivity. It seems ironic, as COVID-19 has shown us that we are able to connect digitally, but businesses are still struggling to ensure that their company stays connected and traceable.
We struggle to connect with our business, ourselves and our work when normalcy is disrupted. And supply chains have suffered perhaps the most.
Blockchain for supply chains – why now?
Supply chains have been in need of transformation for decades now. While we can track our food from restaurant to door, we still cannot reliably track our parcels through supply chains. As the World Economic Forum point out, “The fact that we can track our Uber driver but not shipment placed three weeks ago from a department store less than 10 miles from our home is startling, humiliating and needs addressing.”
Why is it so different? Why can we track our takeaway restaurant-to-door but not our deliveries?
The answer is that supply chains are a lot more complex and, in many ways, still lack traceability, data tracking, transparency and accountability. They can, in many cases, drain money, resources and time from both business and consumer.
Blockchain-backed platforms would provide a central place for tracking data, as well as a place for business exchanges without intermediaries.
Often, in supply chain transactions, intermediaries are an absolute necessity to negotiate deals and ensure fair exchanges. With blockchain, information is traceable and permanent, meaning that contracts can be exchanged via the blockchain without the necessity of companies to mediate.
It needs to be a global commitment
For blockchain to be successful in supply chains, it requires a global commitment from companies all over the world. Otherwise, many supply chains will remain convuluted and siloed from other parts of the business.
The move towards digitalization of supply chains needs to be universal and demands global cooperation. Supply chains pose the perfect case study for widespread blockchain implementation because supply chains are, inherently, global.
Amidst COVID-19 times, blockchain has provided traceability for a variety of commodities, as well as medical supplies to the worst affected areas. The technology allows us to keep track of shipments and ensure that the medical supplies are going to the right people.
In the wider scheme of things, our supply chain management needs to be improved.
As consumers, we lack visibility into our delivery services and the supply chains they go through to get to us. We can’t see our parcel travel from point-to-point, and we also can’t see what has happened to the materials for it to get there. Blockchain-backed platforms are the answer, providing a traceable, transparent and permanent way of tracking commodities through the supply chain.
This is integral not only for businesses, but also for consumers.
Blockhead Technologies have created STAMP Supply, a blockchain-enabled platform targeted at tracking supply chain data from the beginning to the end of the supply chain. It’s efficient and cost-saving without being difficult to use. You can access reports, an easy-to-use dashboard and forecasts in the click of a button.
You can find out more about STAMP Supply here or contact us here for a demo.