White Paper
How Blockchain can optimize your supply chain
Distributed ledger technology and blockchain, with its original ideology of increasing trust and transparency, can create key benefits for global supply chains. Inspired by the potential, numerous companies are seeking to transfer the new technology into efficiency gains for the supply chain. Which are the technologies that best fit most supply chain use cases?
Finding the one
One special technology with the highest value to the supply chain is the so-called “smart contract” that can be based on the Ethereum blockchain (other blockchain technologies work too, but we will focus on Ethereum for now). Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum blocks contain a copy of both the transaction list and the most recent state. Also, while Bitcoin was created as a currency, Ethereum was intended as a platform to facilitate immutable, programmatic contracts, and applications via its own currency. Smart contracts can formalize the relationship between persons and institutions by means of self-executing contracts, with the terms of the agreement being written directly into the coding. The code contains a set of rules under which the parties to that smart contract agree to interact with each other.
Track & trace
In general, blockchain has features that help to trace a product’s footprint. Making the blockchain publicly accessible will grant insight into the overall value chain, and customers can follow up on when and where a product was manufactured and how it was transported to its final sales location. Since smart contracts can accommodate a wide range of data such as ownership, location, time, costs and further specifications, customer requirements for completeness of information can be met to any required extent. From the customers’ perspective, the enhanced data integrity can lead to increased confidence and trust.
Manage International Trades
In todays’ international trade system, blockchain can simplify the collaboration between all participants in a supply chain in multiple dimensions. With the correct technology such as smart contracts, one can process transactions to be automatically triggered by events and conditions. Smart contracts are not only more secure than conventional ways of document authentication – they can also run the overall process automatically.
