This article was originally published on Forbes.
Blockchain isn’t overhyped, and it’s no longer the utopian dream of a few crypto enthusiasts. A recent Deloitte report surveyed more than 1,300 senior executives from around the world, and 53% identified blockchain as a critical priority for 2019.
According to the report, blockchain has finally come of age. It’s evolving into a “mature solution poised to deliver its initial promise to disrupt.”
In short, blockchain is going mainstream.
With growing consumer privacy concerns, intricate global supply chains, and an infinite pool of sensitive data to manage, a tech solution with the potential to address all of these concerns could be the most important innovation of the decade. Think of your business’s biggest challenge or obstacle, and there’s probably a way blockchain can solve it.
To be sure, there are still plenty of naysayers who claim that certain blockchain applications are only theoretical. But that same Deloitte research shows that the world’s top business leaders have stopped asking whether blockchain will work and have started asking how it’s going to disrupt their industries.
Implementation and regulatory hurdles still remain a challenge, but 86% of leaders are confident that blockchain will reach mainstream adoption, according to the Deloitte report. Luckily, there are several ways you can use blockchain right now to solve your business’s most pressing problems.
Blockchain could be a solution to the woes of beleaguered industries like healthcare. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States — many of which are related to communications issues between providers. The growing fragmentation of healthcare, strict privacy regulations, and the high cost of data breaches make the healthcare industry ripe for disruption by blockchain.
Traditional data-sharing methods leave patient records vulnerable to theft, but blockchain eliminates this risk by creating secure “blocks” of data that can only be accessed or changed with a key code. This gives patients the ability to share their information with the providers they choose and add records to their health history.
London-based startup Medicalchain is already creating its own blockchain-based platform to store and share medical records. Doc.ai recently announced a partnership with Anthem to use blockchain in an innovative AI data trial to transform medical research. If your business relies on the ability to share records securely, blockchain could be the solution you need.
One of the greatest challenges facing manufacturers today is the increasingly complex and opaque global supply chain. A single iPhone has dozens of components manufactured around the world. It could have a Bosch accelerometer made in Taiwan, an audio chip made in Singapore, and a battery manufactured in China.
This makes it very difficult for brands to know exactly where their products originate, opening the door to illegal and unethical practices. It also means that companies have a hard time maintaining a record of products and locating those that get lost along the way. Blockchain is already solving these issues, with companies like Walmart, Nestlé, and Tyson getting on board.
“Creating new supplier categories and finding qualified vendors within each category is an onerous process,” explains Chainyard, a blockchain consulting company. “With blockchain, however, you can easily access supplier records, information from government agencies and insurers, and prior verifications completed by trusted parties, all in one place.” Because blockchain is essentially a decentralized digital ledger, it can be used for tracking, agreements, and secure payment. Blockchain works to eliminate supply chain disputes because every supplier and producer can view the chain of ownership on the exact same ledger.
Blockchain — which initially helped prevent fraud in banking — can also be used for media buying. Juniper Research expects fraud to claim approximately $42 billion from advertisers this year. The blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency can reduce this click fraud, allowing marketing leaders to manage spending while preventing fraud.
With blockchain’s open and distributed ledger, advertisers can track their investments throughout the process. But advertisers won’t realize this perk unless all parties in a transaction agree to use the technology. An Advertiser Perceptions survey conducted last year showed that only 11% of 300 U.S. agency and marketing workers had used blockchain for a transaction, so there’s clearly opportunity for increased adoption of the technology in the advertising space.
Blockchain can also streamline accounting practices in more areas than advertising spend. The technology can lighten the load for financial auditors, meaning they have more time to focus on anomalies. “Blockchain’s transparency gives visibility to all transactions for approved users, and this may decrease auditors’ work with sampling and validating transactions,” notes Ken Tysiac, editorial director of the Journal of Accountancy.
The applications of blockchain are no longer the pie-in-the-sky dreams of early adopters. This technology has the potential to disrupt nearly every industry and solve your business’s greatest challenges. By strategically implementing some new solutions, you can make your business more secure, more transparent, and more prepared for whatever’s next.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
When a customer returns an unwanted or defective product, it initiates a cascade of events that ripple all along the supply chain. Reverse logistics — keeping track of returned products and the reuse or disposal of their materials — is much more challenging than forward logistics.
Reverse logistics cost companies nearly $750 billion a year, FreightWaves reports, and e-commerce growth continues to drive those costs upward. Fortunately, FreightWaves’ research also shows that those costs can be alleviated by a logistics blockchain strategy. Such a strategy will also help companies improve efficiency and document responsibility in all reverse logistics operations.
It’s not that blockchain can solve every problem associated with reverse logistics. For example, blockchain can’t predict customers’ reactions to a bad product experience, nor can it anticipate the condition of returned equipment. However, blockchain can help companies alleviate many other pain points across most industries, such as the following:
Manufacturers in every industry — including automotive, electronics, toys, and food — struggle to manage recall situations efficiently. Efforts to limit corporate and consumer exposure to the problem usually lead to shotgun approaches that are highly opaque and inefficient.
Blockchain’s ability to improve manufacturing and quality control processes by enabling transparency across a supply chain is well-established. That same transparency facilitates quick, efficient recall management. To begin with, it can reduce the effort required to manage the recall, whether the manufacturer is issuing a return material authorization (RMA) to consumers or dealing with delays associated with recall notifications. Blockchain also provides for collecting normalized, trusted data from across the supply chain. With that data in hand, manufacturers can better negotiate with suppliers to reduce overhead costs associated with production and recall management.
Most notably, blockchain improves food safety because it allows unparalleled traceability. This allows for only the tainted products to be taken off the shelf, thus reducing both the waste and the time associated with recalling bad products. Over time, transparency on ingredient provenance will lead to higher-quality products by eliminating fraudulent and bad ingredients in the supply chain.
In addition to managing reverse logistics processes, manufacturers are also responsible for meeting sustainability and ethical sourcing objectives. The risks in asset disposal dwarf the risks of forward logistics, due mainly to the lack of transparency into a products’ aftermarket life cycle. Manufacturers must dispose of assets in ways that don’t waste resources or cause environmental harm. The stakes are even higher when manufacturers must meet regulatory and audit requirements as electronics, industrial machinery, chemical, and energy companies do.
Blockchain can provide end-to-end transparency that spans from sourcing through reclamation, recycling, and disposal. Manufacturers can streamline the recovery of raw materials for repurposing, make sure of proper disposal of waste, and ensure all company and personal data is properly destroyed. This also helps companies can more effectively measure KPIs against regulatory requirements and environmental initiatives.
Counterfeit spare parts impact both manufacturing and service industries, creating major risks for brands from both quality and safety perspectives. According to the 2018 Global Brand Counterfeiting Report, counterfeit accounts for roughly 3% of all global trade — about $1.2 trillion each year. Airline manufacturers are under particular pressure to ensure that counterfeit parts do not enter their supply chains. Tracing the provenance of all parts and tracking them through the life cycle of assets creates major headaches.
When blockchain powers the supply chain, it enables product authentication at the asset and part level. The improved data leads to improved predictive analytics, and companies can maintain a more accurate spare parts inventory. Third-party vendors have greater insight and can provide better overall service for the brand while reducing the counterfeit parts market.
Consumer brands often sell on the basis of the strength of their warranties. In the minds of consumers, that includes the level of service associated with warranty management — a time-consuming undertaking for companies. The inefficiencies are driven largely by logistics issues such as sales data verification, lucrative secondary markets, and ownership determination.
Blockchain eases these issues by providing reliable identity management to help prevent fraud resulting from identity theft. That includes securing personal data for security and privacy purposes, as well as facilitating robust loyalty programs for more efficient warranty operations and higher customer satisfaction.
Consumers expect the return process to be simple and streamlined, but companies have trouble meeting that expectation. With blockchain, improved transparency and trusted data help make reverse logistics much more efficient and effective leading to more satisfied customers. To learn more about how blockchain can improve your supply chain process, download our whitepaper.
This article was originally published on Linux Foundation Hyperledger Blog by Isaac Kunkel.
Hyperledger Certifications give experts a professional edge by providing globally recognized evidence of skills mastery, demonstrating ability within a specific topic.
Hyperledger announced the Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator (CHFA) designation earlier this year. This certification is earned by professionals who can effectively build a secure Hyperledger Fabric network for commercial deployment, including the ability to install, configure, operate, manage and troubleshoot the nodes of that network.
Hyperledger expanded the available certifications with the recently announced Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) designation for companies that meet the following criteria:
As an active member of Hyperledger, contributing to the quarterly releases and participating in conferences around the world, Chainyard has the first requirement covered. Additionally, Chainyard’s business model, covering the second requirement, is to service enterprises, startups, and associations with their blockchain needs, whether they be advisory, engineering, operational or governance in nature.
Regarding the third, I am proud to say our first three engineers who obtained the CHFA designation are Ratnakar Asara, Surya Lanka and Ramesh Thoomu. All three were motivated to get the designation to validate their expertise and contribute to the company’s goal of obtaining the HCSP designation.
Obtaining this designation is important to individuals both to affirm what they know and for their personal development and growth. Here is what our first three engineers to obtain the HCFA designation had to say.
Achieving Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator (CHFA) is a big milestone in my career and demonstrates my skills, knowledge and competencies to build a secure Hyperledger Fabric network for commercial deployment including the ability to install, configure, operate, manage, and troubleshoot the nodes on that network.
Working in multiple blockchain projects through Chainyard gave me opportunity in exploring Hyperledger Fabric in depth and boosted my confidence in taking this exam.
– Ratnakar Asara
CHFA is highly recommended because it helps one to understand the core Hyperledger Fabric network fundamentals with emphasis on building Hyperledger Fabric network, operations and maintenance. It also helps organizations to build Hyperledger Fabric blockchain skill sets for its employees.
Phenomenal efforts have been put forward by the Hyperledger team in designing the content of CHFA. Thanks to the Linux Foundation.
– Ramesh Thoomu
“I have been working with Hyperledger Fabric for over two years. When I heard about the opportunity to become Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator, I made up mind to do it. I am grateful to Chainyard for their trust and encouragement to become Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator.”
– Surya Lanka
For our company, the designation separates us from the competition and provides an objective affirmation by a respected organization, the Linux Foundation, of our capabilities with Hyperledger Fabric.
Our team has worked on many Hyperledger Fabric projects running in multiple data centers and public clouds on projects across many domains. The experience the team has obtained over the past four years is tremendous and enabled Ratnakar, Ramesh and Surya to pass the exam. Their dedication to their craft, careers and our clients, helping them to solve many problems, allowed them to pass this exam and validate their expertise with Hyperledger Fabric.
We are happy to say we have additional engineers in the pipeline who have committed to work towards this designation. We work closely on our client projects, leveraging each other’s strengths, to deliver the best work. This collaboration will continue into the classroom as our expert level engineers have promised to hold extra whiteboard coaching sessions to help others in the company pass the HCFA exam. We look forward to having more engineers achieve this milestone.
As a company, we see the Hyperledger Certified Service Provider designation as a way to help better promote our company services and grow our business. Having the designation validates what we say to our clients, giving them greater confidence in our team, whether it be during pre-sales, while developing a solution or when resolving an operational issue.
Chainyard has been active with Hyperledger for four years and proud to have the HCSP designation to reinforce our commitment to the ecosystem.
This article was originally published on Linux Foundation Hyperledger as a press release.
First Wave of Hyperledger Certified Service Provides Includes Accenture, Ant Financial, Beijing PeerSafe Technology Co., Chainyard and IBM
Hyperledger, an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies, today announced the launch of its Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) program. Members are pre-qualified, vetted service providers who have deep experience helping enterprises successfully adopt Hyperledger enterprise blockchain technologies. The first wave of companies to complete the criteria and qualify as HCSPs for Hyperledger Fabric are Accenture, Ant Financial, Beijing PeerSafe Technology Co., Chainyard and IBM.
The HCSP program offers service providers from around the world training and professional certification that ensures each member has the mastery to install, configure, operate, manage and troubleshoot networks built on Hyperledger distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). These certified service providers, in turn, offer support, consulting, professional services and training to enterprises embarking on their blockchain journey.
“As the pace of adoption for Hyperledger technologies accelerates, the need for support, training and other services has grown exponentially as well,” said Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger. “Enterprises are looking for partners with the expertise needed to deploy Hyperledger DLTs quickly and efficiently and to ensure ongoing success. By providing a structured program to train and certify service providers on core Hyperledger technologies, we are creating the infrastructure for both enterprises and services companies to meet the demands of deploying production networks and developing and supporting new applications.”
To become a HCSP, an organization must be a Hyperledger member, have three or more engineers who have passed the Certified Hyperledger Administrator Exam for a specific project and have a business model to support enterprise end users, including putting engineers at a customer site. Currently, certification is available for both Hyperledger Fabric and Hyperledger Sawtooth. The Certified Hyperledger Fabric Administrator Exam and Certified Hyperledger Sawtooth Administrator Exam are offered by the Linux Foundation Training.
Quotes from HCSP members:
“Hyperledger and Accenture are aligned in the collaborative mission to ensure Hyperledger technologies are deployed in a way that drives clients’ confidence,” says Tracy Kuhrt, a Senior Technology Architect at Accenture and Hyperledger Technical Steering Committee member. “We are proud to be a founding Hyperledger Certified Service Provider because it underscores that commitment. We look forward to continuing to drive the success and growth of Hyperledger technologies.”
“Ant Blockchain have been collaborating with Hyperledger in building blockchain ecosystems together, and we are happy to be certified by Hyperledger as an HCSP for our technical expertise,” said Shan Yu, Leader of Blockchain Cloud Service, Ant Blockchain, Ant Financial. “Ant Blockchain is dedicated to providing products and technologies for interconnecting various blockchain together, like BaaS for Ant Blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric and Quorum, and ODATS for heterogeneous blockchain (e.g., between Hyperledger Fabric and Ant Blockchain) interoperability.”
“PeerSafe is honored to be one of the first HCSP members,” said Ting Yan, CEO, Beijing PeerSafe Technology Co.,Ltd. “We have accumulated a lot of Fabric implementation experience in finance, government, IoT and other markets. We look forward to continuing to cooperate with Hyperledger to promote the development of enterprise-level blockchain as a certified service provider.”
“We are seeing our clients making significant investments in Hyperledger Fabric blockchain solutions. Managing the complex blockchain solutions and their networks requires expertise to ensure security, performance and scalability,” said Isaac Kunkel, Chainyard SVP Consulting Services. “We continue to be an active member of the Hyperledger community and excited to be the first company in the world to receive the Hyperledger Certified Service Provider for Fabric designation.”
“The addition of the Hyperledger Certified Service Provider program demonstrates continued progress in the maturity of the Hyperledger ecosystem,” said Jerry Cuomo, VP IBM Blockchain Platform. “Given IBM’s significant investment in Hyperledger Fabric, we are pleased to be among the inaugural certified service providers.”
For more on the impact of HCSP certification, read the post Hyperledger Certifications Give Experts A Professional Edge from Chainyard, the first organization to qualify as a HCSP.
Hyperledger is an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. It is a global collaboration including leaders in finance, banking, healthcare, supply chains, manufacturing and technology. Hyperledger hosts many enterprise blockchain technology projects including distributed ledger frameworks, smart contract engines, client libraries, graphical interfaces, utility libraries and sample applications. All Hyperledger code is built publicly and available under the Apache license. The Linux Foundation hosts Hyperledger under the foundation. To learn more, visit: https://www.hyperledger.org/.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Gitex 2019
http://www.etisalcom.com/pressrelease/chainyard/
In its effort to provide the latest blockchain technology to its clients, Chainyard has signed a memorandum of understanding with Etisalcom, the Bahraini Telecom giant. Etisalcom will be able to provide Chainyard’s expertise and knowhow to its existing clients and customers.
About Etisalcom: Etisalcom is a leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider focusing on the Enterprise Sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Etisalcom was established in March 2005 as a new entrant Telecom Company licensed to provide National & Global Telecom and IT services. Etisalcom is the first private sector service provider, and a credible alternative, for fully integrated Information Communications Technology (ICT) solutions, including Next Generation Voice, Video and Data services, in the Kingdom of Bahrain and beyond. For more information, please visit Etisalcom online at www.Etisalcom.com or follow us on: https://www.linkedin.com/company/etisalcom-bahrain-w.l.l/
About Chainyard:
It is as important to mention that Chainyard has a team of blockchain experts that brings extensive experience in architecting, designing, building, testing, securing and operating complex distribution systems to help adopters of blockchain technology succeed. Chainyard’s main services are Blockchain Consulting, where they work with clients to develop blockchain strategy for their business to drive value, reduce cost, eliminate friction and create new revenue models. Blockchain Engineering, where they have wealth of experience architecting, developing and implementing real-world blockchain solutions for some of the largest companies in the world. Finally, Blockchain Operations, where the Chainyard team provide their clients with a complete view of blockchain technology operations landscape and work with them to integrate into their existing operational system.
MRCL is proud to announce a great partnership with ITPeople’s Chainyard and our commitment to take disaster response to a new level of connectedness, transparency, and trust – demonstrating the power of collaboration and connection. Our first phase of a new collaboration software platform, created in Blockchain, has been honored by Stevie Awards with a 2019 Silver Medal International Business Award for Community Engagement. Attending to receive the award were Kathryn Ingerly (MRCL), Sri Nidamarty (Chainyard), Shima Zabihi (MRCL) and Lee Duncan (MRCL).
Let’s take a peek at MRCL’s partnership announcement..
This article was originally published on Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
For any company that operates within the European Union, ethical sourcing will become mandatory for all conflict materials as of January 2021. Even for global companies not affected by this mandate, the forecast suggests that it’s worth making ethical sourcing a priority.
Companies actually benefit from ethical sourcing. It’s viewed as a responsible, enlightened characteristic, which improves a brand’s reputation and its ability to attract customers. It also impacts how the company operates and interacts with its partners.
Emphasizing ethical sourcing requires enhanced transparency and communication with the vendors in a company’s supply chain. Better communication equals deeper relationships between manufacturers and vendors, a stronger manufacturing supply chain, and a reduced risk of adverse events putting the supply chain at risk.
Many serious considerations that go beyond any brand’s image are behind ethical sourcing. The goal of regulations mandating the practice is to ensure that the purchases of materials like tin, tungsten, cobalt, and gold don’t finance war atrocities and human-rights abuses around the globe. They also aim to promote sustainability practices along manufacturing supply chains.
By focusing on conservation and sustainable sourcing to improve supply chains, companies can help ensure that those resources will still be available in the future. Essentially, ethical sourcing is a critical step for companies that want to be more socially conscious and connected with their consumers and the world around them.
For employees who work for such companies, the positivity, pride, and satisfaction of working for a socially conscious employer is key to the joy they feel in their careers. It makes sense for companies to promote ethical sourcing — among other socially responsible practices — to help recruit, develop, and maintain a cohesive, effective workforce.
It also makes financial sense overall. The changes needed to ensure ethically sourced products strengthen a company’s supply chain and help ensure that the economics of certain products are predictable and lighten the burden of producing those products. The effort enables a company to put a premium price on ethically sourced products, attracts customers to the product, and ensures a solid revenue stream.
Why Blockchain Is the Key to Ethical Sourcing
To achieve the level of transparency, communication, and trust that manufacturers need to have with their suppliers, companies need a new way to structure and run their supply chains. Because they have the ability to improve real-time visibility across the entire supply chain, blockchain networks are proving an apt solution.
One of the most important features of a blockchain network is that it allows companies to ensure their suppliers meet the standards set forth in their contracts. Companies can more easily manage third-party suppliers to ensure that obligations regarding worker treatment and conditions, human rights, and other ethical sourcing practices are being maintained.
That’s especially important for manufacturers who use sensitive products in their supply chains. Blockchain documents the provenance of parts, ingredients, and other elements that go into their manufacturing processes. This lets manufacturers see a complete and immutable audit trail that encompasses each stage of the materials’ journey through the supply chain.
As conscious consumers join the call for greater social responsibility and environmental protection from manufacturers, blockchain helps companies answer that call. With a blockchain-powered supply chain, companies can share that immutable proof to show consumers (and regulation authorities) that they’re meeting the demand for ethical and sustainable practices.
How to Run an Ethically Sourced Supply Chain
All of the factors that go into ethical sourcing also augment a company’s overall financial risk profile, which ultimately attracts investment in the company and makes expanding the supply chain easier. Implementing blockchain, a technology that provides the transparency and security to enable a stronger, ethically sourced supply chain, is a viable approach — a task that many companies are already undertaking.
These are just a few of the ways in which companies are successfully using blockchain to ensure ethical sourcing:
This strategy is used by like-minded companies, possibly even competitors, who join forces to make ethical sourcing of materials the standard for their industries. They make a pact to use blockchain to enable provenance and traceability of all materials that go into the manufacturing of parts and products. IBM, Ford, LG Chem, Huayou Cobalt, and RCS Global have used the consortium strategy to implement ethical sourcing of cobalt through a mine-to-end-user blockchain network.
This strategy involves key high-level activities, including forming a consortium, adopting a governance framework, and deploying a blockchain network. Often, the company with a significant pain point will take the lead and fund the core blockchain development; others in the network can then agree to participate in the design and integrate their systems as needed to add or use data. The consortium can then use a services provider to help grow the use of the network within their own supply chains.
Once the blockchain solution is in place and demonstrating value, consortium members can advocate for their other supply chains to join the system. In these cases, a fee model can be used that would increase the return on investment for the initial development.
Not every company can start a consortium, but many can — and do — join existing initiatives. They can start by identifying blockchain networks that have useful data. Several networks have gained traction and will allow access to their data for a single subscription fee. If a network supports the company’s procurement needs and industry-specific regulatory requirements, can validate verifiers on the network, and can integrate data with the company’s existing records, then this may be the company’s optimal strategy.
Not every company can start a consortium, but many can — and do — join existing initiatives. They can start by identifying blockchain networks that have useful data. Several networks have gained traction and will allow access to their data for a single subscription fee. If a network supports the company’s procurement needs and industry-specific regulatory requirements, can validate verifiers on the network, and can integrate data with the company’s existing records, then this may be the company’s optimal strategy.
The Trust Your Supplier network is one such consortium. It shares trusted data with companies in the network to help them with supplier onboarding and life-cycle management. IBM and several other prominent manufacturers have committed to joining this network in efforts to streamline their supplier procurement processes.
For companies that don’t feel ready to jump in with both feet, initiating a pilot program can validate the idea and provide proof of concept. Companies with limited blockchain knowledge should work with a blockchain consulting service to identify the best use cases within their supply chains and should work with stakeholders to develop a program that can run as a shadow to existing systems.
Taking this approach should demonstrate how forecast data can be shared efficiently and securely. At that point, a company may begin sharing its own inventory data onto an existing blockchain network. With an infrastructure and network in place, this should be a simple process of building an integration to the enterprise resource planning system that queries for the relevant product tracking information. The ERP system will then record any changes that have occurred. Down the line, a company can track the inventory directly in the blockchain instead of the ERP, but just providing and getting visibility is valuable.
Many companies use this approach to test blockchain without committing to a full-blown consortium before they’re ready. For example, Mercedes-Benz has initiated a pilot blockchain program to vet third-party suppliers. It’s part of Daimler’s greater effort to ensure its entire supply chain adheres to ethical sourcing practices.
The EU’s impending regulations aren’t the only motivating factor in the growing push for ethical sourcing. Besides the sustainability that comes with ethical sourcing, companies can also show their customers that they care. By making the process transparent, blockchain can help keep supply chains properly aligned with that goal while also enabling better top-line revenue and margins.
This article was originally published on Global Trade.
A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office shows that imported counterfeit goods raked in $509 billion in 2016 — nearly 3.3% of all global imports for that year. To fight back against the rising tide of knockoffs threatening their brands, companies are turning to blockchain technology to create more transparent supply chains.
Blockchain is a distributed, decentralized ledger technology controlled by smart contracts and regulated by a consensus protocol. The ledger automatically records every transaction, and every record it creates is unalterable. Depending on exactly how one uses the ledger, it can be classified as permissioned, public, or fit for purpose.
Within a brand’s supply chain, a blockchain ledger can manage a variety of activity from automating contract compliance between entities via smart contracts to tracking products from manufacturing to distribution. The ledger eliminates supply chain ambiguities and creates transparency that ensures companies and customers get the quality for which they pay.
The value of modernizing supply chains with blockchain isn’t just theory. Major brands have already begun partnering with tech firms and other entities in response to rising demands for improved brand protection. LVMH (Louis Vuitton SE), for instance, working closely with Microsoft and ConsenSys, has created Aura Ledger to provide proof of authenticity of luxury items and trace their origins from raw materials to point of sale and beyond to the used-goods markets.
Throughout the retail industry, companies like eBay are starting to offer product authentication as a value-added service. Currently, the company authenticates only handbags due to rising concerns from customers about their authenticity. However, eBay plans to expand authentication to additional luxury items that might be subject to counterfeit.
In agriculture, the blockchain-based Grain Discovery streamlines transactions between farmers and buyers, making it easier for them to form new partnerships. In the pharmaceutical industry, distributors have formed the MediLedger consortium to track the provenance of pharmaceuticals and stem the counterfeit drug market worth more than $75 billion annually.
In virtually every industry, suppliers and distributors are turning to blockchain technology to lower their risk of fraud. A decentralized, immutable record of every product’s journey can help verify authenticity — or lack thereof.
Companies that worry about counterfeit versions of their products have options to address the issue. When implemented together, the following steps can help mitigate risk and inspire confidence among companies and consumers alike:
For blockchain to successfully transform a company’s supply chain, every business entity along the chain must agree to participate. That makes establishing a network of trusted partners the most important step toward securing products.
For example, the jewelry consortium TrustChain, which operates on IBM’s blockchain platform, only works because the group includes the mines that produce jewels, manufacturers that refine them, and retailers that sell them.
Given the rise of counterfeit purchases, most companies with strong brands are looking to work with their suppliers to prevent fraud. The momentum of such efforts increases when every stakeholder in the supply chain sees the value and signs up to actively participate in the efforts.
Only with the right tagging technology can blockchain technology track every product along its journey. Through various IoT devices, tags can detect diversions, liquid leaks, vibrations, package openings, tilt, excessive force, and more.
Companies have several options, such as smart tags and high-resolution signatures that digitally relate products to the blockchain. Purpose-fit tags that have been developed to track shipments at the container, pallet, and package levels further help. Companies can also employ decentralized identifiers (DIDs) that are universally resolvable and globally visible to stakeholders throughout the supply chain.
This topic holds great interest across many industries. The RFID Lab at Auburn University recently announced the Chain Integration Project (or CHIP) launch, a project focused on finding ways for retail and apparel companies to communicate with their suppliers about tracking product inventory at the item level using radio frequency identification tags and blockchain. The project has attracted global companies across many industries due to the applicability across supply chains outside of retail and apparel.
Some products don’t need to be tracked with such intricate detail, while others should be tagged to track every moment of their journeys. Determine what tagging technology makes the most sense, adds business value, and is easiest to manage along the entire supply chain.
When customers clearly and directly benefit from a company’s use of a blockchain-enabled supply chain, getting more partners to join the consortium becomes easier. However, brands can’t expect all end users to automatically jump on board.
When eBay released its authentication program for handbags, it did so in response to a need its customers had expressed. To entice sellers to participate, it offers several incentives if they sign up to authenticate their products.
Before long, the streamlined processes and unprecedented transparency that blockchain provides will be more than enough to encourage participation. Until then, make it more attractive through bonuses and other rewards in order to incentivize users and increase customer stickiness.
Protecting against counterfeiting and fraud isn’t always a passive exercise. With blockchain, companies can unleash the potential of IoT, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to actively prevent fraudulent transactions.
For instance, customers can scan product tags to verify their authenticity or compare images of the product against its stored signatures. Proof of purchase and other transaction details can be cryptographically linked to the buyer and product and then subsequently uploaded to the blockchain.
Any product that bears a brand’s name but can’t be tracked to its manufacturer would be considered counterfeit. A company can ensure, in real time, that it receives compensation for every product sold with its name on it.
The reported value of fraudulent goods that hit the global market is expected to continue rising, but companies are no longer helpless in the face of counterfeiters. As more industries and their supply chains embrace blockchain technology, counterfeit goods will no longer have a place in any market.
IBM has announced another major blockchain project, Trust Your Supplier. Digital Asset Live previously talked with IBM Blockchain Ventures Managing Director about it, however today we have a unique opportunity to look at the same project from another angle, Digital Asset Live Editor-in-Chief talked to Sai Nidmarty, CEO/Founder IT People Corporation, blockchain partners of IBM in Trust Your Supplier.
Link to article: https://digitalasset.live/2019/08/17/chainyard-blockchain-offers-better-values/
IBM Chief Procurement Officer, Bob Murphy, provides an overview of Trust Your Supplier. Trust Your Supplier is a strategic collaboration between Chainyard and IBM. Drawing off of the companies’ deep blockchain expertise and informed by pain points identified by IBM Procurement, Trust Your Supplier is a cross industry blockchain network for the procurement function.