NC1811

FEATUREBLOCKCHAIN
UNBLOCKING THE SUPPLY CHAIN
INTEREST IN BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS
IS HIGH AND ADOPTION WILL BENEFIT
FROM CREATIVE THOUGHT. JAMES
ROBBINS, CIO AT ARROWXL,
CONSIDERS THE VALUE OF
BLOCKCHAIN FOR THE
LOGISTICS SECTOR
The sheer number of headlines being
written about blockchain has grown
dramatically as more and more
organisations across various sectors move to
adopt this innovative technology. Over the past
year it has already made tangible progress in
markets including finance, real estate and
healthcare. With blockchain spending now
expected to increase at a rate of almost 75 per
cent until 2022, how can companies operating
within the logistics and supply chain industry
use it to their advantage?
We are proud to deliver thousands of
products into consumer's homes each day
and whilst we are responsible for the final
leg of the journey, many of the dishwashers,
sofas and freezers that we deliver have been
on extensive and complex journeys that span
across multiple continents.
Consider a typical 50-inch, ultra HD TV,
built by a manufacturer in China or Korea;
this product is removed from the factory and
put on to a ship where it sails half way
across the world to a UK port. Once
removed from the ship, it will likely be
collected by a logistics/fulfilment company
on behalf of a retailer, who will then
transport the TV, along with many others, to
their own warehouse. At this stage, a
consumer will purchase the item, which is
then transported to the retailer's carrier. The
carrier would typically move the item to its
own sub-depot, before it is loaded onto the
vehicle. Upon reaching the delivery address,
the TV is signed for by the consumer, who
may have bought the product outright, or
have chosen a monthly payment plan.
When you reflect on this long journey, the
sheer volume of paperwork and record
keeping that accumulates at every touch
point is significant: from documenting the
serial number at the factory at the very
beginning of the process, to confirming the
consumer's credit agreement and receipt of
goods at the end. Not only is this subject to
human error, but it is a time-consuming and
costly process, as well as being bad for the
environment.
If this journey was recorded in blockchain,
with each major touch point recorded as its
own block, an irreversible sequence of
information that provides absolute certainty
for all of the stakeholders would be created.
Similarly, this efficient model can also be
used to eliminate fraudulent activity and
provide proof of ownership for high value
items, which would be useful for someone
looking to buy a classic car or a work of art.
I recently travelled to London to attend a
technology event that focused on the supply
chain. Blockchain was briefly discussed
during a couple of presentations, and it
triggered some blue sky thinking during my
train journey home. I think it would be a
fascinating idea to place sim cards or nearfield
communication (NFC) technology into
TVs during the manufacturing process,
which could then be used in combination
with blockchain to determine if products go
missing, in which case you could pinpoint
exactly where. Moving forwards, there may
even be a case to incorporate sensors into
certain products, so that you can establish at
exactly what touch point along the supply
chain - from the factory in China or Korea,
all the way to the consumers home - an item
was damaged.
Whilst these exciting concepts might be a
little way off currently, from a cost point of
view, blockchain is certainly making a
huge impact across various sectors, with
great success. I would like to see more
logistics and supply chain businesses
explore new ways in which it can take
advantage of this powerful yet invisible
technology so that they can work smarter,
improve their communications, and
enhance overall security. NC
18 NETWORKcomputing NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 @NCMagAndAwards
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