Blockchain

Blockchain: show products’ origins anytime, anywhere

You often hear the term blockchain in the context of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but blockchain technology is far broader in scope. Blockchain allows you to record transactions reliably without the need for a third party. This is due to the so-called distributed ledger, a digital ledger of which all users in the chain have an automatically synchronised copy. So how can your organisation use this technology?

Smart contracts

A blockchain is ideal for capturing changes in possession and ownership. Such situations often involve risk. One example is the return of an order. Who is responsible for your order during the return journey to the party that made the original delivery? The carrier, the distribution centre or the consumer? The responsibility keeps changing. To fully mitigate the liability risk, you need to record each step as it happens. You can do this with smart contracts, which immediately show any changes to those involved as and when they take place. This hugely increases the speed and efficiency of your process and payments.

Demonstrable origin in the supply chain (provenance)

Blockchain technology allows you to see where products have been in the supply chain. This is useful to check the goods’ storage conditions or sustainability, for example.

1. Sustainability and ethics

Blockchain is the perfect tool to show that products are produced and traded ethically and sustainably. Examples are fair trade marks and the identification of a product’s ecological footprint. In China and Japan, for instance, buyers can scan clothing labels to see where the cotton came from and whether human rights were respected during the manufacturing of the clothes.

2. Asset traceability

Blockchain can also make certain intermediaries in the logistics chain superfluous. One example are products that require continuous cooling until they are used, such as certain medicines and fresh products. Now auditors need to constantly assure that process. Blockchain allows you to show where the products are located at all times.

If you want to use blockchain technology in your chain, contact Ctac. We will help you to determine which applications are of interest to your organisation. We can also work together to develop a (private) blockchain for your supply chain if you wish.