The supply chain is undergoing a transformative transition from an antiquated network of suppliers to a dynamic and transparent process that more adequately benefits companies and consumers alike.
It’s about time.
Supply chain breakdowns are both more prominent and more public than ever before, costing companies incredible amounts of money while creating a poor buying experience for consumers.
For example, in 2018, KFC experienced a supply chain breakdown for its 900 UK stores, resulting in restaurants lacking chicken and potatoes. That’s a troubling development for a company whose brand is built around those two items.
Of course, other supply chain mishaps, like the most recent Romain lettuce recalls, can be dangerous as well as costly. An E.coli outbreak in May 2018 sickened 172 people and killed one, and the most recent outbreak sickened 30 people in various states around the U.S. Moreover, because the supply chain lacked transparency and specificity, a full recall of the product dropped its price for all producers by more than half. As Howard Popoola, Kroger’s vice president of food technology, told The Wall Street Journal, a supply chain mishap “[cost] thousands and thousands of dollars; it could even run into the millions.”
Meanwhile, supply chain inefficiencies require considerably more resources, adding to production costs and exacerbating already troubling environmental problems.
To put it simply, changes to the supply chain can’t come quickly enough.
A New Option: Better Value for a Better Product
The blockchain is renowned for its accurate and transparent record keeping that is both shareable and scalable, offering a solution for many of the supply chain’s most pressing problems, and several companies are striving to deploy blockchain technology to improve supply chain management.
Temco, a blockchain-based solution for supply chain data management, is applying the best features of the blockchain to improve supply chain efficiency and transparency. Temco is powered by RSK, an open-source smart contract platform for Bitcoin. In doing so, Temco is tapping into the most powerful and popular blockchain and cryptocurrency capable of rapid data transfers, instant payments, and functional scalability.
At the same time, Waltonchain is pursuing similar functionality while utilizing a different approach. Waltonchain is developing a private blockchain that will be dedicated to supply chain management using RFID tracking.
Regardless, their mission is the same: to improve the technology powering modern supply chain logistics.
Typically, revamping supply chain infrastructure would be a costly and time-consuming endeavor that’s out of the reach of many small and medium-sized companies. However, with these blockchain startups, companies can plug into their expansive network, creating a modern supply chain backed by blockchain technology.
Using the platform’s smart contracts, companies can accurately track supply chain components, and they can distribute that information to consumers. With the digital economy relying on real-time and accurate data, this is a boon for companies and for consumers.
It’s a technological solution for a supply chain that’s decidedly impacted by our modern moment.
Who Reaps the Benefits?
Ultimately, updating supply chain infrastructure has tangible benefits for everyone. Companies reduce costs and improve their customer satisfaction, while consumers receive timely updates on their products and the ability to make fully-informed purchases based on supply chain data.
In partnering with Blockchain for Humanity, Temco is striving to ensure that the benefits of an efficient supply chain go even further. The company is also part of the Global Supply Chain and Logistics Alliance (GSLA), which strives to connect and improve global supply chains using local solutions.
By ensuring that blockchain initiatives improve the environmental impact of the digital age and by employing local solutions to complex problems, the blockchain can impact supply chains in ways that transcend just the technology.
There are many reasons that the global supply chain needs to be updated and improved to accommodate the digital age, and the blockchain is making a compelling case to be the transformative technology that defines this moment. Companies like Temco and Waltonchain are betting that’s the case, designing and implementing ready to use supply chain platforms that are powered by the blockchain.
