Early this week, a multinational technology firm launched Trust Your Supplier, a new blockchain network designed to improve supplier qualification, validation, onboarding and life cycle information management in the supply chain industry. Leading technology, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, beverage and manufacturing firms have already joined the network as founding participants. The same multinational technology firm also recently partnered with a California-based technology firm to pilot a blockchain project that will track hard drives through the supply chain. The multinational technology firm is both the customer of these drives and the provider of the underlying blockchain platform. According to reports, the supply chain solution will track products sold to the customer and products returned to the supplier to ensure that only genuine devices, rather than counterfeit ones, are returned.
Late last week, a global automobile manufacturer announced production of the first cars containing recycled cobalt verified through blockchain technology. The manufacturer also announced plans to join a separate project to track cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo. In more supply chain news, a major wine importer in China, in conjunction with VeChain, launched the second phase of the Wine Traceability Platform to combat wine counterfeiting. In the new phase, each wine bottle has an encrypted tag that allows customers to access immutable product information stored on the blockchain. According to reports, since the platform's launch, 20-plus imported wine products have been made available on the platform and the importer has seen a 10% increase in wine sales.
The UCL Center for Blockchain, in conjunction with the Retail Blockchain Consortium, recently released a market report surveying the adoption of blockchain in the supply chain industry. The report reviewed over 100 projects and notes that 15% of projects analyzed have moved into the production stage. Another recently released report comes from a multinational professional services firm and evaluates blockchain use cases in the insurance industry.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- IBM: Leading Tech, Telecom, Pharma, Beverage and Manufacturing Companies Collaborate with IBM and Chainyard to Simplify Supply Chain Management Using a New Blockchain Network
- Seagate Entering Pilot Stage For Blockchain Supply Chain Project
- Volvo Cars, China in first blockchain project for recycled cobalt
- The Wine Traceability Platform Co-Developed by VeChain and D.I.G. Kickstarted its Second Phase with the Introduction of Penfolds Bin 407
- UCL CBT and Retail Blockchain Consortium release report on global DLT adoption in supply chain
- Blockchain, a catalyst for new approaches in insurance: Part 1
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