Every day, solution providers continue to research, develop, and integrate “Industry 4.0” technologies, like 3-D printing, Blockchain distributed digital ledgers, cognitive capabilities, connected devices, and robotics within sourcing, procurement, and payables / accounts payables business tools, giving rise to a new generation of supply management tools, dubbed “Procurement 4.0.” Blockchain ledgers, in particular, now rival “artificial intelligence” as the tech trend of modern business era, making the Blockchain solutions market fertile ground for big tech companies and enterprising start-ups, alike. As a result, there is a nearly constant stream of Blockchain news eminating every week. And so, the CPO Rising editorial team thought that it’d be fun and worthwhile to cover these developments in a separate and semi-regular technology round-up, dubbed, When Blockchain Meets Supply Chain. Enjoy!
IBM and Maersk Spin Off Joint Venture to Digitize Supply Chains, Trade
DNV GL, VeChain Partner to Drive End-to-End Supply Chain Transparency
Skuchain and NTT Data Partner on Blockchain-Supply Chain Venture
iPoint Receives Funding for its Blockchain-based Mineral-Tracking System
IBM and Maersk Spin Off Joint Venture to Digitize Supply Chains, Trade
First up is an interesting development to a story we first covered in June of last year. At the time, we announced that our friends at IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Maersk Group had been collaborating to integrate IBM’s Blockchain digital ledgers with Maersk’s shipping and logistics expertise in an effort to digitize and automate global supply chains and trade. Last month, they announced that following a successful pilot program, the two companies would spin off the joint venture to create a new company, headquartered in the Metropolitan New York area, that will offer the Blockchain-based global trade and supply chain management platform. Michael J. White, former president of Maersk Line in North America, will serve as CEO of the new company. IBM and Maersk are also establishing an advisory board of industry experts to help steer the company as it and the underpinning technologies evolve in what are exciting but uncertain times.
At a higher level, the company will offer the same cloud-based, open-source platform based upon IBM’s Blockchain solution, itself based upon Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 and hosted by the Linux Foundation. It will also integrate IoT, AI, and advanced analytics via IBM Services to help provide users with the tools to digitize, automate, and holistically manage global supply chains. The first of such tools offered will be the Shipping Information Pipeline, which will provide all relevant parties, via the Blockchain, with end-to-end, real-time, and secure information sharing capabilities in order to drive visibility into shipment events. Another tool will be Paperless Trade, which by leveraging the Blockchain and Blockchain-based smart contracts, will remove paper from the process and facilitate a faster, more seamless exchange of trade and customs documents across borders, government organizations, and trading partners.
IBM and Maersk officials are undergoing the regulatory clearance process to spin off this new company. Assuming that all goes according to plan, it will be able to go to market with its first solutions in six months.
DNV GL, VeChain Partner to Drive End-to-End Supply Chain Transparency
Late last month, Norway-based supply chain risk management, certification, and assurance firm, DNV GL, and Singapore-based Blockchain and crypto-currency provider, VeChain, announced a partnership to leverage Blockchain digital ledgers to drive end-to-end transparency into global supply chains. The partnership will entail DNV GL mating its supply chain assurance, certification, and risk management expertise with VeChain’s public Blockchain that is currently used to track and trace products and information. DNV GL and VeChain are implementing a familiar business model by integrating Blockchain with IoT (e.g., sensors embedded within products or shipping containers) to automatically track and trace products and create a digital, permanent, and unalterable footprint for all stakeholders to see as they move across supply chains.
Category and supply chain managers could track their products and commodities as they move across the supply chain. Risk managers could have real-time visibility into the status of a shipment, ensure its provenance, quality, and quantity, and assure stakeholders that it meets certification standards (like not originating from a conflict zone or being produced with child, forced, or slave labor). Auditors could audit suppliers and shipments. If there is a food-borne illness or product recall, users could more easily trace products back to the shipping container and even the batch, which could save stakeholders time, money, and lost inventory, and limit potential legal liability in the event of a recall. Customers could also peer into the Blockchain to do their homework on a particular product or supplier and ensure that what they purchased is genuine, was properly handled, and was ethically / responsibly sourced.
DNV GL and VeChain will incrementally roll out their Blockchain solution to various industries, starting with food and beverage and retail and fashion, and then move onto automotive and aerospace and defense.
Skuchain and NTT Data Partner on Blockchain-Supply Chain Venture
Late last month, Skuchain, a California-based provider of Blockchain solutions for supply chain, and NTT Data, a Japan-based supply chain systems integrator, announced a partnership to develop an IoT-integrated Blockchain solution specifically for supply chain management. Their offering will leverage Skuchain’s Zero Knowledge Collaboration technology that will effectively allow an enterprise to selectively grant or deny access to users and suppliers, thereby providing an open but secure system for supplier onboarding. It will then combine Skuchain’s Blockchain-based EC3 platform with NTT DATA’s iQuattro platform for systems integration. The resultant Blockchain platform will feature two main applications — Skuchain’s Popcodes app for track and trace, and its Brackets Smart Contracts app that facilitates the fast flow and automatic recording of transactional information between trading partners. The two companies just completed a pilot program with a large Japanese client involving the Popcodes app, and have begun more pilot programs with more Japaneses client using the Brackets Smart Contracts app. They intend to market the platform to both of their customer bases.
iPoint Receives Funding for its Blockchain-based Mineral-Tracking System
Earlier this month, iPoint Systems, a Germany-based provider of supply chain compliance and sustainability management tools, announced that the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (ERPM) will fund its proposed mineral-tracking and data reporting system based on a Blockchain digital ledger. The business model is to be able to track and trace minerals, like tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold (the so-called “3TG” minerals) that are often traded in and around conflict zones, from the mine to the customer. iPoint wants to drive ethical awareness “upstream” to the customer in the hopes that they will hold vendors accountable to supporting ethical mining and trading practices and ensuring that they are not directly or indirectly funding local conflict. iPoint then wants to use this awareness and accountability to drive change “downstream,” to funnel investment to ethical and responsible businesses, and to avoid unethical entities that may also have ties to conflicts. iPoint hopes to deploy a pilot program involving Tungsten from Rwanda and conclude it by February 2019.
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