Decentralized architecture, verified transactions, and an immutable application- These are some attributes that come with blockchain integration with your business.
Every now and then, any business, no matter what industry it belongs to, grows. This growth is usually promoted by changing and forever-growing business environments and industry innovations. A significant part of this growth today is technology. And the biggest revolution that technology is bringing in recent times is blockchain.
It has become obligatory for businesses to be open to radical changes in order to have a sustainable strategy of doing business and stay relevant indefinitely. Blockchain is one such revolution that will bridge businesses and the future. Let’s see how logistics management will benefit from this novel technology.
From sender to receiver, logistics is a complex system that makes trade possible. If we go about a definition, the University of Houston has put it this way. “Logistics is the art and science of management, engineering, and technical activities concerned with requirements, design and supplying, maintaining resources to support objectives, plans, and operation.”
It is responsible for the journey of a product- from conceptualization through its disposal. This means that a good logistics system will ensure successful support of this product journey. It includes efficient design engineering, manufacturing, raw material management, packaging, marketing to streamlined distribution, and even disposition.
With all these stages, come intricate sub-systems and individual professions and professionals that the product goes through. Blockchain in logistics corroborates these processes by introducing transparency and deletion of human error at its maximum.
Virtually, there is nothing wrong with the way logistics function today. But can it be more valued? Yes. Let’s know a few instances of how.
According to a research by Groenfeldt 2017, and Popper & Lohr 2017, 15-50 percent of the cost of physical transport falls under the title of trade-related paperwork processing in the books. One cannot draw out the need for keeping the track of these long trails of transactions. But blockchain will move the functionality from a physical piece of paper to a chain of digital blocks without any chance of misplacement and tampering, along with accessibility to all parties involved.
With products like diamonds, when shipped internationally, have a high chance of being tampered with, or proving legitimacy and originality. All such high-end products can be associated with the seller themself, proving originality and removing the chances of the product being stolen or dealing in ‘blood diamonds’. This is also applicable to products like medicines where minor mistakes can prove lethal to the end consumer.
In many cases, especially when unforeseen mishaps occur, it becomes rudimental to track down a product’s origin and make better decisions to avert disasters. Data on a blockchain ensures all parties involved have immediate access to the information and take decisions instantly.
Internet of Things (IoT) has taken over every product basically with a plug. The current Internet architecture with centralized servers might not be able to handle such an amount of devices and data. With blockchain solutions for logistics, connecting, and managing such data becomes easier and reliable. Decentralization is the most promising provision of blockchain technology.
Logistics and supply chain systems are the industries that might benefit the most from blockchain technology. It adds the elements of efficiency, flexibility, and transparency into the entire intricate system of the product journey. Integrating blockchain will also add competitiveness and give a technical upper hand to the business over other organizations that chose to implement traditional methods.
FedEx, IBM Food Trust, UPS, British Airways, UPS and even the Defence Logistics Agency (DLA) of the United States have integrated blockchain technology in logistics management systems to eliminate many loopholes that were considered the norm before this technology came along.
One such institution that benefited from blockchain is Argotime- A greek bunkering management company who updated their business by converting into a secure blockchain technical platform. Codezeros created an application based on the logistics management systems of Argotime and introduced blockchain in each step of the process that added the necessary amount of security and transparency for all the parties involved.
Three major phases of Argotime’s shipment process- barge, vessel, and tunnel were provided with customized technological support implemented with blockchain strategies and expertise. Both authentication and automation of the system are enabled once the authorized parties reach consensus. The provision of monitoring loading and bunkering is also made available through blockchain development. With a simple user interface and user journey designed by our experts, it made the bunkering management system as easy as using the application.
Blockchain will revolutionize logistics. It has already started the industry shift from the traditional approach of manual processes and third-party trust-based systems to a more logical blockchain solution for logistics.
The current logistics system is plagued by many issues that can be easily overcome with blockchain solutions. With the proliferating rate of globalization, the intricate logistics management systems designed with geographical limitations are bound to collapse. Blockchain truly gives access to potential expansion without worrying about the place of origin of the product. Sustainability is something that businesses are fortunately looking into, doing their part to avoid exhausting world resources. Blockchain can make it easier for you to introduce systems that are not just environmentally sustainable, but also more financially feasible.
Apart from these issues, blockchain will directly affect the roots by updating the system in a way that will directly affect the product journey and indirectly, many other issues in the future like- customer service and quality, third-party networks, management and organizational approach, quick assessment and response, a more defined role and a more operative relationship between all parties involved.
All in all, blockchain implementation in logistics will merge information and material handling systems with better data synchronization and truly optimize logistic systems. It will bridge functions and organizations.
Technology solutions that accelerate the change by simplifying the development, deployment, and support of technically complex projects.
