The global supply chain has become extremely complex as consumable goods are constantly being moved around throughout the world. The continuous expanse in globalisation has resulted in a complex supply chain system. An enterprise has to keep itself flexible, responsive, and alacritous if it wants to cope with the changing landscape of supply chain management. If you need any type of blockchain or software development service, you can connect with Solis Technology. Supply chains are often impacted by a plethora of reasons from macro and micro economy, geopolitics, war, critical product stock outs, etc. These things can have cataclysmic effects on the supply chain and that is why companies need to integrate technologies in the process of SCM so that the overall procedure becomes optimised. Although technology does not always work as theriac, blockchain technology is helping SCM in more ways than one. In this blog, we’ll discuss supply chain management and the role of blockchain technology in supply chain management.
What is Supply Chain Management?
At a basic level, supply chain management can be defined as the management of the movement of commodities, data, and finances associated with a product or service, from raw material purchase through final product delivery. The handling of the entire service/ product is done in supply chain management.
How is SCM Evolving with Time?
Because the twenty-first century is more driven by knowledge, having more information is preferable for a company’s supply chain management. New technology and methods to supply chain management are emerging to address the changing demands of organisations and consumers. The expansion of e-commerce, for example, has resulted in the creation of new logistics models such as drop-shipping and last-mile delivery, while the application of artificial intelligence and layers of blockchain technology is altering supply chain management operations. As supply networks become more complicated and important, we should expect more innovation and progress in the field of supply chain management.
Major Problems Faced in SCM
The following are some of the most common issues encountered in Supply Chain Management:
The Absence of A Centralised Database
Despite the fact that the global economy is interconnected, most firms do not share their data. This creates communication barriers between companies, which aids exploiters.
Asset Traceability Is Poor
Despite modern techniques and equipment, tracing assets in Supply Chain Management is tough. As a result, the exploiters replace genuine items with counterfeits.
Long Evaluations
Unsatisfied Consumer Needs
Keeping up with the current consumer requirements is challenging, but taking meaningful countermeasures is much more difficult.
Unnecessary expenses
Because data is stored within organisations, each company invests money acquiring the same information. This results in an unwarranted increase in capital and effort.
Introducing Blockchain Technology
Blockchain is a ledger that cannot be copied; it is distributed and unchangeable that makes it easier for it to record transactions and track assets in a corporate network. A tangible asset (a home, car, cash, land) or an intangible asset (IP, patents, copyrights, branding).
How Blockchain in Supply Chain Management Can Make SCM More Optimised?
Transparency in the supply chain via blockchain
Blockchain technology has the ability to provide real-time visibility and monitoring of commodities and goods throughout the who le supply chain, from manufacture to end-user distribution. This increases transparency and confidence among supply chain actors.
Product authentication using blockchain in the supply chain
Blockchain may be used to authenticate the authenticity of things and prevent counterfeiting by enabling secure and tamper-proof records of a product’s origin and movement along the supply chain.
Quality control with blockchain in the supply chain
Blockchain in supply chain management may be used to track product quality as it moves through the supply chain, allowing for speedier discovery and removal of faulty items, decreasing waste and boosting consumer satisfaction.
Smart contracts and blockchain in the supply chain
They have the potential to be utilised to automate and streamline supply chain activities, decreasing costs and enhancing efficiency.
Inventory management with blockchain in the supply chain
Blockchain in supply chain management may be used to track inventory levels and enhance inventory management operations, hence lowering inventory costs and enhancing supply chain efficiency.
Future of Blockchain Technology in SCM
According to practitioners, blockchain technology has the potential to totally change supply chain operations. Several research papers and real-world implementations have looked at the usage of blockchain in domains such as managing inventories, logistics optimisation, tracking, and supplier management. It is important to realise, however, that while blockchain has a lot of prospective, it is not an answer that is universally applicable. The ability to scale, interoperability, cost, and regulatory frameworks are just a few of the factors to consider before integrating blockchain in supply chains. Cooperation and uniformity among supply chain actors are required to leverage the benefits of blockchain technology.
Despite the potential benefits of adopting blockchain for SCM, there are certain barriers to its widespread adoption. Because the technology is still relatively new, many businesses may be reluctant to invest in it without a track record. Concerns have also been raised concerning scalability, because the amount of transactions that a blockchain network can perform is limited by the computational capacity of the network’s nodes. However, solutions to scalability difficulties, like off-chain transactions and sharding, are being explored.
Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the whole logistics sector. There are still some challenges to be overcome before supply chain management & blockchain are synchronised and implemented concomitantly. As the technology evolves and matures, it is more probable that more organisations will use blockchain to improve the effectiveness, transparency, and security of supply chains.