The supply chain is made up of many actors, from the producer to the logistic service providers, port authority, manufacturer, and ultimately, the consumer. The industry must deal with a variety of regulations, and while there are many data exchanges in place between different organizations, getting a single version of the truth is not possible.
The lack of trust in a supply chain stems from the fact that many of the organizations involved fear that data might leak to competitors. This in turn translates to the following issues:
- Visibility: Where is my order? Where is my container? Without transparency, the manufacturer's forecasting is impacted, and can lead to production delays.
- Administrative overhead: Data needs to be keyed in multiple times, requiring human effort and the need for a reconciliation process to detect errors.
- Disputes: The lack of access to a common source of information leads to discrepancies in the perception of the different actors, turning these discrepancies into disputes.
- Investigation: As a consequence of the dispute, efforts have to be made by multiple parties to gather facts and resolve the issue.
In this context, a decentralized, permissioned ledger means that every order and every shipment could be tracked in real time, all while preventing competitors from accessing sensitive information. This model would contribute to eliminating duplicate data entries, reducing human error, and expediting investigation, as the provenance of each transaction could easily be demonstrated.
Given the worldwide economy, it is not hard to imagine the potential savings. Imagining a world where there is a single source of truth that is managed through a permissioned ledger, and where all relevant actors can get access to the information, we can see the immediate benefits that this would bring throughout the supply chain.