Author:Ayman Shoukry is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Specright, the first purpose-built platform for Specification Data Management.
This analysis has been published in Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives
In the course of my 20 years of experience in information technology, I’ve seen many tech trends come and go: big data, the cloud, mobile, VR — the list goes on. In the past few years, blockchain technology has made a tremendous splash, promising new ways of working and doing business.
But why is it that some technologies succeed while others simply move through the hype cycle?. It comes down to invention versus innovation. Invention is simply the creation of a new thing, while innovation involves applying that new thing to a real-world problem or a novel approach. When it comes to blockchain, recent real-world applications beyond finance are helping accelerate its transition from an emerging to innovative technology.
Blockchain is more than just cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Blockchain technology is based on the concept of a distributed ledger. Instead of a centralized authority, power is distributed across participants on a network.
Blockchain first became popular as a way to transform finance, but the underlying principles of traceability and decentralization go hand in hand with supply chain management.
So how are blockchain and supply chain connected? Before we dive into the technology side, take a look at the products around you: in the grocery store, in your medicine cabinet and through e-commerce brands.
If you compare today’s landscape to 10 or even 20 years ago, these products have drastically changed. Consumers are demanding more variety, different packaging and personalization, which has led to an explosion of products.
These products are also more global in nature and are sourced from different parts of the world. While we all benefit from this as consumers, this has created massive challenges when it comes to bringing these products to market.
For brands to support this level of product development, they have to work with more suppliers and partners than ever. And with consumers and companies connected by the internet, supply chain networks have also become more interconnected and global than before.
Imagine working at a leading brand and trying to juggle multiple products and suppliers across geographies. It becomes difficult to pinpoint where something goes wrong or even understand where bottlenecks are occurring. And that’s where blockchain comes in.
How Blockchain Creates Supply Chain Traceability
By digitizing specifications — products, packaging, formulas and so forth — companies can create a digital thread through their supply chain. This digital thread creates transparency and traceability between brands and their suppliers. Traceability is also an outcome of improved supply chain collaboration.
For example, if a packaging company is making an update to a box that’s used by multiple brands, everyone needs to be on the same page. If not, brands can end up with a box that no longer meets their needs. Today, most of these approvals occur via email — and I think we can all agree that we shouldn’t rely on our inboxes to validate important changes.
In my experience, customers don’t usually ask for blockchain. For example, our customers were asking for new and better ways to collaborate with one another. In fact, many were already doing business together on our platform. This insight led us to develop our own blockchain network as part of our existing platform. Herein lies the insight for how IT leads should think about approaching blockchain for their organization.
How IT Leaders Should Approach Blockchain
So, how can IT leaders work with supply chain teams to successfully deploy blockchain?
They should start by examining their supply chain. Where are the most external partners involved? What are the current methods of communicating and exchanging information? These connection points are ripe for the application of blockchain.
But companies don’t need to immediately revolutionize their ways of working — in fact, it can sometimes be counterproductive. Instead, these companies should focus on “evolutionizing” rather than “revolutionizing” their approach. For many companies, digitizing and mapping specifications is a critical first step that can instantly create more traceability than before. Then over time, as more suppliers and partners begin working in a common platform, companies can deploy blockchain as an underlying technology.
What does this mean for blockchain? Well, you probably won’t hear IT leaders talking about deploying “blockchain” for their supply chains, but rather another application leveraging the technology.
And when this starts to happen, blockchain will officially have moved from invention to innovation.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, June 14, 2022.- AndSoft, a European company that manufactures software for transport and logistics (e-TMS), presented at SIL in Barcelona (31 May to 2 June), stand E 532, new solutions dedicated to special transport: ADR and oversized. Plus a new evolution of TrackAPP.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, June 7, 2022.- Enterprise Talk magazine has published an analysis on supply chain improvements, from start to finish, thanks to artificial intelligence solutions. These are their conclusions:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, May 24, 2022.- Author: Pierfrancesco Manenti is Research Vice President for the Gartner Supply Chain Strategy team. Mr. Manenti provides insights and advisory support to CSCOs and Head of Strategy of global manufacturing and retail corporations into the future trends and key challenges affecting end-to-end supply chain strategy. He focuses on strategic transformation, digitalization, agility and… Continue reading Gartner: “Autonomy is the future of Supply Chain”→
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, May 3, 2022.- According to Business Insider, the benefits of implementing artificial intelligence in the logistics industry are already evident today in 2022. In summary:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, April 26, 2022.- The world economy, any sector that produces machinery, household appliances, vehicles, computers, mobile phones…need chips for the operation of the electrical system. Europe and the United States will build new chip factories, but China (Taiwan) will remain the world leaders.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, April 19, 2022.- According to Protocol magazine, the ecommerce giant has been looking to hire a number of people for an unannounced AR/VR product in recent months. Among the roles Amazon is looking to fill are a wide variety of senior positions for computer vision scientists, designers, program managers, product managers, researchers and technologists,… Continue reading Amazon is developing a ‘new-to-world’ AR product→
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, April 5, 2022.- Amazon has agreed with hundreds of Texas consumers the delivery of merchandise weighing just 2 kilograms, its delivery through drones. For its part, Fedex:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, March 22, 2022.- The prestigious technology consultancy Gartner has published an analysis of Blockchain technology and its real solutions today. Gartner explains blockchain with these arguments:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, March 22, 2022.- The company ILS has published an analysis on the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Logistics. AI is going to be as common as TMS is today.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
This article was originally published by Ben Dickson on TechTalks, (March 7, 2022) a publication that examines trends in technology, how they affect the way we live and do business, and the problems they solve. But we also discuss the evil side of technology, the darker implications of new tech, and what we need to look… Continue reading The understanding and coexistence of artificial intelligence with human intelligence→
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona March 2, 2022.- One of the most influential newspapers in the world, the New York Times, has published a diagnosis on the role of the technological giants in the new scenario that opens the Russian War against Ukraine. For your interest, we publish below:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, February 22, 2022.- The Foley & Lardner Law Firm has published a detailed and exhaustive analysis of the benefits of blockchain technology for the logistics industry, which is so important for the success of e-commerce around the world. Therefore, its reading is highly recommended for managers of transport and logistics companies. Here is a… Continue reading Foley & Lardner: “Blockchain for Digital Logistics and Smart Warehouses”→
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, February 15, 2022.- Supply Chain Dive magazine has highlighted 5 applications, based on Artificial Intelligence, for supply chain companies. This technology will be one of the keys to success for logistics companies that need to be more efficient and competitive.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, February 8, 2022.- TechiExpert magazine has published an analysis on the application of Blockchain technology in transport and logistics companies. We recommend your reading:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, February 7, 2022.- The Digital Journal magazine has produced a report on Artificial Intelligence in the logistics industry. Here are the main conclusions:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, January 18, 2022: The prestigious economic newspaper Financial Times has published an analysis on the supply chain. Its recent innovations and the changes that have had to be implemented in large multinationals, small and medium-sized companies. Next, we publish a summary for its great interest for the logistics professional and the technological manager:
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, January 11, 2022.- The China Daily Newspaper has published the following information with real cases of robotic applications and artificial intelligence for the logistics industry. A technological revolution whose implementation will accelerate in the coming months due to tensions in global supply chains.
by AndSoft Software Gestión Transporte TMS y Portales Blockchain, eCMR, TrackAPP Alone
Barcelona, January 4, 2022.- The following analysis on Deep Learning and the use of neural networks has been published by the IEEE Spectrum magazine. Technologies already present in smartphones and that will evolve faster, every day.