The most dominant business conception of the early 21st century is the so call Disruptive Innovation, a term which refers to an innovation that creates a new market, displacing the already economical and business-related aspects, products, and complex systems, or simply changing the way things are done. Disruptive innovations are not money-making enough at first, because of the resources, time and risk invested to develop a new technology, needed to compete against current competition; but once it is implemented, it reaches a much faster diffusion impact on the established market.
The Blockchain is one example of a Disruptive Innovation technology, as it has changed the way to do business. Some of its proven benefits are:
Efficiency: Avoids dealing with a disruptive third-party, save time and money to reorganise your business processes and improve your bottommost line.
Auditability: As it’s immutable and chronological, it creates a reliable audit trail for your company.
Traceability: It provides a great way to trace objects without paperwork; the Logistics and Transportation industries are focusing on investing in Blockchain applications for inventory and supply-chain management.
Transparency: It has proven that it is a secure and reliable way to conduct business, and to create a relationship of trust with their customers.
Using the distributed ledger technology found in Blockchain improves global supply chains. It is expected to be more prevalent in our business and personal lives than the Internet itself. For example, we can see a major impact on the Banking sector: Cryptocurrencies are now disrupting the personal checking accounts. Crypto payments are fast and cost far less than a check or other kind of bank payment offered today, and reinforce trust, it cannot be subverted or corrupted by bribery, it is collectively owned by the “miners”, whose servers guarantee the integrity of the Blockchain and its users’ transactions.
This is particularly important for conflict minerals, pharmaceuticals, food and many other supply categories where the provable chain of custody is critical. A major motivation behind the Blockchain interest is gaining visibility into the elaborated and unclear web of buyers and suppliers linked throughout the world. This certainly has implications for the fundamentals of Supply Chain Management, like payments and document-sharing, or by identifying the “accepted truth and accountability between parties.
Blockchain-based is a solution to make B2B payments across borders faster or to more efficiently manage a pile of documents that pass between buyers and suppliers. There's no way of tampering it or changing it. Supply Chain visibility can help address issues like criminal activity. Smart contracts can disrupt and forever change a variety of different industries.
Even though the Financial industry was the early adopter, other industries like Healthcare, Law, and Transportation are joining the Blockchain era. This disruptive technology is not yet accessible enough to run a high volume of Supply Chain applications, but it’s, no doubt, gaining a rapidly place in businesses.
Get ready for it!
Dave Food
