Case study of blockchain in the refrigeration sector

The cold sector is entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution with determination. The reconversion of businesses into 4.0 industries is a necessity to ensure their future. Also, fortunately, it is beginning to be a reality in many companies. We can already talk about numerous success stories using disruptive technologies such as blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and augmented reality. All of them have in common the automatic and immediate connectivity and the massive use of data as a security and decision-making tool.

In this post, we will focus on what the blockchain is and its role in cooling. The blockchain allows the traceability of any business process, engineering, installation, or manufacturing of refrigeration equipment in an automatic way. This is a great advance in terms of process efficiency and physical and legal security.

What is blockchain? To explain it we can give an example: any company in the refrigeration sector can create a blockchain process - if we use the literal translation of the term, a chain of blocks - where to locate, step by step, the technical information of the project, sales contracts, laboratory certifications, energy efficiency, payment documentation, etc. In short, any process that takes place in the entire industry and its departments, from administration and finance, through production and maintenance, to sales and logistics.

This chain can be seen, in whole or in part, by all those to whom access is provided. Its level of detail can go as far as the company wishes or as far as the public administration requires in order to be able to carry out traceability which, for example, in matters of security or contractual disagreements, could have important legal consequences. In the case of refrigeration equipment, this could include the various owners, component suppliers, maintenance parts, and the recycling or destruction of parts of the equipment once it is no longer in service.

In the latter case, we are talking about nothing less than ensuring the monitoring and proper management of the life cycle of refrigeration facilities. This concept gains weight when we talk about the fact that, at present, it is strategic that any refrigeration project should be accompanied by an environmental analysis, which includes the correct treatment of the equipment when it reaches the end of its useful cycle.

The blockchain includes, therefore, the absolute traceability of specific projects. But, in a wider and more ambitious way, it can also be applied to the whole refrigeration equipment of a region or a country. This is the idea behind a fledgling platform that is working towards the goal of collecting energy certificates for all refrigeration equipment. This is intended to support installations that comply with environmental legislation while leaving out equipment that - in whole or in part - may come from illegal imports or from unlicensed installation companies.

The guarantees provided by the blockchain are supported by the inalterability of data and traceability. This means security and, if we go further, this technology performs, in part, a mission of authenticating the information relating to a project. This is because it allows sensitive data, such as contracts or certifications, to be shared between parties without the need for third parties and, moreover, to do so on a global scale.

In today's complex business world, every time a business is closed, a project is presented or installation is commissioned, the number of legal and technical requirements and legal consequences that can arise is enormous. The results of losing traceability in any technical or administrative process can be serious and the blockchain not only provides security for everyone, including customers, suppliers, and employees, but also efficiency in managing any incident.