In the heart of every successful industrial organization lies a robust supply chain ensuring stock is always available and handled in ideal conditions. Supply chains consist of a network of retailers, distributors, transporters, and other suppliers all having a role in the production, delivery, and the sale of a product or a service. This chain of actions represents the complete manufacture and distribution process at any of its stages.
And yet, current days supply chains suffer from fundamental problems such as lack of tracing ability, semi-transparency and various trust issues. The more complex the process is from obtaining raw materials to the end user consumption, the more parties are involved and the greater risk of error is. Reality suggests organizations are focused mostly on maximizing profits in their respective fields disregarding the interests of their end users.
As in many other fields, Blockchain technology can be harnessed for enhancing transparency and efficiency in the industrial sector. Although a cumulative 1.1 Trillion dollar market value!! organizations are still using traditional tools and are yet to find solutions for redundant inventory in transportation, difficulties accessing information and inefficiencies in data exchanges. Estimation suggests that by implementing Blockchain use to those processes, companies can eliminate all these concerns and be able to prevent up to an annual loss of 500B$ to the industry.
Blockchain ensures anything occurring along the supply chain can be monitored and chronologically recorded in a much safer and transparent way. Moreover, the new technology provides proof of sourcing, eliminates human intervention and prevents further financial losses.
Understanding the current market situation we at BITSME believe more and more ventures will be joining the race for finding the best solutions for Blockchain implementation in the supply chain process. To quote Fred Smith, CEO of the logistics giant FedEx at the Consensus 2018 conference this week:
"Blockchain has the potential to completely revolutionize what's across the border."
Smith further explained that the industry had suffered many problems in cross-border logistics since the difference between countries in standards, terminologies and regulations matters:
"For cross-border shipments, 'trust' is a legal requirement for every transaction. We absolutely believe this technology is going to scale, it makes sense for us to do this in our freight world. If you are not operating at the edge of new technologies, you will surely be disrupted. If you are not willing to embrace new technologies like Blockchain to face those new threats, you are at some point going to extinction".
Among the existing projects aiming to bring the needed solution we chose the following to be the most promising supply chains projects:
BITSME encourages anyone to conduct in-depth checks and due-diligence before participating in any kind of trading of digital currencies. The following represents BITSME’s sole opinion and does not constitute a recommendation or investment advice of any kind.
VeChain (VEN) - Perhaps the one that stands above all the rest. This Chinese government backed project is building a DAPP proof of authority solutions platform. By using universal devices such as - NFC chips, RFID trackers and QR codes, Vechain wishes to create a trust free distributed business ecosystem, that will allow transparent and untempered information flow, efficient collaboration, and high-speed value transferring.
The founders of Vechain are highly known figures in China and are associated with two other successful Blockchain projects - Qtum (QTM) and Fusion (FSN). Therefore there is no surprise that among their endless list of partnerships we can find names like: The Chinese government (regulation and technology), DNV GL ($20B global quality assurance and risk management company), Kuehne & Nagel – largest Supply Chain and Logistics in the world- 10% of the world’s air and sea freight business, has over $20 billion revenue, The Chinese Tobacco industry, PWC Audit and Advisory incubator program, BMW, Renault, Nissan, Infinity and many more.
Vechain ICO took place on 23/8/2017 when the VEN tokens were sold for $0.08. Standing now at $4.5 the coin represents a record yield of 5,600% !! Settling firm at 15th place of the entire crypto market cap, dropping by 15% in the last 7 days.
Walton Chain (WTC) - Similar to VeChain WTC is focusing their business model on the production of Radio frequency identification chip (RFID) to store value on the Blockchain, but unlike VeChain according to Walton they already have a working prototype! Holding over 50 RFID patents, by using Walton merchants can build various sub-chains according to their own needs and eliminate by that the scaleability problems that might arise in the future.
The Walton RFID chip is scheduled for mass production at Q1 2019, and the company aims to focus on Warehousing, Logistics, Stores and the clothing industries. While Walton fails to reach the impressive partnerships lineup presented by VeChain, they are taking comfort in the fact they have the biggest chip producer in China in their lines.
Walton ICO took place on 3/7/2017 when the WTC tokens were sold for $0.4. Standing now at $14.87 the coin represents a yield of 3,700% Placing it on the 54th place of the entire crypto market cap, dropping by 17% in the last 7 days.
Modum (MOD) - Modum is developing sensors enabling manufacturers to comply with the latest EU regulations regarding medical supply handling. The Modum sensors monitor medical supply conditions throughout the entire supply chain. The projects intend to plant sensors in all the supply cabins where they will record and analyze variables conditions such as - temperature, humidity, light, motion, chemicals and more. By using the Modum app, Manufacturers and consumers alike can ensure the safety of their products saving up to 60% of their shipping costs using the MOD token as their payment tool.
Modum ICO took place on 20/10/2017 when the MOD tokens were sold for $1. Standing now at $2.77 the coin represents a yield of 277% Placing it on the 249th place of the entire crypto market cap, dropping by 21% in the last 7 days.
Conclusion
Without a real ongoing use case, there is no future for any specific currency and the industry as a whole. We at BITSME feel the Blockchain fits like a glove to the supply chain process and that a smart implementation of the Blockchain merits can save massive costs and bring efficiencies to this billion dollars sector. Embracing the notion that Blockchain is here to stay and looking for the long run it is safe to say that projects who offer real solutions for supply chains will have huge demand. The astonishing yield numbers prove that a lot of people put their hopes on supply chain coins, so the last drops of our above picks might suggest it is a good entry point.
BITSME would like to send it’s gratitude to Mr. Oriel Perkal for sharing his great insights and wonderful research on the subject.