I am quite critic about ICOs I would invest myself. Is not different when taking care of growing the community or improving the PR for an ICO.
One of the questions I make myself, aside from; who is behind?, the ethics of the team, goals, money, etc.; is what is the real use of Blockchain for this project, or Do they really need it, or is it just an excuse to get ahold of your hard earned money?
This question has helped me to navigate quite safely the sea of information noise, or let's call it the Beijing of air pollution, but in this case, the air is polluted with too many unhealthy ICOs raising funds.
Lately, in the Crypto Valley of Zug together with some robust brains we started setting up a way to help people to find worthy investment projects.
Aside from apparent industries like Finance and Insurance, an obvious candidate to get disrupted by blockchain is Logistics, a sector that can be found in history for thousands of years. Goods have been transported across the globe even before sailing a ship was regarded for such purposes. Of course, the need for a tracking ledger did not appear until quite late, when the value of goods transported could be measured commonly in the form of minted coins (the real ones, like silver).
Today the landscape is entirely different, where to conclude the moving of goods across land, air or sea, is needed a frightening average of 200 communications per transport, this includes, emails, faxes, phone calls, customs documents, etc.
So, just by considering that information, there is a distinct need to decentralize and facilitate the creation of a conventional system in the Blockchain, both to consolidate and minimize the excess of work dedicated to making the goods reach their destination.
I am being a little heretic in trying to involve myself in the technology solution, but I would assume that this system will need to be a multi-platform solution, meaning a blockchain that can intercommunicate with other solutions, creating a way to optimize, at first glance, not compatible blockchains.
In a smaller scale, even a single small company can highly benefit of the blockchain. Think on a public ledger that allows authorities and end customers to check the status of the transported goods. Precise information on the most important data; from the manufacturing process to the moment the product reaches its destination.
Instead of losing your day trying to interpret the myriad of emails and information lost between lousy quality international calls, a quick scan into a QR code could take you directly through the threads of an extensive data block. Let the interpretation to a handy Dapp tailored to the needs of the user.
In a highly interconnected world, the need for universal languages is critical. Afraid not, there will be room for many players, but data in a blockchain could be read or interacted to, in many different ways. One thing is Blockchain as a platform, and other will be the creation of applications that will interact with it. Just think as Steem and the use of other tools, like SteemPlus, Busy.org, Dlive, etc.
Efficiency is one of the biggest goals international logistics has, still, today is one of the most unaccomplished items. Just think on all those containers sitting in the Harbor for days, weeks and even in the worst case months.
For the producer, is not only problematic to deal with providers on the supply chain. Reach its targets wishing that their product goes to destiny in a reasonable amount of time.
Thousands of factors get in the way, while financial goals add also pressure to the equation. All of that can be solved efficiently by having a reliable and trustable Blockchain which tell us, step by step, what happened with that container that is sitting in the Docks.
RFID sensors, chips, GPS, temperature sensors, etc. all of them could interact with the transported product to provide detailed radiography of the transported good's story. Making, in the end, the life of every player involved in the logistics chain much easier through cost savings and improved efficiency.
There is a reality that most big companies are not openly accepting, small players move faster in the career for a Blockchain solution. Whether you want to join the revolution or not, those small alternatives start to get being noticed, and most important, adopted.
When you think in the history of previous disruptive technologies, those came not from mainstream companies. Instead, from "garage-band" companies. Those can dedicate resources to R&D quicker, test them, and adopt them. A small modification could mean thousands and even hundreds of thousands a year. In Logistics, margins are typically measured in single digit ciphers so that a small change can make a big difference.
Unfortunately, big conglomerates of companies trying to adapt have a difficult time doing so. Their size and internal bureaucracy are like a chronic illness.
Expect then, for small companies, with even just a few years in the market to make a huge step forward when disrupting the market. Same as Apple, Amazon or Google did in their time, will happen with Logistics. I do not think Maersk or similar will be first movers, probably the last ones. Opting later on for buying out the solutions provided by some start-up.
Just as an example talking about small moves fast, think about companies as https://www.nextpakk.com/ which plans to disrupt "last mile delivery" via blockchain and shared-economy. A big problem for companies like DHL FedEx in the present is how to arrange the delivery of online shopping goods, with e-commerce numbers skyrocketing year by year, the future problem is quite apparent. So again, the solution may come from a start-up attacking a particular issue, again, using blockchain.
I do not want to cover all angles of this industry, which I know sideways due to my wife position at a large food company, and of course due to my known advisor position for 
SMARC combines;
1- a patented isolation technology (not powered by traditional batteries but via pre refrigerated containers) plus
2- the development of an open source Blockchain platform (LogiChain, also to be founded via ICO)
Without bias, I can confirm that the answer to the driving question of this post is; Yes. Logistics need Blockchain as much as Blockchain needs the Logistics industry, probably the most significant Use Case for the new technology.
That is also why 
I always say that I do not believe as much CryptoCurrencies in the long term, as much I do in Blockchain. But, I will remain critic on those industries that want to profit out of the hype to use Blockchain as a simple hook to gather attention and most probably take uneducated people's money.
In an increasingly complicated and sophisticated globalized world, Blockchain carries the heavy burden of being a solution provider for the logistics industry.
| ||
| ||
|