Blockchain for supply chain solutions

Resolve issues faster. Build trust and stronger relationships. Businesses are strengthening supply chain networks with IBM Blockchain.

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Overview

Resilient, transparent, and trusted supply chains

Supply chain data is not always visible, available or trusted. IBM Blockchain helps supply chain partners share trusted data through permissioned blockchain solutions.

In times of disruption, this matters more than ever. Businesses and consumers want brands to guarantee product authenticity, while supply chain participants demand responsible sourcing and better visibility to minimize disputes.

Blockchain for supply chain solutions help supply chain leaders use data to handle the disruptions of today and build resiliency for the future.

Benefits

Increased supply chain transparency Supply chain networks can be limited by one-up/one-down visibility. Through distributed ledger technology that provides a shared, single version of the truth, IBM Blockchain supply chain solutions give permissioned participants greater visibility across all supply chain activities. Build a resilient supply chain One unexpected event can cause a cascading array of supply chain disruptions. IBM Blockchain supply chain solutions use smart contracts that automatically trigger when pre-defined business conditions are met. This gives near real-time visibility into operations, and the ability to take action earlier should there be an exception. Streamlined supplier onboarding New supplier onboarding is a time-consuming, manual experience for both buyers and sellers in a supply chain. IBM Blockchain supply chain solutions can speed this process through an immutable record of new vendor details that business network participants can trust.

Solutions

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Vaccine distribution: Building trust to build acceptance

To be effective, new vaccines need to be widely trusted. From inception to injection, a new network powered by IBM Blockchain can help build that trust. Vaccine distribution can be traced every step of the way to help assure manufacturers, distributers, dispensers, and the public.
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Supply chain transparency: Greater efficiency based on mutual trust

Build on the foundation of leading networks to create your own blockchain ecosystem to share data with trusted supply chain partners using IBM Blockchain Transparent Supply. Transact faster with an immutable, shared ledger that gives you end-to-end and real-time visibility.
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Blockchain for food: Creating a smarter and safer food system

To help increase food safety and freshness – and unlock supply chain efficiencies – IBM Food Trust™ is bringing together a diverse group of growers, distributors and retailers. Their collaboration is delivering real business results and boosting confidence in the world’s food supply.
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Container logistics: Building trust between partners

To oversee container logistics worldwide, more than 150 exporters, importers, freight forwarders, customs authorities and more now work collaboratively through TradeLens, the open and neutral supply chain platform underpinned by blockchain technology.
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Supplier management: Digital identity verification for procurement

To help accelerate supplier onboarding and lifecycle management, Trust Your Supplier creates a trusted, digital identity for suppliers that can be used to begin relationships with multiple buyers. This helps them avoid redundant submission of the same information, reducing the time to first transaction.

Industries

Shipping solutions Food supply solutions Retail solutions Government solutions Media and entertainment solutions Manufacturing solutions

Blockchain consulting and services

Blockchain for supply chain case studies

Driving auto supply chains forward with blockchain Renault Group has moved its supply chain documentation to blockchain — and invited the rest of the auto industry to join in. The distributed ledger technology makes it possible to share and track information across various users. See Renault ensure compliance across supply chains (03:09) Read how Renault is streamlining documentation Increasing trust in retailer-supplier relationships The Home Depot’s use of blockchain is increasing visibility into the supply chain, leading to faster vendor dispute resolutions, stronger relationships with suppliers, and more time for innovation. See how The Home Depot builds trust (02:57) Read interview with The Home Depot (502 KB) Visibility in the oil and gas industry Unexpected events often throw supply chains into turmoil. The Vertrax Blockchain provides new transparency to oil and gas supply chain participants so they can respond to demand spikes due to severe weather and other unforeseen events — all in the computing environments of their choice. Read about multi-cloud blockchain (619 KB) Advancing global trade with blockchain To succeed in the global marketplace during the Covid-19 crisis, organizations need to know when and how to share data. In this report from the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), you will learn about the benefits blockchain brings to global trade by supplying trusted data across interconnected networks. Read the IBV report (578 KB) Counterfeit prevention in pharmaceuticals In some countries, counterfeit pharmaceuticals account for 70% of all drugs in the supply chain. A recent pilot by KPMG, Merck, Walmart and IBM using blockchain injects new trust into the system by reducing the time it takes to trace prescription drugs from 16 weeks to just two seconds. Read the FDA report (2.9 MB) Responsible sourcing of minerals Bringing together leading OEMs, miners and smelters, the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network provides much-needed transparency into the origin of battery metals like cobalt. This reduces many of the legal, reputational and commercial risks participants have previously faced. Read the blog post

Resources

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Build a smarter supply chain for tomorrow

AI provides real-time intelligence and recommendations to get ahead of supply chain transaction issues to help ensure orders are delivered on time. Blockchain provides transparency and increases trust with multi-party visibility of digital events across your supply chain.
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Forrester Opportunity Snapshot

At a time of uncertainty, companies are looking to emerging technologies to improve data quality, integrity and visibility. Learn how supply chain leaders are using data to handle disruptions today and how adoption of blockchain can help in the future.
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The benefits of blockchain in action

Enjoy these ten stories of how our clients are revolutionizing their organizations by using IBM blockchain.
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IBM Supply Chain Consulting Services

Create more intelligent workflows with IBM Services®. We’ll help you find new ways to uncover hidden efficiencies, promote better execution and delivery, integrate emerging technologies and discover new opportunities across the value chain.
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Build smarter supply chains

Built to be resilient, smarter supply chains adapt when facing disruptions. They can scale to meet new demands as customer needs change. They are more reliable and designed to build trust between you and your customers.
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What is supply chain management?

When you understand supply chain data better, you understand how your supply chain can operate better. Explore insights from IBM supply chain experts, the full range of IBM Sterling Supply Chain applications and more.

Next Steps

Learn how to get started

No matter where you are on your blockchain journey, IBM can help you take the right next step. Learn how you can get started with IBM Blockchain.

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Blockchain consulting and services

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Connect with an expert

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Blockchain use cases

Be inspired by how innovators are transforming their businesses through use cases built on the IBM Blockchain Platform.

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