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How can blockchain technology boost the efficiency of our supply chains?
by iThink Media
The University of British Columbia Okanagan reveals how blockchain technology can boost the efficiency of our supply chains.
IMPROVING SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE
AS CANADA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD STRUGGLE WITH SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA OKANAGAN (UBCO) HAS DONE A DEEP DIVE INTO HOW NEW TECHNOLOGY COULD IMPROVE THE SUSTAINABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF SUPPLY CHAINS, PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION ECONOMICS.
Dr Tosarkani, an assistant professor of Manufacturing Engineering at the UBCO School of Engineering, and doctoral student Samuel Yousefi are behind the study. Dr Tosarkani researches supply chain management, operations management and sustainability. New modelling from his lab suggests that focusing on digital transformation and adopting blockchain technology could reduce shipping bottlenecks and provide a clearer end-to-end picture of how items travel from origin to destination.
On applying blockchain technology to the supply of goods from producer
to consumer, Dr Tosarkani explained, “Most people associate blockchain technology with cryptocurrency, but it can provide a consistent and secure system for tracking financial data and logistics.”
The economic burden of responding to sustainable
development and severe socio-environmental constraints has made a considerable impact on supply chain-related decisions. Being able to increase the integrity, flexibility and monitoring of assets has become a vital issue for sustainable supply chain management. And as
Dr Tosarkani
more people and companies embrace environmentallyfriendly products, there is a need to maintain a transparent and robust tracking system to ensure products are exactly what they claim.
The integration of this technology into the supply chain is still in its infancy, but it is able to provide definite benefits to managers and decision-makers who are ultimately responsible for ensuring supply chains run smoothly. Yousefi said, “Blockchain technology has not been widely applied in this field due to the lack of familiarity. But from both an operational and a sustainability perspective, blockchain provides tools that the supply chain industry can use that will expedite systems and bolster sustainability.”
Yousefi goes on to explain that blockchain simultaneously records the flow of information about all existing processes in a supply chain and automatically shares all that data with other units involved – including the suppliers, manufacturers and retailers – at all stages of a product’s lifecycle.
Dr Tosarkani
Dr Tosarkani added, “Blockchain technology can have a paradigm-shifting impact on the supply chain by addressing the sustainability challenges currently being faced, but also challenges we might come across in the future.”
The researchers are currently connecting with supply chain operators to investigate future applications for the integration of these tools into existing systems and processes.
For further information on UBCO, visit www.ok.ubc.ca
Source: www.nsnews.com
