Editor’s Note
This article explores how blockchain technology is being leveraged to enhance supply chain management. By providing a secure, transparent, and immutable ledger, blockchain offers promising solutions to improve traceability and build trust across complex supply networks.
Blockchain technology is gaining popularity as a solution to long-standing problems in supply chain management. By offering a decentralized and tamper-proof method for recording transactions, blockchain can address issues related to traceability, transparency, and trust among supply chain partners.
Explore 20 case studies of businesses from different industries using blockchain in supply chain to improve visibility, accuracy, and operational efficiency.
Industry: Agriculture
Customer: AgriDigital
Use Case: Blockchain for digital farming records and supply chain verification
Outcomes: Enables traceability of organic products throughout the supply chain, ensuring transparency in their status.
Industry: Retail / E-Commerce
Customer: Alibaba
Use Case: Prevent counterfeit food, track shipments, secure medical data
Outcomes: Improves product authentication and optimizes supply chain efficiency through enhanced tracking and data security.
Industry: Shipping / Logistics
Customer: De Beers
Use Case: Track diamond provenance
Outcomes: Increases transparency in diamond sourcing to prevent circulation of blood diamonds and ensure ethical assurance.
Industry: Beverages / Wine & Spirits
Customer: Demeter
Use Case: QR codes for wine authenticity
Outcomes: Allows consumers to verify the authenticity and production conditions of wine through scannable QR codes.
Industry: Shipping / Logistics
Customer: Intel in Fruit Distribution
Vendor: Intel
Use Case: IoT and blockchain for blueberry freshness
Outcomes: Tracks environmental conditions to minimize freshness loss from harvest to market.
Industry: Pharmaceuticals / Clinical Trials
Customer: Large pharmaceutical & biotech corporation
Vendor: Deloitte, AWS
Use Case: Blockchain app for clinical trial drug shipment tracking
Outcomes: Improves end-to-end transparency, reduces manual processes and regulatory costs, and enhances data auditability.
Industry: Luxury / Fashion & Jewelry
Customer: LVMH, Prada Group, Cartier, OTB Group, Mercedes-Benz
Vendor: Aura Blockchain Consortium
Use Case: Blockchain for supply chain transparency and anti-counterfeit
Outcomes: Enables product traceability from design to resale, supports resale markets, verifies authenticity via NFTs, and improves ecosystem collaboration.
Industry: Shipping / Logistics
Customer: Maersk (TradeLens)
Vendor: IBM, Maersk
Use Case: Blockchain for ocean freight tracking
Outcomes: Cuts transit time by 40% and reduces associated shipping costs through real-time tracking.
Industry: Fashion
Customer: Martin Jarlgaard
Vendor: Provenance
Use Case: Garment production tracking via blockchain
Outcomes: Demonstrates fashion supply chain transparency, showcased at a fashion show.
Industry: Pharmaceuticals / Healthcare Supply Chain
Customer: Merck, Walmart, FDA (regulatory), broader pharmaceutical ecosystem
Vendor: IBM, KPMG
Use Case: Pilot blockchain for DSCSA 2023 compliance
Outcomes: Achieves traceability, real-time recalls, and stakeholder data privacy to boost safety and compliance.
Blockchain in supply chain refers to the use of distributed ledger technology to record, verify, and share data related to supply chain activities across multiple participants. The ledger is tamper-proof, transparent, and decentralized, enabling real-time visibility of transactions and asset movements. It reduces reliance on intermediaries, allowing supply chain partners to access shared information with higher accuracy and trust.
The blockchain network logs each transaction into a block, which is cryptographically secured and linked together with previous entries. Once added, blocks cannot be modified, making the data immutable. This system is especially valuable in supply chain management, where multiple independent parties interact and where traceability, transparency, and data integrity are critical.
Traceability and transparency: Blockchain creates a permanent, auditable record of each transaction across the entire supply chain, from origin to destination. This enhances visibility, detects discrepancies early, and ensures that all parties work with a single source of truth.
Data immutability and integrity: Once recorded on the blockchain, data cannot be altered without the consensus of all parties. This ensures that all entries are verifiable and secure, which is essential for verifying product authenticity, certifications, and compliance.
Smart contracts: Smart contracts are programmable rules stored on the blockchain. They automate payments, inspections, or other actions based on predefined conditions. This reduces delays and manual processing.
Decentralized access control: Each participant in the chain can access the necessary data without relying on a central authority. Permissioned blockchains can be used to manage access rights.
Interoperability with emerging technologies: Blockchain can be integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, enabling real-time tracking of goods and environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, which is especially useful for food or pharmaceuticals.
Product traceability: Track the origin and movement of goods to help prevent counterfeiting and ensure quality. For example, tracing food products from farm to shelf.
ESG and ethical sourcing: Verify sustainable sourcing, labor practices, and environmental impact throughout the supply chain. This is becoming increasingly crucial due to regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Inventory management: Utilize real-time data for more accurate stock levels, thereby reducing overstocking and shortages.
Quality assurance: Validate compliance at every stage of the production process. All changes are recorded, enabling audits without the need for extensive manual checks.
Counterfeit prevention: Especially relevant in the pharmaceutical and luxury goods industries.