Alibaba, the Chinese multinational conglomerate is transforming its’ cross-border supply chain with blockchain. This Alibaba blockchain move into the complex supply chain industry could be significant.
Alibaba is a recognized giant in eCommerce, retail, Internet, and technology spaces. Their supply chain is understandably complex. They now plan to simplify it with blockchain.
The global supply chain industry is massive. The supply chain software market, which is a subset of this industry, alone will reach $24.5 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 9.7% between 2018-2025.
The industry is mired with complexity. Manual processes and paperwork limit the efficiency. Technology has helped, but more work is needed.
Researches show that most industry stakeholders consider their supply chain solutions highly complex. Blockchain can help, with its’ immutable records, high security, and transparency.
Experts believe blockchain can benefit the supply chain management in many areas. Examples are transaction settlement, audit transparency, shipping data management, reducing counterfeit, ensuring food safety, provenance, etc.
The promises of blockchain are real. However, there is a serious need to look at blockchain separately from cryptocurrencies. Large businesses must step up and explore the technology.
Every large business has a complex cross-border supply chain. This is an obvious area where enterprises can start experimenting with blockchain.
Blockchain in supply chain: The good news!
Alibaba plans to use blockchain extensively to manage its cross-border supply chain. Liu Song, Alibaba Group VP has indicated that the company will use blockchain to manage its complex supply chain.
Song has said that Alibaba plans to create a closed-loop ecosystem to manage their complex, cross-border supply chain. Their blockchain-based system can be easily linked with local governments. This has the potential to expedite several processes, e.g., the government-related processes in the transaction workflow.
This Alibaba blockchain move to transform supply chain is significant, however, they aren’t the only company using blockchain for this. Other big businesses are increasingly exploring blockchain for supply chain management.
A few examples are as follows:
- IBM blockchain supply chain solution is expediting the “Bill of Lading” (BoL) process.
- Intel plans to track addictive medicine supply chain using blockchain.
- Walmart is using blockchain for tracking the live food supply chain.
- Samsung plans to use blockchain for streamlining their shipments.
- Maersk has partnered with IBM to cut down shipping times by 40%.
Alibaba blockchain move is significant
Alibaba isn’t new to the blockchain technology. The group already have a large number of blockchain-related patents. They are already exploring blockchain in the food supply chain. However, their latest move assumes significance considering they will tackle their complex cross-border supply chain with blockchain.
