Block Chain Technology & Supply Chain

What is blockchain?

The blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps a record of all transaction taking place on a peer to peer network.All information transferred via blockchain is encrypted and every occurrence recorded meaning it can not be altered. 

It is decentralized so there is no need for any central certifying authority.It can be used for much more than the currency, contracts, records and other kinds of data can be shared.Encrypted information can be shared across multiple providers without risk of a privacy breach. 

Blockchains are a technology of tomorrow, not today

A combination of new technologies artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, the internet of things, mobile money, digital identity and, most importantly, 3D printing is poised to seriously disrupt these underlying processes. They'll make manufacturing more responsive and customizable to customer's orders in effect, turning supply chains into demand chains. But this dynamism will only be realized if they also adopt the kind of decentralized trust mediation model promised by blockchains.

The changes we're talking about are step up from the 1990s round of disruption and decentralization that came with the advent of the Internet and globalization. Those trends created a wider pool of potential suppliers, disintegrating decades-old supply chains.

New IT technologies like 3D printing are an extension, or perhaps an acceleration, of the disruption unleashed then when the Internet decentralized the information-gathering process and removed barriers to communication. The next big step-function change will come from decentralizing the trust barrier.

That's the prism through which the boldest, most innovative manufacturers should be viewing blockchains and their critical role in the global economy of the future.