Supply Chain Revolution: How Blockchain Technology Is Transforming the Global Flow of Assets

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken precious lives and devastated the global economy. It has also revealed chinks in our supply chains. Not only have manufacturers found themselves scrambling unsuccessfully to find new suppliers when their Asian sources shut down, but the Western world has experienced across-the-board shortages of essential consumer packaged goods for the first time in decades. Blockchain technology has the potential to minimize these kinds of pandemic disruptions.

In this book, some of the world’s top experts show how blockchain—in combination with other innovations such as additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things—can address longstanding problems that make the business of getting goods to customers so slow and expensive, especially in crises. Today’s supply chains are complex, as they move resources through trucks, planes, boats, and trains. Too many parties rely on a hodgepodge of documents and intermediaries to do business, which make the whereabouts and custody of goods unclear. That’s why, in a pandemic, uninformed consumers might reasonably believe that toilet paper won’t be available for many months. Enter blockchain—the Internet of Value. For the first time in human history, individuals and organizations can manage and trade their assets digitally peer to peer. In doing so, they will reinvent global commerce and how we exchange value. This will transform the best practices of operations, logistics, procurement and purchasing, transportation, customs and border control, trade finance and insurance, manufacturing, and inventory management. Global supply chains are ripe for disruption at every level and in every role.

Supply Chain Revolution identifies what leaders should be doing now to prepare their organizations for the inevitable decentralized future. Enterprise executives and entrepreneurs alike will find ideas and opportunities to discuss with their stakeholders and decide how best to participate in the blockchain revolution.

This is the second book in the Blockchain Research Institute Enterprise Series aimed at entrepreneurs, innovators, executives, and investors in breakthrough technologies.

“An invaluable collection of industry research. The hyper-convergence of blockchain, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence/machine learning will enable accuracy and new business models where our customer will enjoy supply chains that are trusted, decentralized, and open.”—Robert B. Carter, Chief Information Officer, FedEx Corporation

“Blockchain technology empowers businesses to track goods and freight more effectively, create new revenue streams, and operate their supply chains more seamlessly. With this research, business leaders can begin transforming the global supply chain through the transparency and innovation offered by blockchain.”—Chris Burruss, President, Blockchain in Transport Alliance

“Supply chain management is one of the earliest and most consequential use cases for blockchain technology at the enterprise level. This compilation of research, which Sweetbridge is proud to support, is the definitive guide for companies looking to transform their supply chains for the next era of the digital economy.”—J. Scott Nelson, Chairman and CEO, Sweetbridge

“Replacing paper-based, manual processes with modern technology and automation is only part of the solution for transforming global trade. The secret sauce lies in reframing business models and unlocking new capital, where reducing friction for customers is the main driver of innovation. Through many use cases, this book demonstrates blockchain’s role in the supply chain revolution.”—Soumak Chatterjee, Partner and National Leader, Payments and Blockchain, Deloitte Canada

Don Tapscott is one of the world’s leading authorities on the impact of technology on business and society. He has authored 16 books, including Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, which has been translated into over 25 languages. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, conducting the definitive investigation into enterprise applications of distributed ledger technologies and the trivergence of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. Don is a member of the Order of Canada. and was ranked the second most influential Management Thinker and the top Digital Thinker in the world by Thinker