Block
chain has great potential to solve problems and address supply chain
problems. Personally, the area that excites me most is track and
trace — especially when you consider the possibility of taking these
capabilities to the next level.
Let us take a step back and look at the current supply chain processes and their evolution.
Packing slip, paper ASN
Advance
Shipment Notices (ASNs) are sent in advance to let the receiver know
what products or deliveries are hitting the facility. This allows the
receiver to do a few things better including:
- Preparing labor to receive the product.
- Plan for order allocation and fulfillment.
- Effectively plan the supply and demand to run the corporate supply chain optimally and efficiently without huge spikes.
- Raise awareness in advance of potential exceptions.
In
the past, supply chain partners shared packing slips via fax.
Information sharing in this manner, although labor intensive, was worth
it because it resulted in collective benefit. It was a step in the right
direction. However, the human element and the vagaries of fax
technology made it a slow and error prone process.
This
first step provided a concrete example of the benefits of sharing
information. In many cases, it created a new mindset. Even though many
partners were competitors, collaboration provided a win/win.
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