IN BLOCKCHAIN WE TRUST: TRILOGY ARTICLE 1: OVERVIEW

Blockchain? What does it have to do with lubes, chemicals and machines? Its solves the transparency and trust gaps for manufactures.

Blockchain is set to make every transaction transparent and permanent: It is a super sophisticated ledger database, decentralized and not owned by anyone; it will hold every piece of info on every item produced on the planet: its full history, and its’ components; it will connect everything, in a secured, cloud-based, never changeable, un-hackable way.

In Blockchain We Trust: Trilogy Navigation Page is HERE

For example: If you are not sure where exactly is your prior placed order at any given point of a process: while still being produced or in transit; or let’s suppose you are concerned if a lubricant is truly NSF registered, or an automotive part is approved by an OEM; or a production site is AS 9100 certified: Blockchain technology is what you need to address any transparency or trust related gaps, as mentioned above, since it is a decentralized platform that run exactly as programmed without any chance of fraud, censorship or third-party interference.

And indeed, I am 100% convinced that Blockchain will solve the trust issues we all have, but first let’s learn more about this technology:

The first manifestation of Blockchain was in the mid-90s, and more recent in 2008 in the digital currency (cryptocurrency) such as bitcoin and Ethereum, which, incidentally was created by a cryptographic community of experts. According to SAP, Blockchain is a “network node compiles various transactions together in a block, generates a hash from them, and releases it with a time stamp. Each block contains the hash from the previous block, thereby forming a chain: the blockchain” (SAP, 2017).

Or in other words, blockchain is a chain of blocks that traces transactions and assets. It is a distributed ledger technology that enables the creation of a record of transactions, shared with multiple participants in a business network. The system doesn’t require that companies change the way they are doing things, only a single step needs to be added to put their data into the blockchain. The best benefit is that blockchain enables end-to-end traceability and transparency, enabling end-users to “see the full story” of their products or transactions right on their smart phones. 

Blockchain is a continuously updated record of who holds what, it is an automated trust, the trust that is inherently built in systems.

Blockchain & Manufacturing: As I have mentioned above, we all know that tracing products may be easy at a lot # level, but to tie it to all the previous steps, all the way to vendor supplied components and their lot numbers, further overlaying that with specific approvals that may exist and, then, combine with the associated documents, can involve a massive amount of diligence. Often such needs of traceability can arise with complaints, which can become costly without the proper information.

Blockchain, enables the seamlessness of sharing a constantly updated, single source of the truth: these are some of the digital technology’s primary strengths. Blockchain stores every single follow-on action by the parties who have played a role in sourcing, producing, transporting, installing, trading and reselling products. No need for human intervention to validate and reconcile the data. Importantly, the blockchain technology also could help to keep track of software updates and avert sabotage and potential damage from cyberattacks.

Although, as an emerging technology, blockchain is greatly promising, it is not a panacea today because it’s currently in its infancy and needs further development which however is occurring at an exponential pace. Some even bring up privacy concerns, which are presently driving a great deal of the thinking around the management of information. Therefore, blockchain solution that is considerate of privacy, but provides transparency for the relevant parties, would be beneficial to the industry as a whole.

But, the good news is that after several years in relative obscurity, blockchain’s adoption is growing in our industry, and several oil, food, and automotive organizations are already exploring the proof of the concepts to assess the potential value.

My main argument to promote blockchain technology, is that in our industry, aside from traceability, we all need to have a more holistic snapshot, transparency, connectivity, automation and the most up-to-date solution. These too are major benefits of blockchain - since it is decentralized and is simply a chain of data — not a software or a program, thus, it does not become outdated. Plus: there is no chance of not using this technology: I have seen tenders and RFQs, where usage of blockchain is a requirement already. 

What do you think guys? Have you considered the blockchain technology for your business? Which other decentralized type of technologies have you used?

Please don’t forget to read and share the remaining two parts of my Blockchain Trilogy:

Article 0: Navigation Page

Article 2: Use Cases & New Business Models

Article 3: How to Start With Blockchain

All literature references are listed in the Navigation Page

Please feel free to share this article and let me know your thoughts, with your comments. Also, please click here and subscribe to my monthly updates

DISCLAIMER

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer. Information presented is publicly available.

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Thank you for reading my post! Here, at LinkedIn, I regularly write about cutting edge ideas in sales excellence, performance improvements and lubricants. My biggest passion is to help empower people to perform at their highest potential. I want to thank you for reading this article, but more so, my 15,000 plus followers who have been instrumental in my own success; I am extremely grateful for your time and for the lessons you all have been sharing with me on LinkedIn. I truly hope my articles will help you too. Good luck with your initiatives! If you would like to read my regular posts - please click 'Follow' and/or send me a LinkedIn invite. Don't forget to click here and subscribe to my updates.

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Sincere Regards,

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