Blockchain's Impact on Trade - Trust, Efficiency and Growth

Today's main business challenges are, reducing the negative environmental impact of industrial production while protecting consumers' budgets, and achieving global growth with new stakeholders.

To achieve these objectives, we need to streamline how we do business.

By transforming the supply chain into a secure and digital infrastructure, businesses gain valuable insights that reveal current inefficiencies.

Digital traceability fueled by tamper-proof blockchain builds trust and transparency across supply chains.

This opens doors for new stakeholders, while automated compliance checks and smart contracts ensure all suppliers uphold financial and environmental responsibility, minimizing risk for global operations.

A digital, autonomously regulated, and secure supply chain might be science fiction for some. For others, it's the only way to run a global business.

Real-life applications across industries like agriculture, energy, automotive, transportation, oil & plastics, aerospace & defense, and logistics can illuminate the feasibility and potential impact of this transformative vision. The already-existing examples below, helped me understand the new business mindset and how a digitally efficient infrastructure helps unlock new markets and global growth.

Mastercard - GrainChain collaboration (Agricultural Supply Chain Optimization Usecase)

GrainChain Inc has recently partnered with 萬事達卡 to bring the Mastercard Provenance Solution to the Central American market. The solution fosters transparency and traceability by establishing a digital record of all commodity data.

The collaboration between GrainChain and Mastercard Provenance Solution provides end-to-end visibility throughout the supply chain, allowing participants to track commodities securely from raw materials to harvest and processing, through logistics, and all the way to consumer delivery. This ensures that commodities are tracked through tamper-proof methods at every stage. As a result, brands and producers protect consumers environmentally and financially, while enhancing brand reputation, business efficiency, and profitability.

Ford - Everledger collaboration (Energy storage, Car Manufacturing Usecase)

Everledger provides transparency by tracking the origin of niche items such as diamonds, batteries, and insurance. This enables verification of where the products originated and the stages they have gone through. By reducing the risk of fraud, it supports efficient financial and environmental collaborations between consumers and sellers.

In 2019, Everledger received Stage 1 funding from the US Department of Energy to track the lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries using blockchain and IoT technologies. In its initial battery recycling project, Everledger connected stakeholders in the lifecycle of electric vehicle batteries with 福特 , focusing on environmentally and financially efficient management and responsible recycling. This application continues today.

Toyota EVTOL - SyncFab collaboration (Space and Aviation Usecase)

SyncFab is a California-based startup that supports NPI and OEM part production supply to increase efficiency in supply chain management. Companies operating in fields such as experimental aircraft, spacecraft, autonomous cars, and drones use the already blockchain-powered SyncFab to enhance security in the supply chain and reduce product recalls, counterfeit products, and intellectual property theft.

Previously, we looked into Toyota Ventures investment eVTOL in our #CVC analysis. EVTOL was struggling to find an #aluminum supplier for prototyping parts. The parts had to meet strict ITAR compliance regulations, and delivery times had to be only two weeks. Limited supplier connections and the absolute precision required in the aviation sector further complicated matters. SyncFab platform offered a solution by matching eVTOL with a specialized and ITAR-compliant supplier from its pre-approved supplier network. The platform accelerated the communication and the ordering process, enabling the supply team to place orders efficiently and securely. SyncFab's blockchain infrastructure also ensured that prototypes met not only the ambitious two-week delivery time but also the high-quality standards required for eVTOL development.

OpenPort - Engro Foods collaboration (FMCG and Food Retail Management Usecase)

OpenPort is a mobile platform that provides services in corporate supply chain management, designed for emerging markets. The platform aims to reduce costs, improve performance, and increase supply chain efficiency through direct connections between freight forwarders and carriers, facilitated by blockchain technology.

Engro Corp , one of Pakistan's leading food suppliers, faced challenges in its supply chain due to the changing structure of the fast-moving consumer goods market and the increasing population. With over 12 million consumers served daily, the company addressed these issues with OpenPort.

The main difficulty faced by the group company Engro Foods was the manual tracking of physical and transit logistics, making it difficult to obtain a comprehensive view. With OpenPort's supply chain management solution (TMS) and live #BI dashboard panels, the entire transportation fleet became fully visible, resulting in increased environmental and financial efficiency in logistics planning and other operations.

UPS - Inxeption collaboration (Mobility, Transportation, Shipping Usecase)

INXEPTION supports companies in digitizing their procurement and operations through its digital marketplace. Instant purchasing, shipment tracking, flexible financing, and reliable nationwide delivery options are key features of the platform.

In 2017, the American logistics giant 美国联合包裹服务 partnered with the e-commerce platform startup Inxeption to create a Blockchain-based platform called Inxeption Zippy.

Inxeption Zippy streamlines the supply chain process for business-to-business (B2B) commerce, making it secure and seamless. By automating various supply chain processes such as order management, inventory tracking, and payment reconciliation, Inxeption Zippy reduces the risk of fraud and increases trust among trading partners through secure record-keeping, verification, and approval.

BHP - MineHub collaboration (Mining and Construction Usecase)

Founded in 2018, MineHub Technologies offers a B2B digital trading platform that brings efficiency, security, and responsibility to mining and metal supply chains. MineHub connects various stakeholders involved in physical raw material trading through a digital workflow based on shared information, thereby enhancing environmental and financial efficiency.

BHP , a multinational mining and natural gas company based in Australia, began working with MineHub in 2022 to digitize mineral supply chain processes. MineHub ensures that significant data points at every stage of the mineral supply journey are securely and immutably recorded.

The transparency provided by MineHub has helped prevent fraud, reduce disputes, and ensure compliance with responsible supply practices. The platform has been able to automate various supply chain processes such as trade documents, approvals, and payments. With the provided automation, operations have been expedited, paperwork reduced, and environmental and financial efficiency increased.

Powerledger - Mytilineos Holdings (Energy Trading, Renewable Energy Usecase)

Powerledger , founded in 2016, develops software solutions for tracking, monitoring, and trading renewable energy. It focuses on providing secure trading infrastructure for individuals to sell energy to each other. In 2018, while we were working with Borusan EnBW Enerji , we partnered the company with the startup Blok-Z to address a similar need. However, the Turkish market, despite being technologically competent, was not conducive in terms of competition and regulation.

Powerledger, succeeded with a similar solution and started creating value in markets like Greece and Australia. In Australia, Powerledger has created "microgrids" by connecting loads and distributed energy resources. For consumers, such infrastructure enables energy independence and earning income from renewable energy. For companies, it means having an infrastructure where they can commercially share their energy production with the market.

Another successful case by Powerledger comes from its collaboration with Metlen Energy & Metals , to provide clean energy PPA tracking and smart energy supply solutions for the first time in Greece. With the Powerledger platform, MYTILINEOS customers can track the source of their energy almost in real-time. They can also see their carbon footprint in detailed intervals of 5-15 minutes.

Through the partnership with the startup, the Greek company also offers smart solutions such as green energy tracking and price optimization for electric vehicle charging points.

Conclusion

These cases prove that blockchain solutions have made a difference for some companies by increasing environmental and financial efficiency in competition. To demonstrate that this change is not limited to just one market, I have compiled examples from Greece, Pakistan, Australia, South and North America.

The fact that blockchain improves efficiency in the supply chain does not mean that every company will immediately switch to this infrastructure. For such a significant change, there needs to be meaningful demand by the specific market.

The demand may arise from global trade and competition conditions, global regulations, or sometimes from consumers' need for more competitive solutions.

In short, wherever there is meaningful competition, there is innovation.