Page 37 - ETP-April-May2020

BLOCK CHAIN

Applications in Supply Chain

Block chain can enable direct interaction among various parties in a supply
chain, establishing program driven trust and eliminating intermediaries.

By Dr. Pranjal Kumar Phukan

he supply chain industry proving the source, and
consists of several non- differentiating it from a
trusting parties interact- fake.
Ting with each other, ex- Similarly, in agri-
changing a humongous amount of culture, produce can
information through documents. be tracked from farm
The application of Block chain to to fork, and IoT tech-
the supply chain industry promises nology can be used to
a huge benefit in terms of stream- monitor storage condi-
lining of operations, speedy and ef- tions like temperature
ficient processes, and elimination of to ensure it is not spoilt
time, effort- and money-consuming along the way. IBM & Maersk led nomic impact can be felt in three to
paperwork. consortium Travelens, Walmart Led five years.
Block chain can enable direct consortium Food Trust and Sam-
interaction among various parties sung & port of Rotterdam consor- Initiatives in India
in a supply chain, establishing pro- tium Deliver have made substantial The following are the Block chain
gram driven trust and eliminating progress in the recent past to create a applications being implemented in
intermediaries. One example could cross border, multi-party block chain India currently:
be the tracking of refrigerated goods systems in the Supply Chain and Lo- • Land records - APCRDA is im-
by recording the temperature across gistics domain. plementing DLT for recording
the value chain with the help of IoT Land registration. This is being
devices. Further, the movement of Block chain in implemented by ZEBI, a Hy-
goods from the manufacturer to the Manufacturing derabad based company.
end consumer, along with the vari- A lot of activity in Block chain tech- • University certificate- Zebi is
ous parameters associated with the nology is centred on financial appli- also implementing Block chain
goods, can be tracked on a live basis cations, asset tracking, and supply based certificate management
with IoT sensors and devices tagged chain. The application of a frame- for 35 Universities/ Colleges in
to the goods. This will further help work to identify various aspects in Karnataka &AP.
in the elimination of fake products the manufacturing sector gives us an • Unsolicited Commercial Com-
as their ownership can be traced. idea of the segments that are amena- munication tracking: Tech Ma-
In the pharmaceutical industry, ble to the application of Block chain hindra along with Microsoft &
it would be possible to track the technology. The activities that may IBM has implemented a DLT
movement of a medicine strip across see strong benefits from Block chain solution for registering cus-
the value chain - from the manufac- technology are mostly in the proof tomer preferences and tracking
turer to the last distribution point - of concept stage, and their real eco- customer complaints about the
UCC. All the telecom com-
panies and TRAI along with
“IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL approved Third party service
INDUSTRY, IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE providers and approved Tele- The Economic Times POLYMERS | April-May 2020
TO TRACK THE MOVEMENT OF A marketers are sharing the data
MEDICINE STRIP ACROSS THE VALUE of the preferences recorded &
CHAIN - FROM THE MANUFACTURER violations as per complaints by
TO THE LAST DISTRIBUTION POINT - customers. Any cellular service
PROVING THE SOURCE, AND DIFFERENTIATING IT provider unable to block such
FROM A FAKE.” UCC calls will be heavily fined.
• Some of the states have started

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