CHICAGO, April 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- NextGen Supply Chain
Conference -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced, that
its global supply chain transformation has won a 2019 NextGen
Supply Chain Leadership Award for the innovative use of
blockchain and IoT. The distinction recognizes the world's first
enterprise computer hardware partnership using these disruptive
technologies to achieve end-to-end supply chain security. Using IBM
Blockchain and IoT, IBM's supply chain improved traceability and
single source-of-truth to each network partner to improve product
authentication and reduce warranty costs.
IBM's supply chain organization manages the critical supply
chain operations of engineering, logistics, manufacturing, and
sales transaction support. It digitized physical assets such as
hard disk drives, while registering asset transactions throughout
the product life cycle into an immutable shared ledger using
blockchain and IoT as part of this award-winning initiative. One
key project began as a Proof-of-Concept in 2018 between IBM and
Seagate Technology, which came to a successful conclusion in
March 2019. Both companies are now
working toward a potential pilot deployment that may be expanded to
include more suppliers.
"Industry 4.0 is an end-to-end industrial transformation, in
which mastering the 21st century digital supply chain –
enabled by blockchain, IoT, and AI technologies – is a critical
success factor for enterprises to gain a competitive business
advantage," said Ron Castro, VP of
Supply Chain, IBM. "With these innovative technologies
revolutionizing the entire supply chain by lowering transactional
costs and accelerating processes, harnessing their transformative
power is imperative for executives to build transparent,
intelligent and predictive supply chains at scale.
IBM's supply chain transformation initiative contained three
separate, yet complimentary project use cases to make a positive
business impact as blockchain was infused into IBM's supply chain.
The three application cases include:
- Parts Provenance – The initial impact for this
blockchain application in IBM's supply chain included GDPR risk
mitigation, improved compliance for data erasure, product
authenticity, and reduced part and shipping costs. This encompassed
capturing parts data as they proceed through the supply chain from
suppliers and system integrator to customer.
- Internet of Things (IoT) – The Supply Chain IoT
Blockchain project focused on improving products lifecycle
traceability in IBM's complex global supply chain. This resulted in
an increase in product traceability, while also achieving
improvement on cost avoidance for parts provenance. By equipping
each inbound and outbound shipment asset with an IoT enabled
tracking device to provide near-real-time visibility of assets,
IBM's supply chain can predict each asset's behavior to reduce the
risk or loss or damage liability.
- Customs Declaration – IBM's supply chain group focused
on improving efficiencies by decreasing compliance risks during
import and export processes, while reducing delays and stoppages in
supply chain logistics with improved data integrity and improved
visibility of assets within the network. With the shared ledger in
IBM's supply chain accessible to each key stakeholder involved in
the customs declaration process and automated interfacing of data
to customs' system, time and cost savings were achieved in the
logistics and customs process.
"The success of IBM's initiative can enable extremely
effective confirmation of provenance and authenticity of assets,
while optimizing security and efficiencies by simplifying and
accelerating documentation exchanges between supply chain partners,
" said John Morris, Vice President
and Chief Technology Officer, Seagate Technology. "Additionally, it
potentially increases productivity by eliminating redundant
processes, while helping to strengthen regulatory compliance and
build trust among all key stakeholders."
IBM's Vice President of Supply Chain, Ron Castro, presented his 2019 NextGen Supply Chain Conference
keynote titled, Applying Augmented Intelligence (A.I.),
Blockchain and Predictive Analytics to Expand End-to-End Visibility
and Improve Operational Efficiency on
Tuesday, April 16 from 10:15 –
11:15 a.m. CT.
About IBM Watson Supply Chain
A world leader in AI software, services and technology for
business, IBM has deployed Watson
solutions in thousands of engagements with clients across 20
industries and 80 countries. IBM Watson Supply Chain enables
forward thinking supply chain business professionals to improve
business outcomes by providing AI-powered insights, B2B
collaboration and orchestration that mitigates operational impact
and business risk. For more information visit:
https://www.ibm.com/supply-chain
Contacts:
Erik Mason
External Communications – IBM Watson Customer Engagement
erik.mason@ibm.com
508-208-6617
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SOURCE IBM