The Institute for Supply Management is the largest not-for-profit professional supply management organization in the world, and their members are increasingly examining the capabilities of blockchain technology within their supply chains, what the benefits are and how to achieve them. Unibright took this as an opportunity to work with them and explain what the benefits of blockchain within supply chains are and how to achieve them.
Unibright CTO Stefan Schmidt has extensive knowledge of ERP systems and experience working with companies within the supply chain industry through his previous work with SPO Consulting. There are proven advantages to using an ERP software system; eliminating repetitive processes and streamlining business processes. It is evident from this webinar that Stefan believes that Blockchain is the next step in removing some of the remaining inefficiencies within supply chains.
The Poll results for the question “When do you expect Blockchain to be applicable to your company?” are interesting and we can see that the majority of companies are not aware or fully aware of what Blockchain is, let alone what the potential benefits of Blockchain.
What does it tell us? That is still really early in this space, especially for enterprise-focused Cryptocurrencies like Unibright. This level of interest from groups as large as ISM is significant; ISM has over 50,000 members and their research arm CAPS serves supply management leaders at Fortune 600 and Global 1000 member companies.
The Potential Use cases – Integrating alongside existing processes
The most interesting parts of the presentation were the explanations and examples of how companies that are actually using the Unibright Framework and Blockchain technology alongside their existing ERP systems. For each of the given companies Stefan highlights how they have transitioned from no integration (nothing automated, not linked up, manual) to Partially Integrated (ERP based, still lacks automation of some aspects and manual steps are still needed) to Fully Integrated (Blockchain automates some or all of the aspects that previously were not).
Multiparty Approval – Approval Process for Jewellery Design
Batch Tracing – Tracing Batches of a bottled Beer
Asset Life Cycle – Quality control of Fireproof Materials
Summary
For me, there are two clear messages from this presentation:
- Blockchain has the capability of improving efficiencies within supply chains. It is not a magic bullet, it is not meant to replace existing systems. It is meant to work alongside them, achieving that extra 5 or 10% gain in efficiency.
- While awareness of Blockchain is growing, many still do not fully realize the benefits it can bring, and how they can implement the technology successfully to their advantage. Further education is still needed if Blockchains potential is to be fully realized by businesses.
UBT token holders will be pleased to hear that Unibright is following up on their Roadmap and leading the way in Blockchain education for business, and getting their name out there as a leading Blockchain integration company. As a final thought, Stefan highlights previously “Hyped” business technology; “The Cloud” and “Virtual Servers”. These have both proved to be invaluable tools for business. If you follow this link you can watch the webinar in full, for free.
