DC Velocity - November 2017

AS ANYONE WHO HAS ATTENDED ONE OF THE COUNCIL OF Supply Chain Management Professionals’ (CSCMP) annual conferences can attest, that’s where you go to get schooled. For example, at this year’s “CSCMP Edge” conference in Atlanta, attendees could choose from 100-plus educational sessions on topics ranging from supply chain finance and leadership to trucking regulations.

That’s not to say all of those subjects commanded equal attention,
however. As is often the case at these conferences, there was one topic
Why is blockchain so hot right now? Part of the explanation lies in
the technology’s mystique. Even with all the press
on the subject over the last two years, it’s been a
long time since we’ve seen a topic so often discussed,
yet so poorly understood. The most common ques-
tions seemed to be “What is it?” followed by “What
does it do?” Although those questions are simple
enough, the answers are not. I attended a session
at the conference titled “Blockchain 101,” hoping
to enhance my own understanding, but came away
knowing only slightly more than I did before I went
in. It doesn’t help that the technology is based on
the same complicated mathematical functions that
brought us Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital cur-
rencies—subjects that can be even more confusing
than blockchain.

As for what it does, proponents say blockchain can increase visibility in the supply chain (as well as other functions) by breaking each movement down into a “block” and documenting the transactions every time a shipment changes hands. Linking the blocks together creates a record of the details of each movement, and every party to the transaction has access to the information. An independent third party records and validates the information, and no party can amend anything without validation by the other members of the chain. Blockchain supporters claim that this visibility will save time, reduce costs and risk, and promote trust among the parties. Some go so far as to say it is as significant as the invention of double-entry bookkeeping. Skeptics suggest that it seems to be touted most often by vendors who stand to profit from its implementation.