Samsung Ready to Adopt Blockchain for Supply Chain Management

Samsung’s interest in blockchain technology isn’t recent news, given the fact that the company has been actively working on a wide variety of blockchain-based projects, both for its internal operations and its customers.

Now, reports indicate that Samsung is considering using the technology to better manage its massive global supply chain. With this in mind, the ledger system that the Korean giant may implement would help it better keep track of its global shipments, worth billions. Samsung’s logistical, technology and informational arm, known as SDS, has made a statement outlining how the system would be able to cut shipping costs by around 20%.

So far, numerous massive corporations such as Samsung have considered adopting blockchain technology, yet Samsung looks very serious in its plans, and would likely be the first company of its size, to switch to a fully blockchain-based supply chain tracking system. According to Song Kwang-woo, the vice-president of SDS, “It will have an enormous impact on the supply chains of manufacturing industries (…) Blockchain is a core platform to fuel our digital transformation.”

The benefits associated with using blockchain technology in the shipping industry have been reported to be vast. Based on this, the technology can drastically cut the time needed to process paperwork with custom authorities. For instance, the documentation costs associated with container-based shipping have been estimated to be twice as big when compared to the actual shipping cost. This is especially relevant, since Samsung SDS is likely to process over 488,000 tons of air cargo and 1 million 20-foot shipping units this year alone. Not only this, but it is also believed that a blockchain-based supply chain system would make products readily available following announcements. This means that customers won’t have to wait weeks, or even months, following a product release, before they can make their purchase and receive the item.

Blockchain technology impact on corporations has been fairly limited so far, as most companies are just beta-testing systems, and only a few have actually implemented the technology into their daily, inner operations. A study made by Gartner Inc., has predicted that by 2025, blockchain-related businesses will create a value of $176 billion.