industry 4.0 Issue no 10 - April 2019
blockchain
IBM launched IBM Blockchain Platform in March 2017. Hailed as the most secure enterprise-ready Blockchain services for Hyperledger Fabric, it launched on IBM Cloud. It was the first commercial deployment of opensource Hyperledger Fabric and IBM hopes to create open, integral business networks through its deployment. One such initiative is the IBM Food Trust network. This uses Blockchain technology to create unprecedented visibility and accountability in the food supply chain. It is the only network of its kind, connecting growers, processors, distributors, and retailers through a permissioned, permanent and shared record of food system data.
It launched commercially in October 2018 and is currently being piloted by some of the largest global retailers and suppliers, including Nestlé, Dole, Carrefour and Walmart. “This is not something abstract,” says Ratakonda. “It’s happening in the market already. You can see the whole provenance of a food item.”
What Are the Opportunities for Manufacturers? The Food Trust network illuminates a key opportunity for all manufacturers: Blockchain is an ideal fit with solutions for demonstrating trusted traceability and provenance. “These days, the supply chain has become truly global. Goods trade hands many times. With that, comes the possibility that bad actors can enter the supply chain,” continues Ratakonda. “Whether they do it intentionally or unintentionally, how do you know when someone is introducing bad quality food into the supply chain? Without the ability to trace information in a secure manner, you are relying on each of these parties’ record keeping abilities. Blockchain turns that around: the onus is not on individual participants but, rather, the network itself will maintain the record of where each item came from.” The other key benefit is the universality. Participants within the same trading network may start using a variety of different systems to records date, from Excel spreadsheets or an MES system for their recordkeeping or no system at all. Blockchain offers a common model of how the data is shared and how the provenance is recorded. 18
“At present you will never get the level of traceability you need because data often remains in siloes,” says Ratakonda. “Blockchain fundamentally changes that equation.” With Permissioned Blockchain, IBM envisions that the model will be similar to how other networks operate. Small farmers aren’t going to build up the infrastructure to run their own Blockchain node. Ratakonda explains, “We’re playing the role of network operator, but we don’t operate the nodes. The network is openly governed by a governance council of members that can make sure that any bad actors in the system are disabled. In the true Blockchain spirit, the larger participants take on the responsibility of making sure the network itself is healthy; that there are enough people who have copies of the transactions to make sure that you can trust the data on the network. Each participant on the network owns their own data and can control who sees it and what gets shared.”
