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Companies like Walmart, Maersk, and British Airways, however, are utilizing enterprise blockchain applications from IBM and TradeLens to redesign their supply chain and transportation systems. Read on to learn more about how the non Web3 companies are using blockchain technology to improve business processes and decentralize supply chain automation.
How Enterprise Blockchain Emerged
The market for using blockchain as an enterprise-level digital ledger is rapidly expanding worldwide; its worth is estimated to reach an outstanding $27.84 billion in 2024 and then skyrocket to $825.93 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 52.8% (Fortune). The need for enhanced security and fairness of payments in industries such as finance, healthcare, and logistics explains such rapid growth.
Enterprise blockchain solutions offer many business advantages, such as security and trust, transparency and traceability, cost and efficiency, integration and compatibility, and growth and speed. These benefits have seen blockchain expand to almost all business fields; the financial sector alone has invested more than 46% of its resources.
Company Profiles: Corporate Blockchain Solutions in Action
Retail giants like Walmart showcase how these benefits translate into real-world efficiency. Now, we’ll examine the success stories of three leading companies that adopted enterprise blockchain and their advantages.
Walmart: Supply Chain Management Redefined
The most visible example of a blockchain application is Walmart, a retail company that is one of the leaders in implementing this technology. Walmart is using decentralized technology to improve product tracking and the supply chain with the support of IBM, reducing traceability times to 2.2 seconds for specific products.
Application: Meat and poultry products supplied to a Walmart store can be tracked using distributed ledger systems. This system also enables workers and customers to track products back to a particular animal, which makes for unprecedented visibility in the food chain.
Impact on Business Operations:
Enhanced Food Safety: Through fast traceability, Walmart can rapidly track and address potential food safety problems before they erupt and cause harm through foodborne illness and product recalls.
Improved Efficiency: The blockchain system reduces product tracking time from days to a few seconds.
Increased Consumer Trust: Increasing transparency in the supply chain creates better customer perceptions of Walmart's products, which is usually followed by patronage and increased sales.
Cost Reduction: Walmart reduces operating costs by automating repetitive supply chain activities, previously reliant on manual validation.
Walmart's implementation of an innovative blockchain system proves that this technology will revolutionize the entire supply chain, especially the retail industry.
Maersk: Streamlining Global Shipping
Maersk, the global market leader in container shipping, has joined hands with IBM to establish a new blockchain-based platform known as TradeLens. This idea is meant to disrupt and eliminate existing problems and opacity in the international transport sector.
Application: This system is implemented on TradeLens, establishing an open, permanent, and tamper-proof record of all transactions and movements. Organizations have total shipment control from the place of origin to the destination.
Impact on Business Operations:
Enhanced Visibility: TradeLens enables all participants in the supply chain to access the shipment status and documentation data, increasing efficiency in planning due to the elimination of delays.
Reduced Paperwork: Using TradeLens also reduces the time and money required to complete paperwork in the global supply chain by modernizing and automating various documentation processes.
Improved Security: The opportunity that once a record is written on the blockchain, it becomes virtually impossible to alter it increases the security of shipping information against fraud and manipulation.
Implementing TradeLens through Maersk proves blockchain technology suits complex and globally integrated industries.
British Airways: Improving the Air Transportation Experience
British Airways has deployed blockchain in several operations to increase passengers' satisfaction and minimize organizational activities.
Application: British Airways has deployed a blockchain performance tracking system to control flight data between critical airports. For instance, British Airways' FlightChain project demonstrated blockchain’s ability to reduce operational bottlenecks by creating a single, immutable source of flight data shared across airports. The airline is also piloting passenger identity checks with a blockchain-based VChain Verification Service.
Impact on Business Operations:
Improved Data Management: The main advantage of the blockchain monitoring system is the precise improvement of flight data that positively impacts operational decisions. Through FlightChain, British Airways reduced average data-sharing time between airports by approximately 25%, streamlining operations and improving collaboration.
Enhanced Security: The VChain Verification Service for identifying passengers prevents further sharing personal details with third parties while enhancing passengers' privacy and security.
Streamlined Check-in Process: By matching the travelers' IDs against a database stored on decentralized technology, British Airways can transform the check-in process faster and more efficiently.
Increased Customer Satisfaction: Applying an efficient supply chain and effective data flow processes enhances passenger satisfaction, thus increasing the chances of passengers' loyalty.
British Airways demonstrates how blockchain improves operational efficiency, security, and customer experience in the aviation sector.
Challenges of Corporate Blockchain Adoption
Enterprise blockchain solutions are beneficial, yet companies undergoing these initiatives experience several issues. Among them are the compatibility of one chain with other chains, the need for more policies and legal frameworks, the shortage of experts in Web3 development and blockchain development companies, and the massive capital required. For example, European blockchain systems face compliance challenges with GDPR, which requires strict data privacy measures that can conflict with blockchain’s immutable data storage. The integration of private and public blockchain systems remains a hurdle in supply chains, as proprietary networks tend to lack standardized protocols if access is even possible.
Still, the challenges presented do not prevent the further development of blockchain technology for business processes. According to experts, blockchain-powered solutions will generate $3.1 trillion in economic value by 2030. This is because the technology can increase data security, simplify operations, and lower expenses for companies interested in improving their value proposition.
Final Thoughts
Self-sustainable, efficient, and capable of powering complex deliveries of consumer goods, blockchain is already showing immense potential to revolutionize SCRM, liberalize international shipping, and transform the airport experience for travelers.
With experience and as the problems that define the current state of blockchain are solved, we will likely see more complex applications of the technology in industry. The further development of the field and the current and future investments in decentralized technology imply that the community is still in the starting phase of the necessary changes in business standards.
Organizations that have effectively adopted Web3 solutions can unlock extensive competitive benefits in their operational niches. Since an increasing number of companies have discovered the utility of this technology, blockchain can expect to become an essential technology for enterprises, empowering them with innovations and efficient solutions and boosting the confidence of customers worldwide.