What is a supply chain?
A supply chain is the list of steps a service, product, or commodity goes through before reaching the final customer base.
These steps vary in number for different productions.
The supply chain includes everything from sourcing the raw materials to their preparation and manipulation in factories and other establishments.
Supply Chain Explanation | Source: Investopedia
Once a finished product is ready, the supply chain continues with distribution and sales.
Distribution of the product can be local, national, or international, but all of the endpoints where this product will go are part of the supply chain.
Lastly, the supply chain involves any third-party companies that buy the product to resell it.
Deciphering the Complex Web
A supply chain is a detailed roadmap of how a service, product, or commodity makes it from scratch to its final destination in a customer’s home.
Depending on the product, a supply chain can consist of as few as two steps.
However, nowadays, more often than not, supply chains comprise thousands of steps, which makes following the development of a product extremely hard.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
This is where blockchain technology and cryptocurrency come in handy.
Big names in the computer industry like IBM are continuously experimenting with blockchain technology to create seamless supply chains for various businesses and industries.
Security is one of the most essential things blockchain brings to supply chain management.
Distributed ledgers are immutable, meaning that once something is recorded, the information cannot be altered.
This is extremely useful for recording transactions and storing information about sales and purchases.
Revolutionizing Supply Chain Efficiency
Alternatively, cryptocurrency tokens can boost the efficacy of delivery and tracking, another key component of a supply chain.
Non-fungible tokens can be a perfect vehicle to create labels, which are then printed and attached to the goods that need to be delivered.
As each NFT can be unique, items will become highly traceable, and losses across the supply chain will be minimized.
Blockchain technology proves to be highly beneficial when it comes to optimizing supply chains.
Nowadays, with substantial international productions, supply chain management can become an increasingly lengthy process.
Blockchains and crypto tokens can enhance the productivity and security of supply chains to make them more efficient.