3 Ways Blockchain Enables Traceability In The Consumer Product Supply Chain

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When you purchase some coffee beans from your local grocery store or order a pair of trainers from Amazon.com, you probably don’t consider all of the effort that went into the manufacture of that product. It involved the extraction of numerous materials and ingredients, which were then shipped to a factory for processing, being shipped out to distribution centers, and from there shipped out again to the end retailer. 

The global supply chain is an intricate system that’s used to gather the materials, produce the products and get them into the hands of customers. It has benefited from an immense amount of technology that enabled it to become so complex, and now it’s adding yet another new innovation. 

By combining blockchain with sensors, RFID tags and novel Datamatrix codes, we now have an extremely efficient and accurate way to keep track of products as they move through the different stages of the supply chain. We can understand what their condition was at each stage, such as its temperature, the humidity and the vibrations it was subjected to. This information can be stored immutably on the blockchain, allowing everyone to understand the source of the product and its condition. 

Through its partnership with IBM, the consumer rewards app Shping is now able to offer consumers comprehensive and accurate information about the origin and journey of thousands of different products bought at supermarkets, local stores and other retailers. 

Shping is making use of IBM Food Trust, a blockchain-based platform that’s designed to track and trace products from hundreds of global brands. It