Supply chain transparency in the automotive sector is neither clear-cut nor easily attained, thanks to the hundreds of different suppliers involved with taking a vehicle from the raw material stage to the final, drivable product. Even Henry Ford himself—who strove for the ultimate in simplicity when establishing the company’s original manufacturing line—would be amazed by the complexities of the modern-day auto manufacturing supply chain.
Fortunately, technology has come a long way since the first production Model T Ford rolled out of the company’s Detroit plant in 1908. Fast-forward to 2019, and advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and blockchain are beginning to prove themselves as viable supply chain transparency tools.
Blockchain is one advancement that’s already making some waves in procurement circles. In April,Minespers宣布that it would start working with Volkswagen to use blockchain to help improve the manufacturer’s lead supply chain. “Minespider and Volkswagen are working together to make procurement both more transparent and secure,” the company said in a press release, adding that blockchain allows participants to trace the supply chain from the point of origin to the factory.
“Sustainability in the supply chain is one of our top priorities,” Volkswagen’s Marco Philippi said in the release. “We see blockchain technology as part of the solution to ensure compliance with environmental and social standards along the entire supply chain.”
Why Blockchain, and Why Now?
An open,distributed ledger that can record transactionsbetween two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way, blockchain comprises a list of records, or “blocks,” that are linked together using cryptography. By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the data, making the technology more reliable than traditional means of sharing data and information across business partners.
在大众汽车的情况下，最初的区块链飞行员的目标是与供应商和子供应商合作，这些供应商和子供应商占公司总铅启动器电池总电池需求的三分之二以上。Minespers表示，大众汽车的最终目标是“确保其所有原材料都以社会和环保的方式采购”。
使用Minespider’s blockchain technology, for example, Volkswagen will be able to track the origin of its raw materials and present a complete chain of custody from certified mine to end manufacturer. The company uses nested encryption to ensure a company’s data remains private on a public blockchain.
Minespster在新闻稿中解释说，数字“证书”是在经过认证的矿物质来源（即矿山或回收商）中创建的，然后将其与公司的公钥进行加密，并发布在公共可访问的数据库中。
“As mineral shipments are sold, responsible data of the new owner is added to the certificate which is re-encrypted with the public key of the new owner, creating a layered encryption like a Russian doll,” the company states. “This ensures that only the owner is able to access the supply chain data, even though it is in a verifiable, immutable public data store, enabling supply chain transparency without sacrificing data security.”
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Expect more manufacturers to follow Volkswagen’s path by integrating blockchain technology into their supply chain transparency efforts—with a particular focus on mining. For example, Ford Motor Co., has teamed with IBM, China’s Huayou Cobalt, and LG Chem to use blockchain to trace and verify ethically sourced cobalt, one of the minerals used in the lithium-ion batteries that power laptops and electric cars,Bloomberg报告。
Stefan Nicola写道：“坦塔尔姆（Tantalum），锡，钨和黄金经常在采矿业术语中分组为3TG，对工业经济至关重要，在从智能手机到喷气机的高科技产品中使用。”“使用区块链来帮助打冲突矿物。”“But these conflict minerals, as they’re known, frequently follow a sketchy path from mine to factory, coming from mines whose profits flow to violent militias, criminals, and even terrorists.”
