Samsung is commonly known as one of the world’s biggest smartphone and TV producers, yet this aspect doesn’t stop the South Korean giant from actively looking into blockchain technology, and how they can leverage it both for its inner operations and customer base.
With this in mind, recent reports indicate that Samsung is working on a distributed ledger platform, which would help it better keep track and process its global shipments, worth tens of billions of dollars on a yearly basis. According to Samsung’s informational, technology and logistical arm, Samsung SDS Co., the blockchain-based system may cut shipping costs by more than 20%.
Once adopted, Samsung’s supply chain management blockchain system, would actively keep track of where its shipments are in the world, and their shipping stage. However, the great reduction in costs comes from the fact that the interaction with custom authorities would be made much easier. Therefore, Samsung will no longer need to spend time and money for customs-related paperwork, and coordination with port authorities. It has been reported that the documentation costs for container shipments are nearly twice as big when compared to the actual transportation costs.
Samsung SDS expects to handle around 488,000 tons worth of air cargo, and 1 million 20-feet shipping units this year. As shipment sizes continue to increase, the new system would bring about numerous other benefits. One such example is a considerably-reduced waiting time for customers, who will no longer have to spend weeks or months waiting for products to be shipped, following the release announcement. In other words, if adopted by next year, the upcoming Galaxy S10 line of products may be available for purchase and delivery immediately after the product announcement.
Apart from what has already been outlined, the supply chain management system will maximize supply visibility and efficiency, thus leading to better customer confidence, according to Cheong Tae-su, who is an industrial engineering professor at the Korea University in Seoul.
At this moment in time, blockchain technology hasn’t really disrupted the corporate market, or helped make massive savings. However, this is mostly due to the fact that blockchain-based systems are either in development, or beta-testing stages. According to a research firm, blockchain-based businesses will create over $176 billion in value by the year of 2025.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what are your thoughts on Samsung creating their very own supply chain management system based on blockchain technology? Let us know your thoughts!