The rise of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry has been evident in recent years. Despite being a niche technology ignored by many, blockchain has soared to twenty-twenty.
BMW, the German automotive manufacturer, became the latest company to hop on the blockchain bandwagon with the launch of its own supply chain management solution called ‘PartChain.’ The new innovation aims to use DLT to ensure transparency and traceability of components and raw materials in BMW’s car manufacturing processes.
The car-maker revealed that PartChain will be released in partnership with ten of its major suppliers. BMW believed that adopting new technologies was the way to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world. PartChain will enable tamper-proof and consistently verifiable collection and transaction of data in BMW’s supply chain.
The company’s streamlining process ethos was seen here as well after BMW’s assurance that PartChain can work more or less “at the push of a button”. The pilot project will focus solely on part tracking of cars manufactured at BMW plants.Andreas Wendt, a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG had said:
“In 2019, we conducted a successful pilot project for purchasing front lights. This year, we want to expand the project to a large number of other suppliers. This move is designed to take the digitalization of purchasing at the BMW Group to the next level. Our vision is to create an open platform that will allow data within supply chains to be exchanged and shared safely and anonymized across the industry.”
PartChain will use cloud-based technologies such as Amazon Web Services in addition to blockchain solutions. This was done to create a robust ecosystem that can address multiple problems and come up with solutions simultaneously. BMW had launched a pilot project in 2019 which involved 31 of its native plants.
BMW reasoned that international supply chains were getting highly complex and the integration of blockchain technology was a necessary step in the right direction. At the moment, supply chain processes involved numerous players and multiple delivery stages.
Using blockchain technology, BMW will be able to carry out changes to its network without disturbing the sanctity of the entire process. Problems such as communication gaps and escalation errors can also be eradicated by PartChain’s capabilities.
PartChain is also set to take the digitization of purchasing at the BMW Group to the next level. The organization wants to create an open platform where the origin of car components can be tracked between all participating partners without the risk of manipulation. With this idea, BMW is set to bring in more members to its already burgeoning client list.