Blockchain is revolutionizing supply chain management and over 70% of supply chain leaders have reported significant improvements from implementing it, according to IBM.^[1] With blockchain, businesses can reduce human error through enhanced transparency, traceability, and automation across global supply chains.
In this post, we‘ll explore 12 case studies of blockchain in supply chains across industries like agriculture, pharmaceuticals, retail, fashion, and more. These real-world examples showcase the technology‘s advantages and provide insights for supply chain digital transformation.
Introduction
Supply chains are complex networks that connect manufacturers, suppliers, transporters, distributors, retailers, and consumers across the production cycle. Data is exchanged between these entities as raw materials or parts are transformed into finished goods and delivered worldwide.
However, traditional supply chains rely on manual, siloed processes across disparate systems. This leads to inefficiencies like:
- Limited transparency and traceability
- Difficulty tracking assets in real-time
- Errors and fraud due to manual data entry
- Lengthy dispute resolutions
- High administrative and transaction costs
Blockchain offers a solution to these challenges through its core features:
- Decentralized ledger – Records transactions transparently and immutably across a distributed network of participants
- Smart contracts – Automate processes and data exchange between parties based on predefined conditions
- Consensus mechanisms – Allow untrusted entities to validate transactions without central authority
- Tokenization – Digital tokens represent assets, goods, or data on the blockchain
By leveraging these capabilities, blockchain brings new levels of visibility, security, automation, and analytics to global supply chains. Next, we‘ll explore 12 case studies of companies across industries using blockchain to transform their supply chain operations and deliver business value.
Agriculture – AgriDigital Grains Supply Chain
Australia-based AgriDigital provides commodity management and supply chain financing solutions for the grains industry. In 2017, AgriDigital launched a blockchain pilot on Australia‘s grain supply chain in partnership with CBH Group, a grain grower cooperative.^[2]
The blockchain platform aimed to digitize grain transactions, automate administrative processes, and provide end-to-end traceability across the supply chain from farmers to end customers. Smart contracts were used for delivery receipts and invoices, linking payment triggers to shipment events.
Over 150,000 tonnes of grain were traded through the pilot across 25 transactions. Benefits included:
- 40% reduction in administrative overheads
- Up to 80% less time spent on disputes
- Complete transparency and auditability
The success of the pilot led AgriDigital to expand the blockchain platform across Australia‘s grains industry.
Cold Chain – Intel Blueberry Tracking
Maintaining optimal temperature conditions is critical for supply chains dealing with perishable items like food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. Deviations can lead to spoilage, recalls, and health risks.
In 2019, Intel collaborated with a major blueberry distributor on a blockchain and IoT solution to track imported blueberries from China through a US cold chain to retailers.^[3]
The system combined:
- IoT sensors in shipping containers measuring location, temperature, humidity, etc.
- Hyperledger Sawtooth enterprise blockchain to record sensor data
- Machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies
It provided end-to-end visibility and accountability across the cold chain lifecycle. Shipments were monitored in real-time to ensure blueberries were kept at optimal temperatures. The blockchain audit trail improved tracing for recalls and prevention of food waste.
Diamond Supply Chain – De Beers Tracr
Fraud is a major issue in luxury goods like diamonds, with consumers demanding ethically-sourced materials. To increase transparency, De Beers launched the Tracr blockchain platform in 2018 for tracking diamonds from mine to retail.^[4]
Each diamond is assigned a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID). Key milestone events like cutting, polishing, and certification are logged on the blockchain as the diamond moves through the value chain.
Tracr brings four key benefits:
- Immutable data – Critical information is logged immutably and securely on the blockchain
- Provenance records – Consumers can access a diamond‘s history via the platform
- Authentication – Retailers can instantly verify a diamond’s authenticity
- Inventory visibility – Suppliers gain real-time insight into product locations
By late 2020, Tracr had tracked over 3 million diamonds and collaborated with retailers like Signet Jewelers and Blue Nile.^[5]
Fashion Apparel – Martine Jarlgaard London
Sustainability and ethics are growing concerns in the fashion industry, but opaque supply chains make it difficult to trace materials and labor sources.
In 2018, London-based designer Martine Jarlgaard showcased a blockchain platform for tracking clothing from raw materials to finished garments at London Fashion Week.^[6] The system logged data including:
- Materials suppliers
- Manufacturing facilities
- Safe working conditions
- Delivery details
Consumers could view a history of the clothing’s journey via QR codes on garment tags. This provided radical transparency into fashion supply chains to verify responsible sourcing practices.
Retail – Walmart Food Safety
Walmart pioneered one of the largest blockchain implementations across its global food supply chain in collaboration with IBM.^[7] By 2018, Walmart was tracking data from over 1 million food items daily using the IBM Food Trust blockchain platform.^[8]
The blockchain captures and shares food provenance data in real-time between suppliers, processors, distributors, and retailers. This includes:
- Farm origination details
- Batch/lot numbers
- Factory and processing data
- Temperature, humidity, etc.
Benefits for Walmart include:
- Faster tracing – Reduced recall times from days to seconds
- Food waste reduction – Better visibility prevents spoilage
- Accountability – Suppliers adhere to compliance standards
- Consumer trust – Shoppers gain transparency into food sources
Walmart is also requiring leafy green suppliers to join the blockchain by 2023.^[9]
Automotive – BMW PartChain
BMW employs over 30,000 suppliers delivering millions of parts globally across its vehicle manufacturing supply chain.^[10] To improve logistics, BMW launched PartChain to track components using blockchain and IoT.
RFID tags are attached to containers and scanned throughout the delivery process from supplier to factory. The data is recorded on a blockchain shared between BMW, logistics providers, and Tier 1 suppliers.
PartChain increased supply chain transparency with benefits like:^[11]
- Reduced time searching for lost/delayed shipments
- Preventing counterfeit or low quality parts
- Streamlining cross-border shipments and customs
- Enabling just-in-time delivery for assembly lines
The automotive industry is expected to be one of the largest blockchain adopters given the complexity of part sourcing and manufacturing.
Wine – Blockchain Wine Pte.
Wine enthusiasts rely on labels to assess quality, grape varieties, and provenance before purchasing. However, the industry lacks standardization, making it easy for counterfeits to enter the system.
Singapore-based Blockchain Wine Pte. developed an NFC-based solution that allows consumers to scan a bottle label with their smartphone to pull up a wealth of data directly from the blockchain.^[12] This includes:
- Wine ratings/reviews
- Source winery details
- Grape composition
- Vintage
- Bottle aging and storage conditions
- Logistics records
The immutable data trail builds trust and assists collectors in assessing wine value and authenticity.
Seafood – Provenance and Humanity United
Illegal and unethically-sourced seafood makes up 20-32% of the worldwide seafood market.^[13] To combat this, UK-based Provenance partnered with Humanity United to launch a blockchain seafood framework.
Built on Hyperledger Fabric, it tracks Albacore and Skipjack tuna from catch to consumer. Full chain of custody data is recorded including fishing method, storage temperature, crew info, shipping details, processing facility, and final buyer.
Rather than rely on paper records, QR codes on packaging let shoppers see sourcing details like catch location and confirm responsible fishing practices.
Healthcare – Unified COVID-19 Response
The COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed fragmented legacy systems across governments, hospitals, suppliers, and NGOs. A unified data system was needed to manage medical inventory, transport, staffing, etc.
Oracle partnered with the World Economic Forum and other organizations to launch the Unified Covid Response (UCR) platform using blockchain.^[14] Participants can access dashboards for:
- Real-time visibility into medical equipment/PPE inventory levels
- Supply requests and delivery tracking
- Healthcare worker availability and demand monitoring
- Financial donations and outlays
The decentralized system has facilitated data exchange across 300+ organizations in 70 countries, allocating over $5 million in medical aid globally.^[15]
Aerospace – Honeywell GoDirect
Honeywell‘s GoDirect Suite provides SaaS solutions for aircraft maintenance, flight planning, weather, and fleet data management. In 2019, GoDirect Trade was launched using blockchain to digitize and track aircraft parts.^[16]
GoDirect Trade connects airlines, suppliers, distributors, and OEMs to exchange real-time aerospace transactional data including:
- Parts ordering and availability
- Repair and certification status
- Shipment locations and ETAs
- Customs documentation
- Invoicing and payments
By establishing a "digital thread" across the ecosystem, Honeywell has reduced aircraft on-ground time by optimizing maintainence and logistics.
Government – Dubai Trade Digital Cargo
Trade inefficiencies often arise from manual, paper-based processes. In February 2022, Dubai Trade, Dubai Customs, and IBM completed a pilot using a blockchain-based digital Cargo Release system.^[17]
Paperwork and transactions were digitized between logistics entities and regulatory authorities for international cargo releases. This delivered benefits including:
- Faster release – Reduced cargo release times from 1.5 days to under 4 hours
- Cost savings – Cut per-transaction processing fees up to 90%
- Revenue gains – Cargo owners benefit from up to $100,000 per year in accelerated inventory turns
- Security – Reduced risks associated with physical documents
Following the success of the trial, Dubai aims to roll out the blockchain Cargo Release system across its entire trade sector.
Conclusion
In summary, blockchain is already yielding transformative impacts on global supply chains across diverse sectors. The 12 case studies above demonstrate how blockchain creates collaborative ecosystems for seamless data sharing and automation. This drives business value through enhanced transparency, efficiency, security and sustainability.
With exponential growth projected in blockchain adoption, it will soon become an integral backbone technology supporting supply chain digital transformation.