NextGen Supply Chain Conference: Making the supply chain secure, visible and highly efficient

What exactly is blockchain good for, many people ask. And often the answer to that reasonable question is not exactly definitive. Unless of course you're at Lenovo. There, blockchain is taking supply chain excellence to the next level. And that is expected to translate into a greater than 20% savings in supply chain costs.

Sounds intriguing. And it is. In fact, Bobby Bernard, executive director of data center group strategy and innovation at Lenovo will offer details at the April 27-29 2020 NextGen Technology Supply Chain Conference at the Chicago Athletic Association hotel in Chicago. Bernard is slated to speak the morning of the final day of the conference, Wednesday, April 28 at 9 am.

To say the least, it's easy to underestimate the power of blockchain. Gartner says the nextgen technology will deliver $3 trillion in business value by 2030. And at Lenovo, blockchain is transformational, says Bernard. It is foundational to transforming the company's functioning supply network into a demand-driven value ecosystem. There's got to be at least a 20% supply chain savings in there.

To start, Lenovo's supply chain is not exactly trifling. It ships four Lenovo devices every second. That includes more than 15,000 SKUs and 20 million servers a year.

However, the company expects more going forward from its supply chain than just filling orders in a timely manner. That's not enough anymore.

Using blockchain, Lenovo is in the process of establishing a secure supply chain that allows real-time communication between trading partners and paperless transactions. Strategic collaboration across the supply chain is a given too.

The idea is to put the customer at the center of everything Lenovo from procurement and engineering to manufacturing and logistics. Making that happen requires a demand-driven intelligent and connected supply network that is trusted and secure, says Bernard. Beyond blockchain, key nextgen technologies here include data analytics, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

The role of blockchain is broad reaching. “Blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value,” says Bernard.
How blockchain works is actually fairly straightforward. A transaction is represented as a block in an electronic ledger shared with only relevant and authorized participants. All see a single picture of the transaction and the block is added to the chain. The completed transaction is secure and unalterable.

“Blockchain can take your supply chain to the next level with security, visibility, velocity and a much improved customer experience,” explains Bernard. Other benefits include a reduction in process friction, increased audit/management efficiency, enhanced order management based on location and ease of connectivity to the supply chain, to name a few.

While Lenovo is part way through a multi-phase rollout and implementation process, Bernard says big picture benefits to the company are already established. Key here are measurable improvements in operational efficiencies, strategic collaboration and industry influence in establishing blockchain standards. Blockchain sure sounds like a winner.

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