Auto Industry to leverage blockchain for vendor management system

The enormous possibilities of the Blockchain are attracting new industries almost every day. The latest one to join the league, who wants to implement the technology, is automakers and components companies.

An industry that does revenues of around Rs 10,00,000 crore in India is keen to have a  vendor management system on blockchain technology. This will be an industry-wide scale.

"We are looking at how to put this on the blockchain,” a FactorDaily report quoted Vijay Sethi, chief information officer of Hero MotoCorp.

He discussed the AutoDX, a cloud-based platform for invoices, purchase orders and shipping notices launched in 2014, for a next level scale.

More than 60 companies are on AutoDX. It has registered two billion transactions in the last one year, added the report. AutoDX automation saves about 4/5th (80 per cent) of the cost which goes into vendor management, invoices, and supply chain management along with other related costs.

Sethi further reasoned, that when automobile makers and component manufacturers are brought onto the blockchain, it is expected to bring clear end-to-end supply chain visibility to everyone involved along with being cost-effective.

Blockchian Technology based solutions also help know the supplier better. It allows OEMs to trace the origin of the components. Since it will be connected to the supply chain, it provides an automotive solution for order and sells, tracking and payment for goods once it reaches the destination.

Globally, Daimler and Landesbank are using blockchain solutions for financial transactions. Toyota is also using the tech for vehicle access and payments.

The blockchain is a decentralised digital-ledger which is distributed and collectively maintained by a network of computers, called nodes. The system is considered safe as data in it cannot be changed unless everyone else maintaining records, agrees.

The record book is not stored in one place but instead is distributed among the bookkeepers.

In India, a few companies have already piloted with blockchain technology.

Tech Mahindra is working to set up a Blockchain centre within its research and development (R&D) arm Makers Lab. Earlier in 2016, the Mahindra Group and IBM had announced they are co-developing a cloud-based blockchain application to address the supply chain finance.

Whereas Bajaj Electricals in January this year went live on a blockchain-based vendor-financing solution developed by Yes Bank.

With the help of technology, the dealer can issue a registration certificate and number for a vehicle. Vehicle dealers, RTA, buyers and the financiers are also getting connected through the technology.

More than $1 billion investments went into blockchain-based companies in 2016.

According to research firm Gartner, investments of $1.7 billion has gone into building blockchain solutions in the last three years. It is expected to reach $175 billion by 2025.

Technology experts and investors believe that how cell-phones were a decade ago, blockchain will be the disruptor in the upcoming decade.