After launching a proof of
concept earlier this year, IBM and Maersk have unveiled TradeLens, the
production version of an electronic ledger for tracking global shipments; the
companies say they have 94 participants piloting the system, including more
than 20 port and terminal operators.
The jointly developed electronic
shipping ledger records details of cargo shipments as they leave their origin,
arrive in ports, are shipped overseas and eventually received.
During the transportation
process, all of the involved parties in the supply chain can view tracking
information such as shipment arrival times and documents such as customs
releases, commercial invoices and bills of lading in near real time via the
permissioned blockchain ledger.
More than 160 million such
shipping events have been captured on the platform, according to IBM and
Maersk. "This data is growing at a rate of close to one million events per
day," the companies said.
Traditionally, the international
shipping industry's information systems have used paper legal documents, and
electronic data was transmitted via electronic data interchange (EDI) - a
60-year-old technology that doesn't represent real-time data information.
Shipping participants have also
shared documents via email, fax and courier.
When information is entered or
scanned in manually, TradeLens can track critical data about every shipment in
a supply chain, and it offers an immutable record among all parties involved,
the companies said.
Some shipping manifests can also be moved via an API to the TradeLens platform, so that manufacturers and others in the supply chain have more timely information and improved visibility to the process.
Along with freight forwarders,
transportation companies and logistics firms, more than 20 port and terminal
operators are using or have agreed to pilot TradeLens, including PSA Singapore,
International Container Terminal Services Inc., Patrick Terminals and Modern
Terminals Ltd. in Hong Kong. Customs authorities in the Netherlands, Saudi
Arabia, Singapore, Australia and Peru are also participating.
"This accounts for
approximately 234 marine gateways worldwide that have or will be actively
participating on TradeLens," IBM said.
Hong Kong-based Modern Terminals
became a beta partner of the TradeLens blockchain earlier this year.
As a port operator, Modern
Terminals doesn't have a need to track shipments outside of its operating
environment, but it keeps the status of containers coming in and out of its
terminals via a Terminal Operating System (TOS), many of which utilize EDI and wireless
LANs and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) to monitor cargo movements. The
company handles about 5.5 million shipping containers per year at its Hong Kong
business unit.
The documentation that
accompanies a container of cargo from the factory floor to store shelf is
cumbersome and open, Levesque said. A blockchain-based electronic ledger will
provide a platform where all the documentation along the way can be viewed and
updated in near real time and in a secure environment by authorized supply
chain participants.
It will also give customs,
commerce, and border patrol agents around the world "a higher degree of
certainty about what's in the box, and who loaded it," Levesque added.
"Modern Terminals plans to
be a regular user of the solution once full development and testing are
complete," Levesque said. "We've only begun to scratch the surface on
what we can use blockchain technology for in the transportation and logistics
industry. Tackling the opportunity for improving the transmission of documents
around the world is a great beginning. The next decade of development will be
exciting to watch."