Samsung Explores Blockchain for Tracking Global Shipments

Electronics giant Samsung is mulling the use of a blockchain platform to manage its global supply chains, according to a report.

Bloomberg

reported Monday that Samsung Electronics is said to be already building a distributed ledger system to track international shipments, and expects that the move could slash shipping costs by 20 percent.

Samsung SDS, the group’s logistics and IT subsidiary, is reportedly developing the platform.

"It will have an enormous impact on the supply chains of manufacturing industries. Blockchain is a core platform to fuel our digital transformation," Song Kwang-woo, blockchain lead and vice president at SDS, told Bloomberg.

According to the report, SDS will ship around 500,000 tons of air freight and around 1 million shipping containers in 2018 – goods worth tens of billions of dollars.

Turning to a blockchain-based system is hoped to allow the firm to reduce overheads, such as costly shipping documentation, and allow it to respond more quickly to market movements.

Samsung isn't the only major firm to be moving to adopt blockchain tech in the supply chain industry. Big names like IBM, NTT Data and Air France have all been working on separate systems to bring added efficiencies and transparency to their networks over the last year.

And just last month, Chinese petrochemical giant Sinochem successfully used blockchain to track a gasoline shipment to Singapore.

Samsung image via Shutterstock