How Australian Banks Use Blockchain To Track 17,000 Kilos Of Almonds?

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• March 20, 2019

We all know how Blockchain is transforming industries. One of the most popular areas of application of Blockchain technology is supply chain management. Most of the companies have revolutionized the significance of Blockchain technology and its implementation in this domain. Well, it is not the only Blockchain that helps make supply chain efficiency. It works along with IoT.  The IoT devices are connected with, and together they enable in creating a transparent and easily tractable ledger. Many companies have worked in this domain. IBM, Wallmart, Amazon, etc. The recent news comes from Australia where Australian banks have used Blockchain to trace 17,000 kilos of almonds. Let us explore this news in this blog.

 

As per the reports, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia unveiled the news that it has completed Blockchain enabled exchange on the global front. The bank unfolded the news that a cluster of 17,000 kgs of almonds was tracked using private Blockchain based on Ethereum.

Using the Blockchain enabled tracker, the bank traced the journey of almonds from its source in Sunraysia in Victoria, Australia, till Hamburg, Germany. With the help of Blockchain based tracker, they could track not only the shipment but also monitor other conditions like temperature, dampness, area and other parameters that can affect the shipment.

 

Why are companies exploring Blockchain?

Blockchain offers a transparent platform where every data exchange is time-stamped. This time stamping allows easy access to track all the data. Additional, this information is accessible to all the people in the network and immune to the attacks of hackers. These aspects of Blockchain make it useful for the companies looking forward to deploying Blockchain technology in supply chain management.

 

News from Australia-Australia is actively participating in using Blockchain technology. The country had earlier announced to integrate Blockchain with its food supply chain. Another news comes from Australian Bank where they have used Blockchain technology to track the movement of 17,000 kilos of almonds.

 

LX group which is the manufacturers of Blockchain enabled delivery trackers has launched a new tracker based on Blockchain. The device was launched at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 which is the world’s biggest mobile phone exhibit.

 

This functioning of this Blcokhain based device is simple; the companies need to add data related to almonds on the ledger, it also includes data associated with the condition of the product, their environment, and other details.

 

Once the data is fed into the ledger, the companies can easily track this information on the ledger. It also helps in real-time tracking of information.

What’s in a Blockchain tracker?

When it comes to a Blockchain tracker, then its functionalities are similar to other shipment trackers, but the Blockchain tracker comes with an additional feature. This tracker helps you to interact with Blockchain directly. These trackers used by CBA is a privatized Ethereum-based Blockchain.

 

It comes with Wi-Fi, GPS, and LTE-M, sensors, Bluetooth and battery which will run for three years. All these features make LX Blockchain tracker have all the features that help in tracking of every piece of information related to a particular consignment and in this case it is almonds.

 

These trackers also come with a crypto core that is responsible for taking care of all the interactions with the Blockchain. Here crypto refers to cryptography and is used to encrypt data.

 

What are the challenges in the way?

Well, Blockchain is a nascent technology so, it tends to have some sets of challenges in its usage. When it comes to LX groups device, then there is a probability for the device to be sabotaged or tampered.

 

Conclusion

The crux of the matter is that Blockchain is a decentralized platform which has all the information stored in chronological order. This data is tamper-free, and this factor is extremely important for the efficient working of the supply chain management system. Australian bank’s invitation to use Blockchain to track the shipment and its successful completion show that Blockchain is ready to take on the charge and ready to be used as a part of the mainstream business operations. Although there are a certain set of challenges which Blockchain holds in itself, with certain improvisation we can expect Blockchain to become a completely tamper-free and damage free technology.