A supply chain can be an incredibly complex process. It can stretch over numerous stages, multiple geographical locations, and can include a multitude of businesses. There are several payments and invoices involved as well, which necessitates the need for complete transparency. Blockchain is being explored as a solution to transform the supply chain into a more transparent and smoother process. 

More and more industries and businesses are turning to blockchain to simplify their supply chain and the latest to join is Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). The firm was founded way back in 1881 and is Canada’s second-largest railway. It has tracks in both US and Canada with direct links to the major ports on the east and west coasts and is an intermodal carrier company. 

Intermodal companies form the connection between road transport and shipping within the complex process of supply chain and are an integral part. Canadian Pacific Railway recently collaborated with TradeLens in a bid to improve its efficacy as an intermodal carrier in supply-chain.  With the help of TradeLens’s blockchain platform, Canadian Pacific Railway aims to expedite the document sharing process with other supply chain participants. 

In its press statement announcement, the firm mentioned that their goal is to utilise blockchain for minimising the shipping process complexities by amending, creating and sharing documents with its supply-chain partners through the platform. 

Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Canadian Pacific Railway, Mike Redeker said in the press announcement, “Global shipping is a profoundly complex business and TradeLens is improving the information-sharing processes that support the industry.”

Blockchain is the way forward for supply chain

TradeLens is the blockchain joint initiative by Maersk and IBM, founded in 2018. It is said to process around six million documents and 700 million events annually. The blockchain-driven platform of TradeLens was specially created to ensure transparent and secure storage, sharing and transfer of data within the container-shipping industry. The company aims to reduce the time it takes to complete normally manual administrative tasks through automated digitised processes supported by this blockchain technology. The platform works by integrating the in-house systems of clients through APIs, using the Hyperledger Fabric Blockchain – the IBM blockchain platform. 

Canadian Pacific Railway is the 10th intermodal carrier to utilise TradeLens’s network. The platform has also been serving five of the six topmost ocean carriers for more than a year and more recently it was joined by YILPORT Holdings, a Turkish ports group. While port terminals make for the majority members of TradeLens’s blockchain platform, other industry players like intermodal operators Canadian Pacific Railways, Standard Chartered Bank are joining in too and are part of the network. 

Sources: Coindesk, Ledger Insights

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Srimayee Sen Sarma

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Srimayee has over 10 years of experience in creating content. Driven by her passion for writing, She has had her articles published with a byline in newspapers, magazines, blogs, and websites. Her other passions include reading, gardening and traveling.