Blockchain: Surgere’s New Supply Chain Tool

Facing the Status Quo of Supply Chain Management

Annually, the Automotive Industry alone loses billions of dollars due to supply chain mismanagement. For most, the deficit is credited to losing between 16 and 18 percent of reusable packaging assets.

The multi-billion-dollar problem in the Automotive Industry is indicative of an issue with the current state of supply chain management across all industries. Simply stated — the status quo of supply chain management has been outgrown.

For Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc., the status quo became too costly and inefficient to sustain. As their supply chain grew, they faced new problems — lost containers, a general lack of visible assets and the financial burden of the earlier-mentioned.

Like many others, Honda of America's supply chain was threated due to inefficient handling of returns to the supplier. When a returnable pack was unavailable, the supplier would resort to using corrugated boxes, which cannot be reused, efficiently stored or loaded into trucks.

On some occasions, the supplier would have to expedite the shipment of reusables back to the supplier. These practices —which are congruent across all supply chains — were costly and unsustainable.

Surgere — the developer of the web-based community AutoSphere — was the innovative solution for Honda. “The benefit is going to be obvious. As this digital age continues to mature,” Roger McIntyre, department manager of material service with Honda of America said, “our suppliers are going to see the benefit and start driving up into the Tier 2's and 3's.”

Blockchain as a Tool for Supply Chain Innovation

Surgere customizes unique solutions for every industry's supply chain utilizing sensor-based science – in conjunction with their proprietary cloud-based solution – that delivers unprecedented visibility, data and ROI, while providing 99.9% accuracy.

Technological advancements are an integral part of what makes the Surgere Solution so innovative. As advancements in technology are made, Surgere's solutions gain more tools to continue resolving all challenges faced by supply chains, like Blockchain.

Blockchain — as a disruptive technology — enhances Surgere's ability to identify and track transactions digitally and share that information through distributed ledgers.

Surgere's integration of blockchain into their solutions calls to a statement made by Bill Wappler, Surgere's CEO, in February this year. Bill Wappler, Surgere's CEO, said, “Our customers rely on us to be efficient, precise and trustworthy

To us, ‘innovation' is about thinking scientifically as well as creatively, extending the confines of the technology that exists today.”

“Blockchain enables instant visibility of inventory through transactions, which can be immediately and collectively processed throughout the Supply Chain,” says Rusty Coleman, Surgere's VP of Digital Transformation.

“That visibility can remove artificially created demand patterns and make visible smooth and continuous demand for Tiers near real-time. Harnessing that visibility and creating new rules within ERP can lead to operations efficiencies and reduce lead-time across the supply chain.”

A McKinsey Digital report cites that 5/6 of the world's largest companies adopting IoT solutions aren't seeing any kind of significant ROI. Surgere's AutoSphere customers experience something different.

AutoSphere OEMs are seeing an ROI within 6 months. For Surgere's customers, Coleman says, “Those willing to take steps in technological advancements, like Blockchain, will reduce costs.”

“Supply Chain professionals know it's important to reduce lead-time and inventory,” says Coleman. “That increases cash flow, improves efficiency and provides timely available to promise. Blockchain is a tool that should be leveraged to give access to instant and transparent information. Blockchain is the new payback tool to explore and exploit.”

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