The development of blockchain - a tamper-proof digital technology used to record transactions between business partners or to store data – is causing huge excitement in the manufacturing sector. It could deliver an effective means of controlling intellectual property, ensuring that inventors receive the financial rewards that they deserve. It could also lead to smarter supply chains, enabling firms to track the progress of materials and payments as goods make their way around the world. Blockchain could also play a vital role in the Internet of Things by allowing the more effective monitoring of manufacturing facilities, ensuring that machine-to-machine payments are settled in real-time.
“The emergence of blockchain - a decentralised, tamper-proof digital database of transactions – holds true transformational potential in the manufacturing sector,” said Lee Hibbert, industry analyst at TAG and the author of the whitepaper. “The technology could be really powerful in cases where multiple parties share data and these actions need to be recorded. That opens up opportunities in the supply chain, and in cases where firms are looking to establish business models based around the Internet of Things. Blockchain could be a real game-changer for manufacturers, and huge organisations such as Airbus and Daimler are already establishing use cases.”
