SAP Ariba will integrate blockchain technology across its cloud-based applications and business network to change the way goods and services are traded.
Blockchain is a digital ledger that can be used to drive business processes involving multiple parties.
“One of the things blockchain does is facilitate greater visibility and trust,” said Joe Fox, senior vice president, business development and strategy, SAP Ariba. “In embedding it across our applications and network, we can enable supply chains that are smarter, faster and more transparent from sourcing all the way through settlement.”
SAP Ariba will first apply blockchain to the tracking and tracing of goods in procurement and supply chains.
“One of the biggest issues that companies face right now is tracking and tracing goods before, during and after shipment,” said Dana Gardner, principal analyst, Interarbor Solutions. “All too often, a seller will ship something to a warehouse where it is swapped for a knock off without the buyer knowing. The distributed ledger capability of blockchain provides buyers and sellers with increased visibility and control from shipment to receipt, which ultimately reduces the risk of fraud.”
To extend its capabilities in this area, SAP Ariba will join forces with London-based fintech Everledger, whose solution securely captures the defining characteristics of valuable objects such as diamonds, and creates a digital thumbprint of the asset that is stored on the blockchain.
This information, including history, transport, events and ownership, is used by multiple stakeholders across global supply chains to verify authenticity.
“By harnessing the best of disruptive technology, we’ve built a global platform of provenance by connecting records of authenticity to a physical object and its certification as it moves throughout the supply chain,” says Leanne Kemp, CEO and founder of Everledger. “We know the impact this can have. Integrating our technology with SAP Ariba’s business network can not only lead to a reduction of risk and fraud for stakeholders, but additionally helps to re-shape a new era of global trade focused on the pillars of transparency, sustainability and ethics.”
According to Fox, such technology is a natural fit within SAP Ariba’s solutions. “If you can track and trace diamonds, you can track and trace anything,” he says.
The announcement was made at SAP Ariba Live this week in Las Vegas.
