Major car manufacturer BMW has declared the proposed roll-out of its blockchain-powered SCM (Supply Chain Management) solution. For beginners, the German automobile heavyweight will leverage the solution with ten of its suppliers originating in 2020.

BMW to Embrace Blockchain for SCM and Traceability

BMW Group, the parent company of BMW, declared the news of the supply chain solution roll-out through a press release published on March 31, 2020. The German automobile behemoth will launch its blockchain-based solution named “PartChain” with 10 of its suppliers in 2020, according to the press statement.

The Group originally trialed a beta version of the solution intended at optimizing the traceability of automobile parts and original raw material relevant to multiple international supply chains.

Since its test days in 2019, the PartChain project has expanded to incorporate an industry-wide solution for reliable data distribution by leveraging both blockchain and cloud technologies, as per the declaration.

Andreas Wendt, a member of BMW AG’s Board of Management, which is a subsidiary tasked with leading the Group’s purchasing and supplier networks, showed that ten major suppliers had been chosen for the roll-out in 2020 with more suppliers to be attached in coming years.

Concerning the blockchain solution itself, Wendt said:

“PartChain enables tamper-proof and consistently verifiable collection and transaction of data in our supply chain. This move is designed to take the digitalization of purchasing at the BMW Group to the next level. Our vision is to create an open platform that will allow data within supply chains to be exchanged and shared safely and anonymized across the industry.”

 PartChain leverages Cloud technologies from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services as well as DLT to assure the tracking of components among members of the supply chain, according to the press statement. The solution also offers minimal risk of information manipulation.

Blockchain Utilization in the Automobile Industry

In 2018, the BMW Group co-founded the MOBI (Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative) alongside other significant car manufacturers like Ford and IBM, to examine the power of blockchain to joining industry efforts geared towards solving supply chain issues. Wendt also revealed the group’s intent on sharing the PartChain solution with members of the MOBI initiative.

Similarly, automobile giant Mercedes-Benz declared the launch of its pilot test back in February 2020. The company intended to leverage blockchain technology to trace CO2 emissions over its cobalt supply chain. Also, HashCash Consultant unveiled a collaboration with a consortium of car manufacturers back in November 2019. The partnership reportedly strived at building a DLT-based platform created to track the minerals required for battery construction.