Car manufacturing giant BMW Group is using innovative digital technologies such as the blockchain, to optimizes its processes.

The company has announced the use of blockchain in purchasing, to ensure the traceability of components and raw materials in multi-stage international supply chains. It claims the technology enables tamper-proof data sharing, with potential applications throughout the entire automotive value chain.

The blockchain-based project dubbed “PartChain”, was initiated by the company to ensure seamless traceability of components as fast as possible. It will also provide immediate data transparency in complex supply chains for all partners involved going forward.

According to BMW’s Andreas Wendt, the company conducted a successful pilot project for purchasing front lights in 2019. He added that, the company’s plan for this year is to expand the project to a larger number of other suppliers. Wendt is a Management Board member of BMW AG and is responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network.

Wendt claims the long term goal of the project is to enable complete traceability of essential raw materials. He said this move is designed to take the digitalization of purchasing at the company to the next level. According to Wendt, the company is envisioned to create an open platform that will enable data within supply chains to be exchanged and shared safely and anonymized across the industry.

In addition to blockchain solutions, the PartChain project also uses Cloud technologies such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. This synergy allows the origin of components to be tracked between all participating players without any risk of manipulation.

Per the announcement, the 2019 pilot project already involved 2 of the company’s total 31 plants, and 3 locations of the supplier Automotive Lighting. However, this year, the company is planning to roll out the platform to about 10 suppliers.

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