The Statement: A quarter of all OEMs will use blockchain to source spare parts

Blockchain is once again attracting a great deal of interest from supply chain professionals, despite – or perhaps because of – the coronavirus crisis. In May 2020, 122 supply chain directors and managers took part in Supply Chain Media’s annual trend survey. A quarter of the respondents said they would consider investing in blockchain for the supply chain over the next 12 months, with 9% already using the technology. To find out more about this, Supply Chain Media then asked a number of supply chain executives for their reactions to the following statement:

‘To lessen stress on the service supply chain, by 2023, 25% of OEMs will leverage blockchain to source spare parts, improving accuracy of usable parts by 60% and lowering expedite costs by 45%.’ (Source: US analyst firm IDC, 2019)

Remco van Haastrecht, Supply Chain Director at Eriks Netherlands:

“Where certified parts are concerned, yes; otherwise, no. In my opinion, the added value of this technology for OEMs still has to be proven.”

Ardjan van der Blonk, Supply Chain Director at Alliance Automotive Services:

“I don’t see it happening in our industry within that time frame.”

Erwin van der Schoot (pictured), Director Global Supply Planning at AkzoNobel:

“Change will happen. The use of blockchain will certainly increase, but it seems unlikely that it will happen so quickly.”

Edgar Beers, Director BU Sourcing & Supply Chain at Sitech:

“No. We use blockchain to ensure effective traceability of materials that require an inspection. Implementation is slow and the effect on costs is low because, in our case, the legal frameworks do not yet allow us to replace activities with blockchain. The year 2023 is far too soon for real change in that respect.”