Audi May Use Blockchain for Distribution Processing
German luxury car maker, Audi AG is currently testing Blockchain technology on its financial and its physical distribution processing. Audi is hoping to increase the security as well as transparency of its global supply chain using this solution.
The company released a Proof-of-Concept last year on its blockchain system, after it had successfully tested the technology on IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric. The experiment on the Hyperledger Fabric garnered a lot of positive feedback, which is what led Audi’s management advance the project beyond the PoC stage.
Next Steps
Audi has created a research team that comprises of representatives from different divisions of the company, such as finance, production, IT and logistics, which is currently mapping out the documentation as well as the representation process of international logistics and financial settlement.
The team has also been tasked to explore how Blockchain can be used to improve data transfer safety, increase supply chain effectiveness, manage local energy grids better and how to manage digital entities.
The company’s head of group treasury, Alexander Dietmeier, said that blockchain technology has the potential to change operating principles in industrial companies and lays the groundwork for entirely new possibilities. He said that it was possible that Audi would be accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method in the future.
Blockchain in the Auto Industry
Audi is not the first company to announce that it would exploring options with blockchain technology. Other German car makers like Daimler AG, Porsche and BMW have also announced their plans to experiment with Blockchain tech.
Daimler’s subsidiary, Mercedes, revealed its own blockchain-based cryptocurrency called MobiCoin at the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona earlier this month. This project was created to reward drivers who have displayed environmentally cautious driving, meaning they drove smoothly, safely and at low speeds.
Porsche AG, owned by the Volkswagen Group, is one of Germany’s most iconic cars, making high performance sports cars, sedans as well as SUVs. And now, the car maker is exploring how to use blockchain apps in its vehicles in collaboration with XIAN, a Berlin-based blockchain startup. The company successfully tested locking and unlocking the vehicle using an app as well as giving others temporary access to the car through the app.
And BMW is reported to be working with a UK-based startup to use blockchain to source ethically mined cobalt. BMW has also partnered with the blockchain based supply chain enhancement platform, VeChain.