Volkswagen Will Track Minerals Via IBM Blockchain-Based Platform
The Volkswagen Group has just recently made an important announcement. Apparently, it is looking forward to using blockchain in an attempt to track its mineral supply chains. Here is everything about it in a nutshell.
The Joint Collaboration Explained
The German car manufacturer revealed that its goal is to responsibly source materials, which include cobalt. The latter, in particular, is mainly used in lithium-ion batteries designed for electric cars. And in order to achieve this goal, it decided to participate in an open industry initiative. This collaboration will reportedly feature Ford as one of its members as well.
The industry’s norm right now, particularly all miners and/or consumer brands, is to completely depend on third-party audits. The same thing can be said when it comes to rigorous and time-consuming manual processes in order to comply with the widely accepted set of industry standards. These are also the same methods that almost all car manufacturers follow when sourcing their minerals.
According to the Volkswagen Group, it wants to completely replace the narrative and change it for the better. Basically, it hopes that by using blockchain technology when it comes to tracking supply chains, it can help the company as a whole become more responsible in sourcing standards. These are basically those that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) set. VW is confident by taking advantage of the technology, it can easily come up with a permanent record of mineral movements in hopes of supporting the overall compliance process.
Responsible Sourcing of Minerals
In order to make the effort a reality, VW is hell-bent at using a new permissioned platform that was intentionally built on the IBM blockchain – one that is developed through the use of the Hyperledger Fabric. By doing so, VW is hoping that it can enable the tracking of minerals across its worldwide supply chain.
The collaboration was reportedly formed earlier this year. It even includes other members, such as the cobalt mining firm called Huayou and the South Korean unit of the conglomerate LG Corp. called LG Chem. Lastly, the joint project will see the inclusion of RCS, which is a raw materials supply chain auditing company.
In an official announcement, VW said that all participants of the network are validated by the RCS Global Corp in order to verify compliance with responsible sourcing standards. The automaker giant is also looking forward to expanding membership in an attempt to include other industries.