Most people that know about blockchain’s existence surely do so because of bitcoin’s emergence as a cryptocurrency over the last couple of years. However, reducing blockchain to bitcoin (or to all the cryptocurrencies that it supports) is underestimating its power and potential benefits. This digital ledger is being used in a lot of new and creative ways across many companies and industries.
As with any emerging technology, it’s hard to predict where blockchain’s evolution will lead. But if the current uses and ideas around it serve as proof, then its future looks very bright. This doesn’t mean you have to wait to benefit from it. Getting in touch with a blockchain consulting firm can give you some nifty ideas that could work for your everyday processes.
In fact, there are several companies that are already using blockchain to power up their routine tasks. How so? Read on to find out!
What is blockchain?
To truly grasp the prospective uses for blockchain, it’s essential to understand how it works. In short, blockchain can be seen as a decentralized ledger that records transactions between different nodes interconnected through a network. The decentralized part is one of its biggest advantages because it removes the need for a central authority to verify the transactions that occur within the blockchain.
Additionally, it’s important to note that any blockchain is comprised of a series of encrypted blocks that are a big part of any transaction. That encryption, coupled with the technology’s decentralized network, makes it a strongly secured environment for all kinds of transactions to take place.
Now that you have a general idea of what blockchain is, it’s time to see how it can be used in your business on a daily basis.
1 - Quality Assurance
One of the things that many blockchain development companies are working on is how to leverage this technology’s benefits when it comes to record-keeping. That could be used in a number of ways but one of the most promising ones is quality assurance, especially in the manufacturing industry.
That’s because the ledger could log everything that takes place in the manufacturing process, from raw materials to final products and everything in between. The huge amount of details that can be recorded with blockchain will make it really easy to identify the source of any problem that may arise, from a recall over a general flaw to issues with specific product batches.
Developing a warning system around the blockchain could also be a great feature, as any identified issue could trigger an appropriate action (like recalling a specific batch from stores or preventing a series of products from ever leaving the factory).
2 - Smart Contracts
Another popular use that blockchain development services are already putting in place in several industries is powering up smart contracts. As its name implies, these contracts regulate, verify and enforce the terms of a specific agreement between parts but, unlike traditional contracts, it does so automatically and without the need for a central figure to overlook the process.
There are several benefits around using smart contracts for your business. They can handle a large number of transactions without human intervention, making sure that all terms are met. This can be good to govern everything that happens with suppliers and the whole supply chain, or even with your own employees (both permanent and temporary) and what’s expected of them for their roles.
The best thing about using smart contracts is that they can’t be tampered with once they are active. That means that no one can unilaterally change the terms included in them. Thus, the embedded logic in the smart contract will closely overlook the compliance of all terms and act accordingly whenever one of the participants doesn’t play its part (by providing a bonus or terminating the relationship, for instance).
3 - Audits
In a very similar fashion as the one described for quality assurance, blockchain can also be of great aid when you’re conducting audits. You don’t need to wait for an issue to happen to control what’s going on in your business. And since blockchain keeps a permanent record of all transactions that take place in your company, there’s no better way to audit the trail of those transactions.
The benefits are self-evident. Blockchain’s nature ensures that all the available data is precise and readily available for anyone with enough authorization to access it. Thus, you can use blockchain to backup and store all your transactions (payments, purchases, investments) to have an easy way to check on them later on.
Using blockchain with that purpose in mind is like freezing your entire company’s history in a secure ledger that will always be there when you need a specific piece of information.
4 - Supply chain management
Another good use of this technology that you can discuss with your blockchain consulting services provider is using its record-keeping features for supply chain management. If you’ve read this far, you can surely imagine where this is going—using the ledger to track all the goods and materials that move around your business and have the most detailed account of them.
How would that work? You could track where the materials are coming, when they arrive at your company, where were they used, the identification numbers of the products or batches, when they are shipped out, and which stores have your products in stock. That’s just a generic example of what you could do with a blockchain but it could go deeper than that.
What’s important is that your management capabilities over your supply chain could be greatly improved. You could have more visibility over your whole process, ensure transparency in everything that makes up your chain, and even better understand your relationship with your suppliers, customers, and even external agencies.
5 - Stock trading
Finally, a somewhat more specific use for your business has blockchain taking part in stock exchanges. It doesn’t matter if you are working in securities or commodities since the ledger will help you trade them both. That’s because blockchain can use a previously executed process and apply it in a couple of minutes, freeing up time from your employees (and yourself!) to do other kinds of tasks.
How would that process look like? Since trades have to be processed through validators over some days, the traditional trading process often takes much more time. With blockchain, it could be possible to recreate that validation process and emulate it automatically in a couple of minutes. The results will be the same as the ones you’d get if you did things in the usual fashion. The only change is that you cut time and you relieve yourself and your team from doing it manually.
Some last words
All of the uses described above are real cases that you can put into practice in your business right now. However, seeing them as the only possible things that blockchain can do for your daily routine would be a mistake. The technology is still gaining momentum, so we won’t see it’s full potential until it gains critical mass—which could happen a few years down the line.
This doesn’t mean that you should wait for that to happen, though. Starting a blockchain development project today can be very beneficial in itself but will also bring you closer to a technology that will surely become a standard in the future. That’s the reason why the time to adopt it is now—because using it today may give you a competitive edge tomorrow.
