A. General Information
TradeLens
Maersk
Maersk
B. Lessons Learned
TradeLens is a global, blockchain powered platform that follows the flow of cargo from source to destination, and connects the various parties involved in a shipment. It is an open platform enabling all organizations involved in an international shipment to exchange shipment events and documents.
TradeLens is a global, blockchain powered platform that follows the flow of cargo from source to destination, and connects the various parties involved in a shipment. It is also an open, neutral platform that enables all organizations involved in an international shipment to exchange shipment events and documents simply and securely in real time, increasing the visibility that shippers have about the status, location, and contents of their consignment.
In many countries, it is still difficult for a trader to find a consolidated cross-agency view of the release status of a shipment. By publishing key events and information to TradeLens, Customs and other government agencies can improve the visibility that traders have about the status of their shipments. This helps the private sector to better plan its activities, saving both time and money.
Platforms like TradeLens allow Customs and other government agencies to piggyback their supervision processes on top of existing commercial information exchanges. As soon as a container is stuffed in the exporting country, the importing country’s Customs agency could pull the purchase order and packing list from TradeLens and use them to perform a risk assessment on the shipment. Access to earlier, more complete, immutable data improves the effectiveness of targeting processes, facilitating legitimate trade, increasing compliance and improving Customs’ efficiency.
TradeLens uses IBM blockchain technology as the foundation for digital supply chains, empowering multiple trading partners to collaborate by establishing a single shared view of a transaction without compromising details, privacy, or confidentiality. Shippers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, port and terminal operators, and inland transportation and customs authorities can interact more efficiently with real-time access to shipping data and shipping documents, including internet of things and sensor data ranging from temperature control to container weight.
TradeLens is an open, neutral platform that enables all organizations involved in an international shipment to exchange shipment events and documents.
TradeLens failed to overcome the reliance on paper-based documents in international shipping, particularly paper bills of lading (the legal document that details goods and their destination). Even TradeLens’ e-bills of lading offering couldn’t eliminate paper-based processes. In addition, IBM and Maersk planned for TradeLens to serve the wider global shipping industry—not just Maersk—but shipping firms reportedly couldn’t overcome Maersk’s involvement in the project. Despite being registered as an independent entity and marketed in its own right, the perception remained that TradeLens was a Maersk offering, and the shipping industry didn’t have the appetite for sharing confidential data with a competitor.
The non-success of TradeLens can be attributed to some of the inherent disadvantages of private blockchains, which can limit the scope of collaboration and adoption among industry stakeholders. Centralized control, limited access, and concerns over data privacy and neutrality have hindered the growth and success of the platform. Embracing permissioned public blockchains can pave the way forward for more sustainable and efficient supply chain solutions. These permissioned public blockchains strike a balance between the security and control of private blockchains while offering the transparency and decentralization of public blockchains.
By publishing key events and information to TradeLens, Customs and other government agencies can improve the visibility that traders have about the status of their shipments. This helps the private sector to better plan its activities, saving both time and money.