Accenture’s blockchain solution

A CONSORTIUM, which represents typical stakeholders across an international shipment, collaborated to test 12 real shipments, with various destinations and different regulatory requirements.

Aconsortium comprising AB InBev, Accenture, APL, Kuehne + Nagel and a European customs organisation has successfully tested a blockchain solution that can eliminate the need for printed shipping documents and save the freight and logistics industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The consortium tested a solution where documents are no longer exchanged physically or digitally but instead, the relevant data is shared and distributed using blockchain technology under single ownership principles determined by the type of information. Through a detailed review of the current documentation processes, the group examined a reallocation of information ownership, accountability and risk enabled by the trust and security blockchain technology offers. An international shipment of goods for companies in areas such as the automotive, retail or consumer goods industries typically requires more than 20 different documents, many of which are often paper-based, to enable the goods to move from exporter to importer.

Across these documents, up to 70 per cent of the data can be replicated. The document heavy approach limits data quality and real-time visibility to all parties involved in the trade and this can also delay the financial settlement on goods. The solution can speed up the entire flow of transport documents, reduce the requirement for data entry by up to 80 per cent, simplify data amendments across the shipping process, streamline the checks required for cargo and reduce the burden and risk of penalties for customs compliance levied on customers. “Our trials have proven the viability of a shipping process” said

Adriana Diener-Veinott, who leads Accenture’s Freight & Logistics industry practice.