Supply chain transparency: Are consumer durables companies of India ready

to adopt blockchain technology?

There are billions of products being manufactured everyday globally, through complex supply chains
that extend to all parts of the world. However, there is very little knowledge of how, when and
where these products were originated, manufactured, and used through their life cycle. Even before
reaching the end consumer, goods travel through an often-vast network of retailers, distributors,
transporters, storage facilities, and suppliers that participate in design, production, delivery, and
sales, yet in almost every case these journeys remain an unseen dimension of our possessions.

Supply Chain Transparency has become a major concern now a days, with the fast-changing
consumer preferences the supply chain model at companies is also changing very rapidly. Consumer
demands for things like faster delivery times, production-on-demand and instantly available order
status update due to the advancement of technology and ability of the internet to provide such
information immediately. Today’s consumer wants to know about product insights, from product
components to the details of the manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers. In short, the
more the people know, the more they want to know.

India being the house of more than 1.37 billion people it is a major market for Consumer Durables
sector. Consumer Durables market reached US$10.93 billion in 2019. It is expected to double to
reach US$21.18 billion by 2025.

India is likely to emerge as the world’s largest middle class consumer market with an aggregated
consumer spend of nearly US$13 trillion by 2030.

Growing awareness, easier access and changing lifestyle have been the key growth drivers for the
consumer market. A sharp rise in demand for the consumer durables goods has been observed in
the rural India. The rural and urban market of consumer durables has been growing at a rate of
around 15% on an average.

While Income levels are rising across consumer segments in both urban and rural markets, the level
of infrastructure development and facilities vary widely across these markets. This has resulted in
the emergence of two separate consumer segments with different demands. In order to meet such
demands a flexible and robust supply chain is the need of the hour.

Blockchain technology which was created to support bitcoin transactions, is claimed to be a game
changer in the field of supply chain management. Blockchain technology can greatly improve supply
chain by enabling faster and more cost-effective delivery of products, enhancing products
traceability, improving co-ordination between partners and aiding access to financing.

Supply chain is a very complex system. It is inter-connected and multi-layered, which makes it very
difficult for the companies to achieve Supply Chain transparency. Companies and Supplier fear that if
they reveal too much information, they might lose their competitive advantage.

India being a price sensitive market, where Consumer does not care much about the upstream or
downstream of the Supply Chain. It is very challenging for the companies to provide End-to-End
Supply Chain Visibility for their products in a market where Consumers are not ready to pay a
premium for it.