NFTs for Competitive Advantage

In an article we published in 2021 on Healthcare Supply Chains, we illustrated how Blockchain can be used to create a Blue Oceans Strategic advantage. My more recent article on NFTs in Healthcare appears to have found resonance with readers, so I thought it might be useful to continue the discussion further to explore the business value from these technologies.

Ultimately, technology solutions are simply tools to achieve a preferred outcome. Executives invest in these tools when it makes business sense to do so. Operational excellence, particularly with supply chains, can confer strategic advantage. While there is always merit in streamlining efficiencies and reducing costs, creating a compelling narrative that redefines the customer journey can truly set a company apart. We believe that blockchains can create such a narrative - truly differentiating across a number of demonstrably measurable metrics.

Examining the Financial Benefits

Supplier Onboarding

A recent study by Accenture showed that inaccurate supplier onboarding data, such as mistakes in product order forms, inaccurate measurements and quantities, and incomplete risk assessment costs businesses about $15 million every year. Their True Supplier Marketplace solution achieved a 95% compliance rate through embedded risk assessments and workflow logic, a 73% Reduction in time to onboard a supplier end to end—from 15 days to 4 days and a 39% Reduction in manual data entry through automation.

Chainyard, a blockchain consulting and tech firm, claims that blockchain’s trusted source of supplier information can: reduce administrative costs by 50%, eliminate up to 90% of repetition and redundancy, and make the process of onboarding new suppliers 70-90% faster.

These innovations help reduce supplier cycle time and consequently total lead time (order to delivery time).