Four years after IBM and Maersk first introduced TradeLens, the companies announced that they would withdraw TradeLens offerings and abandon the blockchain-based supply chain platform.
The platform will go offline at the end of Q2023 XNUMX. The platform has apparently not attracted enough users to be commercially viable.
“The need for full global industrial collaboration has not been met,” said Rotem Hershko, head of trading platforms at AP Moller – Maersk, in a statement posted on Maersk's website. "TradeLens has not reached the level of commercial viability necessary to continue operating and meeting financial expectations as an independent company."
Launched in 2018 and co-developed by IBM and GTD Solution, a division of Maersk, TradeLens aimed to digitize and simplify global supply chains through an electronic shipping ledger that records the details of cargo shipments as they They leave their origin, arrive at the ports, are sent abroad and finally received.
Where the shipping industry's traditional style of information exchange relied on outdated electronic data interchange (EDI) systems, email, fax or courier, TradeLens has enabled all parties involved in the supply chain to view tracking information such as shipment arrival times and documents such as customs. . near real-time communications, commercial invoices and bills of lading through your authoritative blockchain ledger.
In its short life, the project has created a network of more than 300 members, including ocean carriers, terminals, inland warehouses, customs authorities, and intermodal providers.
Despite the platform shutdown, the statement on Maersk's website says the company will "continue its efforts to digitize the supply chain," increasing industry innovation to reduce trade frictions and promote better, more global trade. .
“We will use the work of TradeLens as a springboard to advance our digitization agenda and look forward to harnessing the energy and ability of our tech talent in new ways,” Hershko said.
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