FedEx CEO: Blockchain Is The ‘Next Frontier’ For Global Supply Chains

Delivery services multinational FedEx said it is “quite confident” blockchain has “big, big implications” for supply chains in a speech May 14, as it continues engagement with the technology.

Speaking at the Consensus 2018 conference in New York Monday, FedEx CEO Fred Smith said that the time had come for businesses to ingratiate themselves with blockchain or face “probable extinction.”

“We’re quite confident that it has big, big implications in supply chain, transportation and logistics,” he said during a panel quoted by Bloomberg and other sources, continuing:

“It’s the next frontier that’s going to completely change worldwide supply chains.”

FedEx has had positive experiences looking into the potential blockchain holds to improve its businesses model. In February, the company joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), a focus group whose members include rail operator BNSF, JD Logistics, and GE Transportation.

FedEx’s goal, industry media reported at the time, was to strive to “create common logistics standards” based on the technology.

Prior to that, in October of last year, it became a member of the Canada-based Blockchain Research Institute, Don Tapscott’s initiative dedicated to “conducting the definitive study of the impact of blockchain technology on business, government and society.”

Earlier this month meanwhile, Cointelegraph reported on how the issue of modernizing supply chain structures of all descriptions has become a central focus of  governments globally, in addition the private sector. On May 10, Cointelegraph reported that Australia’s home affairs ministry is currently looking at how it could implement blockchain in its trade supply chains. That same week, two United States House Subcommittees held a hearing focused on how blockchain can be used in supply chain management.