Most blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer fatigue by 2023: Gartner

Market research firm Gartner has said that more than 90% of blockchain-based supply chain initiatives will suffer fatigue by 2023 as enterprises are failing to find suitable use cases.

According to a survey conducted by the firm on the needs of supply chain companies, only 19% of respondents ranked blockchain as a very important technology for their business and only 9% have invested in it.

“Supply chain blockchain projects have mostly focused on verifying authenticity, improving traceability and visibility, and improving transactional trust,” said Alex Pradhan, senior principal research analyst at Gartner. 

“However, most have remained pilot projects due to a combination of technology immaturity, lack of standards, overly ambitious scope and a misunderstanding of how blockchain could, or should, actually help the supply chain. Inevitably, this is causing the market to experience blockchain fatigue,” Pradhan explained.

She said the budding nature of blockchain makes it almost impossible for organisations to identify and target specific high-value use cases and hence they are stuck with pilot projects. 

The vendor ecosystem has not fully formed and is struggling to establish market dominance, she added.

Another challenge towards blockchain adoption in the sector is that supply chain organisations cannot buy an off-the-shelf, complete blockchain solution.

"Current creations offered by solution providers are complicated hybrids of conventional blockchain technologies. This adds more complexity and confusion, making it that much harder for companies to identify appropriate supply chain use cases,” she said.