In order to ensure that our coverage is timely, we try to reference the timelines of significant industry events when planning our editorial calendar.
As a result, when I was planning the May 2018 issue and learned that the Sanitary Transportation of Food (STF) rule of the FSMA would be in effect for small and medium-sized businesses the month before, I thought that people in the industry would probably be interested in learning more about the STF.
A year ago, I had no idea how eager experts in this field would be to discuss blockchain technology. I seem to have received at least one email per week over the past few months with the word “blockchain” in it. Although not quite as common as the term “Internet of Things,” it is unquestionably the newest buzzword.
Like I did for the Internet of Things, I don’t yet have a succinct way to describe blockchain technology. I used to compare it to your toaster having a Facebook page and posting status updates to your fridge. I can only quote other definitions, which refer to it as a distributed digital ledger.
I was only really familiar with blockchain in terms of Bitcoin, which utilizes the technology to power the cryptocurrency payment system, when I began conducting interviews for the STF article and it kept coming up.
I went to our office’s IT support administrator, the only person I know who owns Bitcoin, to better understand everything. We talked about the trend for about an hour, and when I mentioned how blockchain could improve food safety, he said, “Yep, I definitely can see how that would be useful.”
When I interviewed a number of experts about how blockchain technology is being used to ensure food safety throughout the supply chain, I received the same level of enthusiasm. A true end-to-end communication and verification food safety tool that can be used all the way through the supply chain—from the grower to the retailer—and makes all the information visible to all parties is what experts see as the potential of this.
One of the revolutionary technologies to watch in the coming years is blockchain. Other examples include mixed (virtual and augmented) realities and artificial intelligence, both of which are particularly useful for plant operations.
I understand if you’re thinking, “Yeah, these concepts are not all that new,” but the sophistication of the technologies and how they will be applied and used in the modern manufacturing facility could alter the game.
Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that 5G is coming soon, which could provide a lot of opportunities for connecting people, tools, and equipment.
#Blockchain #technology