前面的文章里，我们聊了很多与区块链数字资产、数字金融相关的内容，它们都属于基础设施。今天，我们来聊聊另外一个话题：区块链与供应链。
In the previous article, we talked a lot about block chain digital assets and digital finance, all of which are infrastructure. Today, we talk about another topic: block chains and supply chains.
供应链是一个非常大的话题，几乎在任何的实业里都会有供应链的身影。对于企业来说，如何做好供应链管理，似乎是一个万年不变的难题。
Supply chains are a very big topic, with supply chains visible in almost any business. For firms, how to manage supply chains seems to be a perennial challenge.
而对于一个行业来说，如何站在行业全局的角度提供出供应链的最佳配置策略，也是一个万年不变的难题。
For an industry, how to provide the best configuration strategy for the supply chain from an industry-wide perspective is also a perennial challenge.
所以当供应链遇到区块链，区块链的一些优秀特性刚好可以解决目前供应链领域的痛点。
So, when the supply chain encounters a block chain, some of the excellent features of the block chain can just as easily address the current pain in the supply chain area.
什么是供应链
What's a supply chain?
在聊区块链和供应链之前，我先简单地向你介绍一下什么是供应链。供应链虽然也带了一个“链”字，它其实是一个网链状的结构。
Before I talk about block chains and supply chains, I would like to brief you on what the supply chain is. The supply chain, though also with a “chain”, is actually a networked structure.
下图展示了笔记本电脑供应链的各个环节。
The following graph shows the various links in the laptop supply chain.
（图片来自维基百科）
(photo from Wikipedia)
图片中展示笔记本电脑的生产制造过程，左侧表示了制造一个笔记本电脑的原料供给侧，Laptop的右侧表示为需求侧，包含了批发商（wholesaler）、经销商（retailer)等多个角色，它们都是围绕了笔记本电脑而形成的供应链。
The picture shows the manufacturing of laptops, the supply side of the raw materials for the manufacture of a laptop on the left side, and the right side of Laptop on the demand side, which includes various roles such as wholesalers (wholesaler), distributors (retailers), all of which are supply chains around laptops.
通过上面的图，我们来归纳一下到底什么是供应链？供应链围绕核心企业与产品构建，是一个从供应商开始、途径制造商、运输商、分销商最终到消费者的网链状结构。
Through the above graph, let us sum up what is a supply chain? The supply chain is built around core firms and products and is a web-chain structure that starts with suppliers, route manufacturers, transporters, distributors and ultimately consumers.
我们可以发现供应链是一个网链状的复杂结构，每个角色又与其他角色互相交叉，于是可见它的管理也是非常复杂的。
We can see that the supply chain is a complex network structure in which each player intersects with the other, and that its management is thus very complex.
供应链领域
Supply Chain Area
供应链领域又分供应链管理和供应链金融，我们先从供应链管理开始。
The supply chain area of
1.供应链管理
1. Supply chain management
供应链管理就是指对整个供应链系统进行计划、协调、操作、控制和优化的各种活动和过程，其目标是使这一过程所耗费的总成本最小。需要注意的是：这里的总成本是指整个供应链参与的企业总成本最小，不是指单个环节的成本最小。
Supply chain management refers to activities and processes that plan, coordinate, operate, control and optimize the entire supply chain system, with the objective of minimizing the total cost of the process. It is important to note that the total cost here is the lowest total cost for the enterprise involved in the entire supply chain, not the least cost for a single link.
我们已经知道了，供应链涉及了供应商、制造商、渠道商等角色。那么连接这些角色的，主要是采购（Purchasing）、库存（Inventory）、物流（Logistics）等一系列事务。采购、库存和物流主要围绕仓储、配送中心、物流运输展开，所以我们也可以把供应链看作是由供应商、制造商、渠道商、仓库、配送中心、物流运输等构成的网络。
As we already know, the supply chain involves the roles of suppliers, manufacturers, conduits, etc. The roles are linked mainly to a range of services, such as procurement, inventory, logistics, etc. Procurement, inventory, and logistics revolve around warehousing, distribution centres, logistics transport, so we can also see the supply chain as a network of suppliers, manufacturers, conduits, warehouses, distribution centres, logistics transport, etc.
在这个网络之中，各个角色之间最大的问题就是信任问题，因为只有建立信任才能协作完成一个完整的产品制造和销售过程。供应链管理面对的首要问题就是如何降低信任成本，将原本松散的企业形成互信的链式结构，每个角色必须通过有效的链上管理来协调自身和外部的资源，从而满足市场需求。
The biggest problem among the players in this network is the question of trust, because only confidence-building can work together to complete a complete product manufacturing and marketing process. The first problem facing supply chain management is how to reduce the cost of trust and form a chain of trust between unsettled businesses, each of which must coordinate its own and external resources through effective chain management to meet market demands.
在这个链式结构中，有信息流、物流、资金流三种流动过程。
In this chain structure, there are three flows of information, logistics and financial flows.
- 信息流：是指每个角色需要了解并追踪产品在供应链中的当前位置和状态；
- 物流：是指产品或原材料被转移到目标角色手中的过程；
- 资金流：是指上下游资金结算的过程。
上述图片展示了在供应链管理过程中，物流指向需求侧，资金流指向供应侧，信息流则需要在各个角色之间共享。
The above picture shows that in supply chain management logistics point to the demand side, financial flows to the supply side and information flows need to be shared among the various actors.
而目前供应链的现状是，资金流、信息流、物流各自独立运行，资金流靠银行，信息流靠供应链管理工具，物流靠运输行业，它们都是围绕一个或多个核心企业展开的，所以各个角色极度依赖核心企业，这种模式暴露了以下几个问题：
The current situation in the supply chain, where financial flows, information flows, logistics operate independently, banks, supply chain management tools for information flows, and the transport industry for logistics, are organized around one or more core enterprises, has revealed the following patterns of dependence of various players on core enterprises:
- 核心企业对上下游的延伸和掌控范围有限；
- 上下游可能因为竞争关系，存在信息流作假和被篡改的风险。
- 市场供需变化无法及时传导到供给侧，从市场需求到供给侧的风险依次放大。
这些问题一方面会增加核心企业的供应链管理的复杂度，另一方面是非核心企业参与感不强导致的风险忽视。虽然市场上也出现了一系列工具来帮助提升供应链上下游协同能力，但是还是存在了一些问题。
These problems, on the one hand, increase the complexity of supply chain management by core firms, and, on the other hand, the risk of under-participation by non-core firms. While a range of tools have emerged in the market to help upgrade the supply chain’s upstream and downstream synergies, there are some problems.
- 在整个供应链过程中，存在多个不同的参与方。由于不同参与者可能使用不同的数据库甚至是纸质文档，因此，数据的跨系统整合较难。
- 传统数据库体系中的数据本身存在被篡改、被攻击的风险。在准确性和安全性上还存在较大的提升空间。
- 由于产品的追踪难度大，一旦某个环节出现问题，监管机构对于不合规的活动在调查、取证及问责上存在一定的难度。
换句话说，只要中心化的思路不变，只是形式变换了，传统技术仍然难以有效地解决问题。但是区块链的信息透明共享、节点之间对等、不可篡改等各种特性，几乎就是针对供应链的对症下药，所以区块链也被誉为供应链管理的终极武器。
In other words, traditional technologies are still difficult to solve effectively as long as the idea of centrifugalization remains unchanged, with only a change of form. But characteristics such as transparent information sharing, reciprocity between nodes, and non-frozen features of the block chain are almost the same as those of the supply chain, so the block chain is also known as the ultimate weapon of supply chain management.
2.供应链金融
2. Supply chain finance
供应链金融和供应链是两个概念，因为多了金融两个字，于是严格来说，供应链金融属于金融的范畴，它是专门为供应链服务的金融。
Supply chain finance and supply chain are two concepts, since there are more than two words about finance, so that, strictly speaking, supply chain finance falls within the category of finance, which is specifically designed to serve the supply chain.
供应链金融(supply chain finance, SCF)可以泛指各种融资工具，它可用于为供应链中的各方提供资金，通过短期信贷手段来平衡上下游之间的流动资金差，从而最大限度地减少总供应链成本，企业也可以利用供应链融资与供应商建立更牢固的关系，降低金融风险和提高流动性。
Supply chain finance (supply supply finance, SCF) can refer to a broad range of financing instruments that can be used to finance parties in the supply chain to balance the liquidity gap between upstream and downstream through short-term credit instruments, thereby minimizing total supply chain costs, and can be used by firms to build stronger relationships with suppliers, reduce financial risks and increase liquidity.
与其他金融一样，供应链金融的核心也是风险管理，良好的风险管理前提是供应链信息真实可靠的透明共享。传统供应链金融围绕银行展开，银行在供应链信息上的收集也受制于传统技术，并不能完全掌握企业之间的真实订单情况，那么风险控制则十分依赖对企业的信誉判断了。
As with other finance, risk management lies at the heart of supply chain finance, where good risk management presupposes a genuine and transparent sharing of supply chain information. While traditional supply chain finance revolves around banks, and their collection of supply chain information is subject to traditional technologies that do not fully capture the true orders between firms, risk control relies heavily on the credibility of firms.
所以，如果所有的参与方都可以真实准确地查阅整个供应链的流程和状态，那么风险管理就变成了整个供应链参与方共同分担，而不仅仅只是核心企业和银行。
Thus, if all participants have real and accurate access to the process and state of the entire supply chain, risk management becomes shared by the entire supply chain participants, not just the core enterprises and banks.
区块链为供应链带来的新曙光
区块链为供应链主要带来了思维上的变革，不再是以围绕核心企业打造的生态，而是共治的生态，区块链作为基础设施可以为参与方提供良好的可信环境，从而降低供应链的成本。 The 通过上文我们知道，供应链有三流：物流、信息流、资金流。理想的情况其实是“三流合一”，也就是由区块链本身提供信息流、资金流、物流三流管理。 As we know above, there is a third stream of supply chains: logistics, information flows, and financial flows. Ideally, the “third stream” is actually a “third stream”, which is managed by the block chain itself, which provides information flows, financial flows, and logistics flows. 这里如何理解呢？ How does that make sense here? 实际上，现阶段在供应链商达到“三流合一”是十分困难的，但我认为这是一种趋势，这取决于区块链的发展速度。 In fact, it is very difficult at this stage to achieve a “triple-up” among supply chain providers, but I think it is a trend that depends on the pace of development of the block chain. 所以区块链在供应链中的切入点往往是从物流切入的，因为物流是连接各方最直观的表现，也是关系最紧密的。从物流切入可以避免与现有供应链工具的直接竞争，例如既存的供应链管理工具已经提供了信息流管理，银行提供了资金流管理，所以从物流入手项目落地的可能性最大。 So the entry point of the block chain in the supply chain is often from logistics, as logistics is the most visible expression of connectivity and is the closest to each other. Moving from logistics avoids direct competition with existing supply chain tools, such as existing supply chain management tools that already provide information flow management and banks that provide financial flow management, making it the most likely that the flow of goods to hand projects will land. 在物流上，区块链可以保证数据登记真实可信，信息对所有参与方公开透明，并且提供产品溯源功能，这似乎就已经发挥了很大的功用，解决了一些难题。 Logistically, the chain of blocks can guarantee the authenticity of data registration, the transparency of information to all participants and the provision of product traceability, which seems to have served much to resolve some of the difficulties. 说到这里你可能觉得奇怪，国内“四通一达”效率之高几乎吊打全世界，为什么还说物流有很多问题呢？其实国内的环境比较特殊，“四通一达”的创始人之间有比较好的信任基础，而且国内电商的和互联网技术的崛起，也为国内物流环境创造了良好的土壤。 Speaking of which, you may wonder why logistics has many problems in terms of the efficiency of the “one-to-one” in the country. In fact, the domestic environment is special, there is a better basis for trust among the founders of the “one-to-one” in the country, and the rise of domestic electricity suppliers and Internet technology has created a good soil for the domestic logistics environment. 所以这里主要针对的是跨境物流环境，跨境物流面临的痛点还涉及了海关、跨境汇率、目的地国家政策等多方面的影响，相互之间的信任程度更低，所以解决跨境物流是区块链在供应链上的一个突破点。 So the main focus here is on the cross-border logistics environment, where cross-border logistics faces pain points that also involve a combination of customs, cross-border exchange rates, national policies of destination, etc., with lower levels of trust between them, so that addressing cross-border logistics is a breakthrough point in the supply chain of the block chain. 区块链应用到供应链上也有很多著名案例，比如业界经常提到的几个案例： There are also many well-known examples of block chains being applied to the supply chain, such as those frequently cited by industry: 实际上，通过仔细分析我们可以发现，以上机构使用的是DLT技术，也就是联盟链，并非公链。下一篇我们通过技术视角来详细剖析一下这个现象。 In fact, through a careful analysis, we can see that these institutions are using DLT technology, that is, a chain of alliances, not a public chain. The next one is a detailed analysis of this phenomenon from a technical point of view. 总结 好了，今天我主要介绍了什么是供应链，供应链的现状以及面临的难题，最好又聊到了区块链又可以为供应链带来什么，应该从哪里切入。 Well, today I have focused on what the supply chain is, what the supply chain is and what the challenges are. It is better to talk about what the block chain can bring to the supply chain and where it should go.
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