Coatings World staff12.17.20
Stahl has engaged blockchain group Finboot to supply its blockchain middleware solution MARCO.
This solution will enable Stahl to improve the way it shares and verifies its products’ sustainability credentials with brands that use materials treated with Stahl chemicals.
Stahl specializes in the production of surface treatment and coating solutions for flexible surfaces, such as leather, synthetics and fabrics.
Its direct customers are tanneries and other small manufacturers that supply their materials to brands, predominantly in the fashion and automotive industries.
Leading brands require that their suppliers only use chemicals from approved providers. That is why Stahl works closely with them to share relevant data about its products’ sustainability properties.
In the first blockchain implementation of its kind for the flexible surface chemical industry, MARCO creates immutable digital assets of Stahl’s products to deliver transparency and traceability within Stahl’s supply chain in a way that no other digital technology can.
This means that the end-brands have direct and easy access to accurate and verified information about the overall properties of Stahl’s products so, that they too, can verify the sustainability credentials of their supply chains.
These properties include documentation such as bill of materials, bill of substances and the provenance of the raw materials.
Stahl’s adoption of MARCO is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to focus on improving the environmental sustainability of its products to further solidify its position as the global leader in its sector.
As part of this, the company has sought to increase the amount of renewable raw materials used in its manufacturing processes. The revolutionary transparency provided by blockchain will play a key role in substantiating Stahl’s move away from petrochemicals to new, more sustainable raw materials.
Following successful implementation and scaling of the solution, Stahl could potentially connect with brands’ existing blockchain ecosystems in the future.
Alternatively, the brands could plug into this new ecosystem developed by Stahl and Finboot. Further down the line, there is also scope to provide end-to-end traceability along the entire supply chain for the full manufacturing process of the flexible surfaces that use Stahl products.
This means that brands will eventually be able to provide end-to-end visibility on the entire manufacturing process and supply chain behind the creation of their goods (for example, a leather handbag), down to the raw materials that make up the chemicals used during production.
“Providing customers with transparency of our sustainability and supply chain due diligence efforts is extremely important to us as we further cement Stahl’s position as an ESG leader in our sector," said John Fletcher, chief innovation officer at Stahl. "By integrating Finboot’s MARCO middleware & application suite into our digital ecosystem, we are able to demonstrate that we are actively seeking to drive positive change in our industrial processes. This is not just for the benefit of the brands which use materials that have been treated by our chemicals but for their customers too, who are becoming increasingly conscious about the provenance and sustainability credentials of the products they are buying."
