Blockchain is—finally!—evolving from buzzword to mainstream terminology, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t saddled with confusion.

In the latest episode of Sourcing Journal Radio, SJ founder and president Edward Hertzman sits down with Amit Guatam of TextileGenesis to learn how the technology can be used to authenticate fibers, which—for as long as clothing has been sold—has been nearly impossible to do.

TextileGenesis’s traceability platform was designed specifically for the apparel industry. It intends to provide transparency into the entire supply chain—from fiber to finished product—thereby helping companies advance their sustainability goals. In his chat, Guatam breaks down, in the simplest terms as possible, exactly what blockchain is and why the digital ledger technology is so valuable for fiber authenticity.

It’s so meaningful, in fact, that Guatam believes that it will change the way supply chain partners interact and the level of trust that exists between them. “I fundamentally believe that the biggest impact of blockchain will be in the supply chain [and] will be in the authentication of the ingredients across the supply chain,” he said. “Lot of transaction certificates are being used in this industry with a PDF file, and it takes one minute to convert a PDF file into a Word document, change all the data, and [change it] back to PDF. … The entire industry trusts these transaction certificates based on PDFs to drive authentication, and that's where blockchain can make a huge leap forward.”

Listen to learn:

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