Supply Chain using Smart Contract: A Blockchain enabled model with Traceability and Ownership Management

Abstract

The concept of openness and decentralization is one which people have desired since years. Everyone wants transactional data to be transparent. When sensitive data are on the hand of third-parties, it may be susceptible to frauds and misuse. The advent of blockchain, a decentralized technology in cryptocurrency, has revealed an appropriate solution to address such issues. Blockchain maintains the integrity of a transaction. It not only secures from tempering and fraud but also ensures transactions are verifiable without involvement of an intermediate. Therefore, blockchain is applied to different decentralized domains that require trusted computing. Supply chain is one of these domains, that can benefit from trustworthy decentralized transactions initiated by multiple stakeholders. This paper presents a general model for a blockchain enabled supply chain. We have implemented this model using three smart contracts on an Ethereum platform. We have provided evidence of our verification and validation efforts. Our results convey the feasibility of the approach, which can streamline the administrative processes, and automatize the transactions making the system more efficient and transparent.