A Novel Approach and a Language for Facilitating Collaborative Production Processes in Virtual Organizations Based on DLT Networks

Abstract

Due to strong competition and rapidly shifting market conditions, it is becoming harder for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to achieve business success. To deal with rising challenges, SMEs form Virtual Organizations (VOs) and seize business opportunities jointly. In this paper, we present an outline of a novel methodological approach that promotes trustworthy collaborative production execution within a non-hierarchical VO. Furthermore, we propose using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platforms and smart contracts to facilitate VO integration. The approach is based on the MultiProLan Domain-Specific Modeling Language (DSML) extended with concepts required to allow process designers to (i) model collaborative production processes while preserving the confidentiality of private enterprise data and (ii) configure what data should be shared between participants during the collaborative production execution. Designed process models are used to automatically generate smart contracts by following the Model-Driven (MD) principles. Finally, generated smart contracts are stored in a DLT network and used to distribute production data between VO participants and monitor production execution in near real-time. The application of our methodological approach is demonstrated by showcasing the use of the Collaborative Extension of MultiProLan (CE-MultiProLan) modeling language and its concepts for modeling collaborative production processes.