The integration of blockchain technology in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for sustainable supply chain management in the context of Industry 4.0 offers several potential benefits. A public and auditable record of the environmental impact of each supply chain stage can be made using blockchain technology. A more streamlined and effective supply chain is made possible by blockchain's decentralized structure. Delays, mistakes, and the need for middlemen are decreased by real-time access to a shared ledger. IIoT devices like sensors and RFID tags can provide real-time data on the location, condition, and environmental parameters of goods. Blockchain can then be used to record and incentivize sustainable practices, such as reducing energy consumption or minimizing waste. The integration of blockchain with IIoT can develop the supply chain management for enabling real-time tracking of goods, optimizing inventory management, and ensuring compliance with sustainability standards. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the key challenges facing traditional supply chains and how the combined use of Blockchains and IIoT technologies. The review also evaluates the environmental, social, and economic implications of adopting Blockchain-enabled IIoT solutions in supply chain operations. Furthermore, the review assesses the current state of research and development, identifying gaps in existing literature and proposing avenues for future exploration. As a results, by highlighting the synergies between these technologies, it seeks to inspire further innovation and adoption, ultimately fostering a more resilient, transparent, and environmentally conscious industrial ecosystem.
Mehayrun Nesa Shupti, Niamat Ullah Ibne Hossain, Steven A. Fazio, Jahid Hasan Ashik
Analyzing design principles and supply chain sustainability are critical for organizational success in today's competitive marketplace. The process of evaluating an organization's supply chain design principles and manufacturing sustainability entails incorporating various sources of information, which are typically uncertain, incomplete, and subjective in nature. Particularly when various organizations are confronted with significant principles such as a lack of interoperability, decentralization, virtualization, real-time and capabilities, service orientation, and so on. Using graph theory and a matrix approach (GTMA), this article attempts to analyze the interaction between design principles-related factors with a focus on operational excellence, growth and sustainability in supply chains by considering the business of Industry 4.0. We have considered electrical equipment manufacturing Industry 4.0 as test ground. Based on a literature review and expert opinions, we identified several key principles, and then explored the most significant one using graph theory and a matrix approach. The findings indicate that autonomy has been evaluated as the most significant challenge to manage design principles most effectively for sustainable manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 context. Therefore, organizations must enhance autonomous systems capable of operating and making decisions alone, without relying on external instructions or support, in order to achieve sustainability. This and the other identified principles to achieving corporate supply chain sustainability are ranked in this paper. These findings will be useful for managers and policymakers managing the interaction between people and processes, as well as corporate sustainability management in Industry 4.0-based supply chain organizations. The unique contributions of this paper can aid in the improvement of design principles and the sustainability of emerging economies' Industry 4.0 perspectives.
In this study, we examine the potential benefits and difficulties of integrating blockchain technology based on Ethereum into logistics management systems. Our goal is to offer a thorough grasp of this technology's influence on the logistics sector by looking at its theoretical underpinnings and real-world implementations. Significant outcomes from our research include greater logistic transparency, real-time updates, increased security, and automation of contractual duties. These findings underscore the need to embrace innovation and create a legislative framework that facilitates the implementation of blockchain technology, with broad ramifications for logistics firms and legislators. Our study adds to the expanding corpus of information on the application of blockchain technology in logistics, offering insightful information to scholars, policymakers, and business professionals.
The research proposes a new method for Viable Supply Chain Network Design (VSCND) that incorporates Open Innovation (OI) and Blockchain Technology (BCT). A robust stochastic optimization and Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) in the cost function is utilized to develop the model. This model's objective function incorporates the expected value, maximum cost, and CVaR cost. The OI and BCT platforms are suggested for an antifragile policy against disruption. In addition, CO 2 emissions and energy consumption are proposed as sustainability requirements. Eventually, minimum demand satisfaction and resilience facilities by incorporating capacity based on specific scenarios are added to the model for an agile strategy. This research entails several parties, including vendors supplying the primary components and manufacturers creating products based on customer preferences. OI and BCT platforms aim to receive demand based on customer specifications and facilitate rapid transactions between components. Risk-averse decision-makers utilize a polyhedral Data-Driven Robust Optimization (DDRO) approach to manage uncertainty and flexible sets. Incorporating OI and BCT as antifragility instruments resulted in a 0.2% cost reduction for VSCNDOIBCT compared to when OI and BCT were not considered. This research suggests that integrating OI and BCT positively affects SC performance overall. The decreasing rate, DDRO coefficient, agility rate, demand variation, and problem size were subjected to a sensitivity analysis.
Purpose Technology is the lifeline for the logistics industry, and it has been immensely disrupted by the emerging blockchain technology. This paper has two main objectives. The first is to explore how the current blockchain technology can be implemented in the logistics industry with the aim of improving logistic services amongst the network of logistics service providers (LSPs). The second is to propose the development of a blockchain model for the small and medium logistics service supply chain. Design/methodology/approach A prototype blockchain-based logistics system has been created and tested in a case study with a real logistics company. The primary technologies for developing a blockchain model on the Hyperledger platform as well as how the system is designed based on the logistics service flow are explained. Findings The study has resulted in the successful implementation of the proposed prototype blockchain-based logistics system. In particular, the case company has managed to fully utilise the developed tracking and tracing system. Whilst utilising the prototype, the participants have been able to fulfil their responsibilities in an effective manner. The performance of LSPs has improved following the World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) criteria. Originality/value This paper contributes to current research in the application of blockchain technologies in the domain of logistics and the supply chain to progress LSPs towards Logistics 4.0. The current frameworks for Logistics 4.0 and how blockchain as a disruptive technology revolutionises logistic services are reviewed. In addition, this paper highlights the benefits of blockchain technology that LSPs can leverage to further improve their performance based on the LPI criteria.
The burgeoning interest in both the circular economy and blockchain technology has spurred numerous proposed integrations. Despite this enthusiasm, empirical research examining the practical feasibility and critical assessment of blockchain's potential within the circular economy remains limited. This study engages with eleven distinguished blockchain experts to critically analyze the prospects of technology integration across various facets of the circular economy, aiming to predict potential outcomes. Utilizing the Delphi method, this research seeks to attain a consensus on the experts' visions and opinions. The findings suggest a nuanced perspective: while certain integrations in the circular economy may face challenges and are unlikely to succeed, others could prove effective in the long term, provided specific conditions are met. When appropriately designed Tokenomics are in place, and the necessary level of digitalization is achieved, blockchain technology can significantly incentivize circular economy practices. However, the complete disintermediation of circular practices through blockchain is viewed as less feasible, owing to its reliance on external data providers.
A. Anitha, M. Priya, M. K. Nallakaruppan, Deepa Natesan · 6 authors
INTRODUCTION: Supply chain management is the management process of the flow of goods, and services related to financial functionalities, procurement of raw materials delivery to the final destination. OBJECTIVES: Since the traditional supply chain process lacks data visibility, trustworthiness, and distributed ledger, the need for the blockchain mechanism to ensure the time-stamped transactions to provide a secured supply chain process has been introduced and integrated. METHODS: The distributed nature of the blockchain helps in organizing the supply chain and engaging the customers with real, verifiable, and immutable data. Blockchain technology enables these transactions to be tracked in a very secure and transparent manner. In this paper, we, therefore, propose a framework that utilizes blockchain and key Escrow encryption systems to optimize the security of supply chains to improve services for global business survivability. RESULTS: The comparative analysis with the existing benchmarking techniques with respect to the key size, key generation time, and key distribution time was carried out with the proposed model and found that proposed work provides better results. CONCLUSION: This proposed system can track the authenticity of the product and details about the manufacturer of that particular product. Thus, the paper concludes the proposed work enhances data’s integrity, traceability, and availability and single-point failure can be resolved or reduced using blockchain mechanism.
Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize forestry by providing a secure and transparent method of tracking and verifying the origin and movement of forest products. This could help combat forestry issues such as illegal logging, deforestation, and label fraud. In this study, transparency, and the associated certification of sustainable forest management, as well as proof of legality of raw material is investigated. The adoption of blockchain technology in forestry is still in its infancy, and challenges include ensuring the accuracy of the data stored in the blockchain and the participation of all relevant stakeholders in the supply chain. Overall, blockchain technology offers great potential for successful deployment in the timber supply chain and could help promote sustainability and preserve biodiversity. This paper provides an overview of blockchain technology, considers requirements for forestry and timber industries, discusses necessary digitization aspects and refers to existing applications.
The flattening of sales channels makes it easy for an upstream core parts supplier in an assembly supply chain to invade the downstream market. This also introduces several challenges for the efficient performance and management of the supply chain system. Whereas restrictive factors such as supplier confidentiality agreements have limited the product encroachment by the suppliers, the adoption of blockchain technology for improving information diaphaneity and efficiency of the supply chain can potentially encourage market intrusion by the suppliers. Therefore, whether blockchain technology can be successfully accepted and implemented by both the suppliers and incumbent manufacturers, and how this can be achieved, are issues that need urgent attention in the case of supply chain systems. In this paper, we establish a two-stage assembly supply chain consisting of an incumbent manufacturer and a core component supplier that invades the downstream market with imitation products, in order to analyze the impact of supplier encroachment and the application of blockchain technology on the assembly system. The results show that it is more beneficial to play the dual role of core supplier and product manufacturer than to only be a core supplier. Similarly, when the cost of implementing blockchain technology is lower than a specific threshold, the implementation of blockchain is always beneficial for the encroaching supplier, whereas the manufacturer does not always benefit. The blockchain not only improves the selling price of the core component produced by the supplier, but also improves the quality of the core component and increases the total market demand. Finally, in view of the potential benefits and conflicts that may arise from the implementation of the blockchain, we design corresponding ex-ante, ex-post and hybrid coordination mechanisms to achieve a win-win situation in this competitive system. Our modeling work and results provide useful managerial insights regarding the encroachment by core component suppliers and the implementation of blockchain technology in assembly supply chains.
Mohammad Basheer, Faris Elghaish, Tara Brooks, Farzad Pour Rahimian · 5 authors
The prevailing practices in construction supply chain management are characterised by significant challenges, including fragmentation, a lack of trust among stakeholders, and restricted information sharing. This research introduces a blockchain-based integrated system for managing construction materials and inventory to enhance the traceability and transparency of shared supply chain material information. This initiative will foster a collaborative and open supply chain environment among stakeholders and effectively address material delays, resulting in smoother project operations and minimized disruptions, thus promoting operational efficiency. Furthermore, the system's potential to substantially reduce the incidence of legal disputes is underpinned by the secure and tamper-proof storage of information within shared ledgers, fostering a high level of accountability and trustworthiness. The integration of the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) approach within blockchain smart contracts streamlines procurement processes, leading to a noteworthy reduction in purchase orders and associated overhead costs. The study employs a Design Science Research (DSR) approach to create a decentralised construction supply chain system, monitoring changes in material information during the supply process and addressing uncertainties associated with managing construction material inventory. The proposed system empowers project stakeholders by providing real-time material information access, resulting in improved decision-making and a reduction in material delays. Additionally, the construction material management-based blockchain and smart system enables project parties to efficiently handle inventory for complex projects, interconnecting all supply chain tasks within an integrated smart contract. The usability of the proposed solution was assessed using a usability test technique, with participants confirming its applicability in construction environments. They highlighted key benefits, including reduced material purchasing costs, decreased legal disputes among project stakeholders, and improved decision-making.
Balancing efficiency and resilience in any supply chain commences from its ability to secure supplier networks. Blockchain technology applications in procurement can work as a major enabler in this process. Despite the unquestionable relevance of Blockchain Technology (BCT)-integrated Procurement, no comprehensive review exists. Considering this significant research gap, the present study aims to provide a comprehensive literature review by deeply examining 95 highly relevant papers published from January 2012 to Sep 2023. Existing literature studies suggest BCT as the imitable enabler of the Procurement 4.0 era, yet the topic has not been fully explored and researched. This study identifies noteworthy deficits in theoretical underpinnings, technological contributions in generating new revenue models, radical impacts anticipated on the procurement organization restructuring, and so forth. The research is timely and importantly advantageous because it offers a holistic view of relevant literature-driven evidence about a range of existing dimensions on the subject. More specifically, this study provides exhaustive key recommendations for future research on BCT applications in procurement utilizing the Theory, Context, and Methodology (TCM) framework.
Abstract The emergence and subsequent popularization of lean manufacturing have become one of the most significant for improving the efficiency and productivity of operations. The use of lean manufacturing tools and methods leads to the elimination of waste in the organization. Traditional information systems that allow organizations to share information about resources while managing process performance and traceability have a number of disadvantages such as security, interoperability, and transparency. Currently, distributed ledger technology (block-chain) is widely used for this purpose. This article presents a study of decentralized management of the implementation of a distributed ledger infrastructure, which is selected based on the characteristics of the production system. This study proposes a framework that analyzes lean production methods using simulation and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to accommodate the underlying multi-objective decision-making problem. The current study examines the impact of the simultaneous application of RCA technology, lean manufacturing methods, and distributed ledger technology on the total time, costs, and time of production processes.
Morteza Ghobakhloo, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik, Muhammad Faraz Mubarak · 6 authors
Abstract Blockchain technology is a core technology expected to play a highly instrumental role in competing with socioenvironmental challenges. The literature hypothesizes various blockchain functions for building a sustainable business ecosystem. This study unifies these diverse perspectives into an interpretive strategy roadmap that provides a holistic overview of how blockchain should be leveraged to deliver sustainability functions optimally. The study first identified the sustainability functions of blockchain through a content‐centric literature review. The study applied interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and drew on experts' opinions to model how and in which order blockchain delivers these sustainability functions. The study further drew on the ISM output and interpretive logic‐knowledge base to develop the promised roadmap. Results revealed that blockchain promotes a decentralized decision system that facilitates automation and real‐time information sharing (RIS) across supply chains. Blockchain introduces traceability and transparency into supply chain operations. These conditions offer monitoring of business operations and the development of trust across value‐chain stakeholders. These driver functions lead to value chain optimization and circularity integration into business and supply chain operations. When these necessary functional conditions are met, businesses can further draw on blockchain to promote economic and environmental aspects of sustainability through more complex functions enabling resource efficiency, cost reduction, pollution prevention, and higher profit margins. The order in which businesses can leverage these functions would define blockchain sustainability performance. Each function is uniquely valuable to sustainability, and none of them can be overlooked.
Cristina Regueiro, Aitor Gómez-Goiri, N. A. Pedrosa, Christos Semertzidis · 6 authors
As the global population continues to grow, the enormous stress on our environment and resources is becoming impossible to ignore. A focus on producing and consuming as cheap as possible has created an economy in which objects are briefly used and then discarded as waste, featuring a linear lifecycle that creates an enormous amount of waste. The alternative to the linear economy "take-make-waste" is called the “circular economy”. Under this paradigm, materials are recycled to build new products or components that are designed and built to promote their reuse and refurbishment. This assures the continuous (re-)exploitation of existing resources, reducing the extraction of new raw materials. However, customers often reject these reused or refurbished products under the suspicion that they do not meet the same usability, safety, or performance levels of new products. In this sense, trustworthy records of historical details of refurbished products could increase consumers’ confidence in products and components of the "circular economy", prioritizing trustworthiness, reliability, and transparency. This work presents a new certification tool based on blockchain technology to guarantee trusted, accurate, transparent and traceable lifecycle information of products and their components and to generate trustworthy certificates to probe refurbished product historical details. This tool aims to enhance refurbished product visibility by creating the basis for making the circular economy a reality in any domain.
The building industry is one of the most resource-intensive sectors in industrialized countries, requiring a shift from a linear to a more sustainable circular economic model. Nevertheless, there are several major challenges, such as the management of information regarding used materials and products, the lack of cross-sector documentation tools, and sales operations for implementing a dynamic circular economy in the building industry. To overcome these challenges, blockchain technology for documentation, tracing used materials and products, and the use of multi-criteria decision-making approaches for the ranking and selection of optimal used materials and products have emerged as crucial facilitators, with the potential to address the technological, organizational, environmental, and economic requirements. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework of a digital platform ecosystem for implementing a dynamic circular economy in the building industry through the integration of blockchain technology and a multi-criteria decision-making approach built upon their synergy. The priority order of two alternatives of used materials and products was determined according to the AHP method, leading to selection of the most sustainable alternative. This research study contributes to dynamic circular economies by (1) facilitating cross-sector information transparency and the tracing of used materials and products from their sources to their end-of-life stages and through (2) the ranking and selection of used materials and products based on their overall properties.
The construction sector is now experiencing a significant transformation, primarily motivated by the need to enhance operational efficiency and promote sustainable practices. The emergence of blockchain technology has been seen as a disruptive factor that has the potential to fundamentally transform the field of supply chain management within the construction industry. Nevertheless, the extent to which this technology has revolutionized the sector has yet to be extensively investigated. The primary objective of this study is to address the existing research void by examining the impact of blockchain technology on enhancing the capabilities of building supply chains. This study employs a thorough examination of empirical case studies and a survey conducted among 136 industry professionals to explore the many functions of blockchain technology in augmenting efficiency, transparency, and traceability within building supply chains. The significant constructs were found having impact on blockchain implementation for construction supply chains are, Transparency and Traceability (β = 0.202, ρ = 0.000, t = 42.560), Smart Contracts for Automation (β = 0.232, ρ = 0.000, t = 62.596), Quality Assurance and Compliance (β = 0.230, ρ = 0.000, t = 64.704), Dispute Resolution and Accountability (β = 0.235, ρ = 0.000, t = 79.533), Supplier Management and Verification (β = 0.251, ρ = 0.000, t = 49.404).
This study examines the intricate relationships among Blockchain Technology utilization, Supply Chain Efficiency, Export Performance, and the Financial Performance of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The research aims to elucidate the impact of technology adoption on various operational and financial aspects within the SME context. Employing a quantitative research design, data was collected from a diverse sample of SMEs across industries. The relationships were analyzed using statistical techniques, and the hypotheses were tested to uncover the implications of Blockchain Technology integration on SMEs' performance dimensions. The findings reveal that the adoption of Blockchain Technology significantly enhances Supply Chain Efficiency, underscoring its potential for optimizing operational workflows. However, the direct impact of technology on SME Financial Performance is not established, suggesting the importance of a holistic approach to financial growth. Moreover, the positive association between Blockchain Technology and Export Performance highlights the pivotal role of technology in fostering international trade success. Theoretical implications underscore the intricate interplay between technology adoption, operational efficiencies, and financial outcomes in SMEs. Managerially, the study advocates for SMEs to strategically integrate technology within their supply chain management practices to achieve enhanced efficiency and market competitiveness. Limitations include the potential for contextual variations and measurement biases. Future research can delve deeper into the moderating factors that influence the relationship between technology and financial performance in SMEs. The novelty of this study lies in its comprehensive examination of the interrelationships between these factors within the SME context.
Fossil fuel pollution has contributed to dramatic changes in the Earth’s climate, and this trend will continue as fossil fuels are burned at an ever-increasing rate. Many countries around the world are currently making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one of the methods is the Tradable White Certificate (TWC) mechanism. The mechanism allows organizations to reduce their energy consumption to generate energy savings certificates, and those that achieve greater energy savings can sell their certificates to those that fall short. However, there are some challenges to implementing this mechanism, such as the centralized and costly verification and control of energy savings. Moreover, the verification process is not transparent, which could lead to fraud or manipulation of the system. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a blockchain-based TWC mechanism to automatically create, verify, and audit the TWC certificates. In addition, we propose a smart-contract-based TWC trading mechanism that enables traders to trade their TWCs without exposing their private information in an untrusted environment. Evaluations show that the proposed TWC framework is scalable for 1000 TWC traders simultaneously, and optimization problem can be solved in less than 120ms. Moreover, it has been shown that Polygon Matic incurs least gas cost compared to other blockchain-based solutions.
Muhammad Farrukh Shahzad, Shuo Xu, Rimsha Baheer, Waleed Ahmad
This research study aims to reveal the role of supply chain parameters approved by blockchain technology toward firm performance through trust. This study has also examined the moderating role of government support between trust and firm performance. The underlying theories reinforce the usefulness and flexibility of a supply chain in regulating daily fluctuations and uncertainties in supply and demand. Blockchain technology adoption with supply chain tactics provides a more suitable environment for better firm performance. Governments address legal and security concerns related to blockchain technology and provide clear guidelines and standards for its use in supply chains, which build trust among firms and stakeholders. A conceptual model has been developed with the assistance of past empirical research studies and associated theories. This research study has examined the following relationships from a sample of 465 employees from textile industrial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The current research study assesses these parameters using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. The analysis showed that supply chain parameters (alignment, agility, adaptability) approved by blockchain technology positively correlate with firm performance. Trust positively mediated the relationship between supply chain parameters approved by blockchain technology and firm performance. Furthermore, government support positively moderated the relationship between trust and firm performance. The study would provide directions for further research. These findings will give the global supply chain industry valuable insights into blockchain technology for firm performance. In theory, this research study would contribute to the scientific literature by answering how trust and government support affect the overall firm performance.
Assia Chadly, Haya R. Hasan, Karim Moawad, Khaled Salah · 6 authors
The supply chain of rare earth metals plays a crucial role in producing thin-film solar photovoltaics (PVs), which are vital for renewable energy generation. However, this supply chain is often characterized by opacity, inefficiencies, and security concerns especially since those rare earth metals come from mainly one supplier, China. Also, the solar PVs’ certificates are purely technical and fail to consider the ethical sourcing and sustainable supply chain management conditions of mining. The working conditions of the miners are often neglected and are least prioritized. In this paper, a blockchain-based solution was proposed to leverage the intrinsic decentralized blockchain features including traceability, transparency, non-repudiation, and accountability in the supply chain of thin-film solar PVs, to safeguard not only the technical conditions of the mined products but also the ethical conditions of the workers during mining. Ethical mines must uphold good safety standards, pay their workers a fair wage, adhere to working hours, and legal working age. The solution paves the way to ethical mining where the certification of the PVs is not granted unless both technical and ethical conditions are met. The supply chain of thin-film PVs that goes from mining the rare earth metals in China, where more than 70% of the rare earth metals used are extracted from, to the disposal at the end-of-life (EOL) of the PVs was presented. Smart contracts to enable the on-chain traceability of the registration, manufacturing, assessment, delivery, and disposal of PVs were developed. The solution exploits the tamper-proof logs of the distributed ledger to ensure accountability and record transactions as part of the data provenance. The proposed solution includes a system design with sequence diagrams, smart contracts with algorithms, and a testing and analysis section.
Construction industry nowadays is facing several key issues as the likes of cost and time overruns and unstable business environment which lead to suppressed profitability, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction. Studies have suggested, an improved Supply Chain Management (SCM) towards Sustainable Supply Chain (SSCM) could help in this regard, however there are barriers observed to its implementation in the construction industry. Building Information Modelling (BIM) too is considered a positive disrupter in the construction industry due to the potential in its applications, and one of such potential is improving the SCM. However, similar to SCM, adoption of BIM faces several barriers. Preliminary review suggests that some of its barriers could be resolved by integrating with Blockchain, another disruptor stemming from Industry 4.0. Hence, this paper attempts to assess how the synergy of BIM and blockchain would improve the SCM of the construction industry. For that purpose, through a systematic literature review, the paper structures the barriers of SCM, and barriers and benefits of BIM and blockchain in construction industry across the dimensions of Socio-technical, Industrial, Organizational, Financial, Legal and Institutional, and Sustainability, and conceptually maps the barriers and benefits to identify their collective impact on SCM. From this study it was found that with the help of Blockchain integration, there are a number of potential synergies that may solve critical inherent issues in both BIM and SCM, such as reluctance of information sharing and trust, sustainability concerns and safety, leading to positive cumulative impact on SCM. However, it was also recognized that there can be negative as well as neutral cumulative impacts on areas such as cost, and lack of personnel, knowledge and institutional support that can lead to an opposite impact.