Marc Hübschke, Marius Gros, Benedikt Latos, Elmar Holschbach · 5 authors
Purpose Blockchain technology is widely discussed as an enabler of transparency, efficiency and trust in supply chain management (SCM). However, empirical evidence on which blockchain-related success dimensions translate into value perceptions remains limited. This study aims to examine how the perceived relevance of blockchain success dimensions relates to realized benefits and whether these benefits contribute to overall perceived blockchain value. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey of 41 companies with blockchain experience in SCM is conducted. Success dimensions are prioritized using best–worst scaling (MaxDiff). Relationships between perceived relevance, dimension-specific benefits and overall perceived value are analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Exploratory analyses assess company characteristics. Findings Contrary to dominant expectations in academic and practitioner narratives, even highly prioritized blockchain success dimensions fail to translate into measurable firm-level value perceptions. While transparency and traceability are associated with significant dimension-specific benefits, these improvements do not produce statistically significant direct or indirect effects on overall perceived blockchain value. This suggests that localized operational gains alone may be insufficient to generate overall perceived value and indicates that blockchain benefits may depend on broader organizational and technological complements. Originality/value The study moves beyond identifying potential blockchain benefits by empirically differentiating which success dimensions matter and which do not. By combining MaxDiff with PLS-SEM, it offers a structured, mechanism-oriented framework for evaluating blockchain success and highlights boundary conditions for value realization in SCM.
With the standardization of the logistics market and advancements in innovation, trust issues arising from information asymmetry among supply chain participants have become increasingly prominent. This paper examines a blockchain-enabled collaborative regulatory system for logistics service supply chains involving the government, logistics enterprises, and the logistics market. Using evolutionary game theory, a three-party evolutionary game model is constructed and validated through system dynamics simulations to explore the impacts of various factors on the collaborative regulatory system. The results indicate that, during the system’s evolution, logistics enterprises stabilize first, followed by the government, with the logistics market converging the slowest. The added value of logistics services is identified as the core factor driving logistics enterprises to adopt blockchain, exhibiting a significantly stronger impact compared to regulatory benefits or improvements in quality and safety. While robust incentive policies can rapidly increase enterprises’ willingness to adopt blockchain technology, they concurrently weaken the government’s enthusiasm for regulation.
Introduction Shippers may undeclare maritime dangerous goods as general cargo to avoid the preparation time, documentation burden, and freight premium associated with dangerous goods transportation, creating serious risks for vessel safety, port operations, and the marine environment. This paper examines whether blockchain-enabled documentation can mitigate such undeclaration by improving provenance information and shortening preparation and verification time in the dangerous goods channel. Methods We develop a game-theoretic model with one carrier and a continuum of heterogeneous shippers who differ in their marginal willingness to pay for service level, and in which the carrier endogenously sets the dangerous goods transportation price. We characterize the equilibrium declaration behavior under a benchmark scenario and under blockchain adoption, and extend the model to settings with carrier competition and enhanced detection. Results Undeclaration motives vary with the service environment: when dangerous goods service is relatively low, service-sensitive shippers undeclare to access the faster generalcargo channel; when service is sufficiently high, price-sensitive shippers undeclare to avoid the dangerous goods tariff. The carrier’s profit-maximizing price therefore does not generally coincide with the regulatory objective of zero undeclaration. Blockchain adoption introduces two opposing forces: a service-enhancement effect that encourages truthful declaration and a cost-escalation effect that raises the dangerous goods price. As a result, blockchain reduces undeclaration only when documentation-time savings dominate the price premium induced by adoption costs; when this condition fails, adoption may increase undeclaration and reduce compliant shipper surplus. Discussion Blockchain-enabled documentation is not a universal safety remedy. Its effect on undeclaration depends on the interaction between documentation-time savings and the adoption-driven price increase, and the extensions with carrier competition and enhanced detection show that blockchain deployment should be evaluated jointly with pricing, detection, competition, and regulatory policies.
Martin Končár, Adel Aazami, Sebastian Kummer, Navid Mohammadi
Digital technologies are widely expected to reshape supply chains, yet the conditions under which they deliver operational and sustainability-related value in practice remain insufficiently understood. This study examines how digital technologies influence supply chain operations and performance, where performance is operationalized through demand forecasting accuracy, cost, lead time, visibility, and inter-organizational collaboration, and asks how these technologies can support more resilient, resource-efficient, and sustainable supply chain operations. The study adopts an exploratory qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with eight supply chain professionals at manager level or above, drawn from the aluminum, elevator, railway, food, and consumer goods industries in Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, and conducted between March and June 2025. A structured literature review complements the interview evidence. Within this exploratory sample, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics were the most widely adopted technologies (five of eight participants each), followed by the Internet of Things (four of eight) and Automation (five of eight), while no participant reported active Blockchain deployment. Reported benefits concentrated on forecasting accuracy, operational efficiency, visibility, and collaboration, whereas high implementation costs, legacy system integration, skill shortages, and regulatory uncertainty formed the principal barriers. The central finding is a conditional relationship between adoption and competitiveness: internal operational gains did not automatically translate into competitive advantage among the professionals interviewed, but appeared to require strategic alignment, cross-functional integration, and performance measurement. Because digitally enabled forecasting, inventory positioning, and resource optimization also reduce waste and improve resource utilization, the findings link digital supply chain transformation to sustainable development objectives. This exploratory study of eight participants therefore provides practitioner-level propositions and a research agenda for digital and sustainable supply chain transformation rather than statistically generalizable findings.
Background Scientific output on digital transformation in healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chains increased substantially after 2020, indicating growing research attention to resilient and digitally integrated logistics systems. However, the literature remains fragmented across technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, predictive analytics, cold chain monitoring and healthcare logistics optimization. Methods This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications related to digital transformation and emerging technologies in healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chains. Data were retrieved from Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science databases following PRISMA 2020 screening principles. After duplicate removal and eligibility assessment, 83 peer-reviewed English-language journal articles published between 2015 and 2026 were included in the final analysis. Bibliometric mapping and thematic analysis were performed using VOSviewer and Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny. Results Within the analyzed corpus, the results showed a substantial increase in scientific publications after 2020, consistent with growing research attention to resilient and digitally integrated healthcare supply chains. Blockchain showed the highest visibility in keyword and citation-based analyses, particularly in relation to traceability, transparency and anti-counterfeit systems. Additional major research areas included artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, IoT-based cold chain monitoring and healthcare logistics optimization. Thematic analysis identified strong literature-based associations between digital technologies, supply chain resilience and pharmaceutical traceability systems. Conclusions Digital technologies are increasingly represented in research on healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chain transformation. The findings suggest that blockchain, AI and IoT technologies may support transparency, traceability and operational resilience. However, implementation barriers related to interoperability, infrastructure costs, data privacy and regulatory complexity remain significant challenges. These findings should be interpreted as bibliometric and thematic patterns within the analyzed English-language journal literature rather than direct evidence of technology implementation effectiveness.
Alifta Dicasani, Galih Mahardika Munandar, Muhammad Nur Wahyu Hidayah, Faradhina Azzahra
Post-disaster aid logistics is frequently affected by fragmented data, mismatches between needs and availability, distribution delays, and weak accountability. This study integrates a systematic literature review (SLR) and a proof-of-concept (PoC) to examine how blockchain can support data governance and aid traceability. Articles published in 2020-2025 were retrieved from ScienceDirect and Scopus, selected using PRISMA principles, and synthesized thematically from 31 eligible studies. The synthesis identified coordination and information alignment, along with traceability of goods, funds, beneficiaries, and delivery status, as the dominant issues. Frequently reported mechanisms included distributed ledgers, smart contracts, audit trails, cryptographic identities, and role verification. These findings were translated into a Solidity-based smart-contract PoC on a local Ganache network covering requests, stock, allocation, shipment, receipt validation, and event logs. Three synthetic scenarios and an access-control test showed that valid transactions were recorded, over-allocation was rejected, receipt discrepancies were flagged, and unauthorized operations were reverted. Blockchain is therefore better positioned as an infrastructure for data governance and transaction validation than as a standalone solution to all disaster-logistics problems.
Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) have been proposed for humanitarian operations because their shared-ledger characteristics may support transparency, traceability, accountability and coordination across organisations. This systematic evidence review synthesises research on operational benefits, adoption barriers, implementation conditions and evidence gaps in humanitarian supply chains. The evidence includes systematic reviews, empirical pilot research, expert-based barrier analysis, case-based design research and implementation-framework studies. Across the literature, the most consistently reported potential benefits are visibility, traceability, transparency, auditability, trust and inter-organisational information sharing. The empirical base is smaller than the conceptual literature, and barriers include regulatory uncertainty, skills and training, sustainability costs, privacy, infrastructure, scalability, interoperability and governance. The review proposes an eight-stage implementation pathway centred on problem diagnosis, technology justification, governance, privacy-aware architecture, piloting, capacity building, evaluation and controlled scaling. The framework is a synthesis proposed by the author from the reviewed evidence, rather than a tested causal model. The review concludes that blockchain should be selected conditionally, where multiple independent actors need a shared auditable record and where the expected coordination value justifies the additional technological and governance complexity.
Yassin Selouani, Ikram El Hachimi, Driss Ouslimane
Le management de la chaîne logistique connaît aujourd'hui de profondes mutations, dans lesquelles la transformation digitale s'impose comme un levier essentiel pour améliorer la traçabilité, renforcer la résilience et accroître la compétitivité des organisations. Si cette évolution est largement documentée dans les économies développées, les connaissances restent encore limitées en Afrique, où les contextes infrastructurels, institutionnels et socio-économiques présentent des spécificités importantes. Cette étude propose une revue systématique de la littérature afin de dresser un état des lieux des recherches consacrées à la transformation digitale des chaînes logistiques sur le continent. En suivant le protocole PRISMA, une recherche menée dans sept sources de recherche documentaire a permis de retenir 56 études parmi 742 références initialement recensées. Les résultats montrent un champ de recherche encore émergent, principalement centré sur l'Afrique du Sud, le Nigeria, le Ghana et le Kenya, ainsi que sur les secteurs agricole et pharmaceutique. La blockchain et l'Internet des objets dominent les travaux, tandis que l'intelligence artificielle et le big data demeurent encore peu mobilisés. Malgré une accélération de l'adoption sous l'effet de la pression concurrentielle et de la COVID-19, des obstacles persistants, telles que l’insuffisance des infrastructures, les coûts élevés, le déficit de compétences et la faiblesse des cadres réglementaires, limitent les bénéfices attendus. Cette étude fournit ainsi une synthèse structurée en langue française d’un corpus principalement anglophone et met en évidence plusieurs pistes pour la recherche et les politiques de digitalisation des chaînes logistiques africaines.
The convergence of AI, Blockchain, IoT, Digital Twins, quantum computing, and FKF spectral methods constitutes a decisive research direction for next-generation logistics, especially when examined through the lens of Smart Mobility and Intelligent Transportation Systems [9]. Future work must prioritize real-time fusion of connected-vehicle and smart-infrastructure data streams, construction of scalable multi-resolution Digital Twin environments that span both supply chains and urban mobility networks, development of trustworthy AI models for predictive and prescriptive control, realization of practical hybrid quantum–classical optimizers for the combinatorial problems that dominate intelligent transportation and logistics, and computationally efficient multi-scale spectral analysis of complex temporal dynamics. Empirical validation across transportation, inventory, energy, and disruption scenarios incorporating advances in battery technologies [5], [10], solar-assisted and hybrid vehicle architectures [12], [28], and Industry 5.0 human-centric automation [27]will be indispensable. Realizing these advances will transform intelligent logistics from a conceptual integration into operational, sustainable, and resilient supply-chain systems that fully exploit the emerging capabilities of smart mobility ecosystems [1]–[28].
A convergent supply-chain architecture is proposed by integrating Digital Twins with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), quantum computing, and FKF spectral analysis to address the growing complexity, uncertainty, and disruption risks in modern logistics. Digital Twins enable real-time virtual representation, simulation, monitoring, and disruption-response analysis, while AI extracts predictive and prescriptive intelligence from continuous IoT-generated data. Blockchain strengthens data integrity, transparency, security, and end-to-end traceability across supply-chain transactions. Quantum annealing supports computationally intensive logistics optimization problems, including routing, resource allocation, scheduling, and ULD configuration. FKF-based spectral features provide a mathematical representation of shifts, modulation effects, lead-time behavior, transient variations, and multiscale supply-chain dynamics. The integration of these complementary technologies enables information to flow from real-time sensing and trusted data management to spectral analysis, predictive intelligence, simulation, and advanced optimization. Together, the proposed architecture provides an adaptive, intelligent, sustainable, and resilient framework for monitoring supply-chain conditions, anticipating disruptions, evaluating alternative decisions, and improving overall logistics performance.
This study introduces an FKF-enabled intelligent supply-chain framework that integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twins, and quantum optimization into a unified architecture. The FKF transform provides a mathematical spectral representation of supply-chain signals, enabling the identification of temporal shifts, modulation effects, multiscale patterns, demand fluctuations, and lead-time dynamics. These spectral features can be supplied to AI and machine-learning models to improve forecasting, anomaly detection, disruption prediction, and resilience assessment. IoT devices continuously provide real-time operational data from transportation, inventory, production, and logistics processes, while Blockchain supports secure data sharing, traceability, and transaction transparency across supply-chain participants. Digital Twins complement these technologies by creating dynamic virtual representations of physical supply-chain systems, allowing alternative scenarios, disruptions, and recovery strategies to be simulated before implementation. Quantum annealing is incorporated to address selected computationally intensive combinatorial decisions, such as routing, scheduling, resource allocation, and logistics configuration. By connecting FKF-based mathematical spectral intelligence with AI-driven analytics, trusted digital infrastructure, simulation capabilities, and emerging quantum optimization, the proposed framework provides an integrated pathway toward more predictive, adaptive, transparent, sustainable, and resilient supply-chain management. The content should be logically organized in a single paragraph, maintaining coherence and clarity throughout. Ensure that the abstract captures the research context, problem statement, approach, key results, and final conclusions in a balanced manner. Keywords— Quantum Computing; Quantum Annealing; Logistics Optimization; Unit Load Device Configuration; Supply Chain Management; Artificial Intelligence; Digital Twins; Blockchain; Supply Chain Resilience; FKF Transform.
This study proposes a convergent framework integrating AI, Blockchain, IoT, Digital Twins, quantum computing, and FKF spectral analysis for sustainable and resilient supply chains. AI supports prediction and optimization, Blockchain improves transparency and traceability, IoT enables real-time sensing, and Digital Twins facilitate simulation and adaptive disruption management. Quantum annealing addresses selected combinatorial logistics problems, including ULD configuration, while FKF methods characterize temporal shifts, modulation, multiscale dynamics, and lead-time variations. The integration establishes a closed-loop architecture linking sensing, spectral analysis, intelligence, simulation, trust, and optimization for adaptive logistics decision-making.
Gurkan Akalin, Birsen Karpak, Y. İlker Topçu, Emel Aktaş
Purpose The pandemic, disruptions to transportation networks, geopolitical conflicts and trade restrictions over the past five years have intensified attention to supply chain resilience (SCRes) from both academia and industry. At the same time, rapid digitalisation is transforming traditional supply chains. Although numerous studies have examined digital technologies or SCRes independently, limited attention has been given to the reciprocal interrelationships among digital technologies and SCRes dimensions. Given the interconnected nature of digital technologies and the multidimensional characteristics of SCRes, examining these reciprocal interrelationships is essential for capturing their collective influence. Therefore, this study aims to identify the digital technologies that influence SCRes and examine their interrelationships with the dimensions of SCRes, thereby clarifying the relative roles and influence of both digital technologies and SCRes dimensions in strengthening more resilient and sustainable supply chains. Design/methodology/approach We conducted a structured literature review (SLR) and consulted a hybrid panel of seven academic and industry experts to identify the key dimensions of SCRes and the digital technologies influencing them. We then worked with experts to prioritise these factors using the analytic network process (ANP), an extension of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) that is well-suited to modelling the strong interdependencies and feedback relationships among digital technologies and SCRes dimensions. Data were collected in both 2023 and 2025 from the same experts to capture the changes in expert judgements over time. Findings We found that collaboration and Internet-of-Things (IoT) have exerted the strongest relative influence on SCRes. In particular, collaboration becomes the highest priority factor overall, whereas IoT is the highest priority digital technology within the proposed decision framework. Visibility and velocity follow as the next most influential resilience dimensions, while AI and blockchain, although lower ranked, exhibit increasing relative influence across the two assessment periods. We also argue that no single digital technology on its own is sufficient to achieve supply chain resilience. Successful adoption and implementation require an understanding of how these technologies mutually interact with SCRes dimensions. By explicitly accounting for these interdependencies, the proposed decision framework prioritises both digital technologies and SCRes dimensions according to their relative influence on supply chain resilience, providing practical guidance for organisations seeking to strengthen resilience. Originality/value This study advances the SCRes literature by proposing an integrated ANP-based framework that models the interdependencies and feedback relationships between digital technologies and SCRes dimensions. Unlike prior studies that examine technologies in isolation or treat resilience dimensions as independent constructs, the present study evaluates both the combined and individual influence of digital technologies within a multidimensional resilience framework. The study further contributes by organising the literature around digital technologies and SCRes dimensions, revealing their interplay through expert judgement and providing a temporal comparison of evolving priorities between 2023 and 2025. The findings further demonstrate that SCRes emerges through reciprocal interdependencies between digital technologies and multiple resilience dimensions rather than through isolated technological effects.
Open access
Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis
To address the issue where information asymmetry in third-party logistics (3PL)-led low-carbon supply chain coordination undermines coordination efficiency, thereby threatening the sustainability and resilience of supply chain cooperation, this paper develops a Stackelberg dynamic game model with the 3PL as the leader. This model is constructed within the context where consumers’ low-carbon preferences influence product demand, and a government carbon cap policy is implemented. By comparing decentralized and centralized equilibria, we verify that centralized collaboration achieves dual gains: higher carbon reduction levels and greater overall supply chain profits, which strengthens sustainability and resilience. To address efficiency losses from three types of information asymmetry, we propose a two-stage dynamic coordination mechanism adapted to evolving cooperation transparency. At the initial stage with opaque information, a bargaining-power-weighted profit-sharing contract is adopted, where negotiation weights are quantified by enterprise scale, resource control and industry influence. After data transparency improves, the system switches to a Nash bargaining framework supported by blockchain carbon data sharing to realize stable long-term collaboration. Numerical cases and sensitivity analysis demonstrate that manufacturer cost information asymmetry is the primary constraint on coordination efficiency. The proposed dynamic coordination scheme effectively mitigates systemic complexity, balancing economic benefits and carbon reduction targets. This study provides practical pathways for supply chain participants to navigate complex low-carbon environments and advance sustainable, resilient supply chain operation.
Under China's strategic commitment to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 (the "Dual Carbon Goals"), renewable energy enterprises face unprecedented pressure to simultaneously expand capacity, reduce costs, enhance supply chain resilience, and minimize carbon footprints. This study systematically investigates supply chain synergy optimization for wind and solar power enterprises within the Dual Carbon policy framework. Employing a multi-method approach integrating literature review, system analysis, and a case study of LONGi Green Energy, this research identifies three core synergy barriers: geographic fragmentation and policy decoupling, carbon traceability credibility crises, and inherent conflicts among efficiency, decarbonization, and resilience objectives. A three-tier collaborative optimization framework is proposed, comprising: (1) an information synergy layer based on blockchain-enabled carbon data pools; (2) an operational synergy engine integrating multi-objective optimization models with dynamic carbon taxation and shared warehousing; and (3) a carbon synergy mechanism incorporating tiered supplier incentives and green transition funds. Empirical validation through the LONGi case demonstrates significant improvements: total supply chain costs reduced by 15.3%, lifecycle carbon emissions per watt decreased by 39.6%, and disruption recovery time shortened by 58.3%. This research contributes a "policy-geography-technology" three-dimensional synergy blockage theory, a tri-objective dynamic equilibrium model, and a responsibility-sharing carbon governance framework, offering both theoretical advancements and practical pathways for sustainable energy supply chain management. Keywords: Dual Carbon Goals, Renewable Energy, Supply Chain Synergy, Carbon Traceability, Supply Chain Resilience, Blockchain, Multi-Objective Optimization, Green Supply Chain.
This study proposes a unified framework integrating AI, Blockchain, IoT, Digital Twins, quantum computing, and FKF spectral analysis for sustainable, transparent, and resilient supply chains. AI enables prediction and optimization; Blockchain ensures trusted traceability; IoT provides real-time sensing; Digital Twins support simulation; and quantum annealing addresses complex logistics optimization. FKF analysis captures temporal shifts, modulation, multiscale dynamics, and lead-time variations for AI-based spectral intelligence. The resulting sensing–analysis–intelligence–simulation–optimization architecture provides an adaptive pathway for efficient and resilient next-generation logistics Keywords— Artificial Intelligence; Sustainable Logistics; Green Supply Chain; Blockchain; Digital Twins; Internet of Things; Quantum Computing; Quantum Annealing; FKF Transform; Supply Chain Resilience.
Open access
Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
Digital Transformation in Industry
Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis
The Karhunen–Loève (KL) expansion provides an optimal orthogonal series representation of second-order stochastic processes and random fields. This paper presents a complete mathematical formulation of the KL theory using native Office Math Markup Language (OMML) equations, covering the governing Fredholm integral eigenvalue problem, the expansion and its coefficients, truncation error bounds, and the normalized representation. Building upon this theoretical foundation, we systematically explore practical applications of the KL expansion in contemporary supply-chain research themes: quantum-inspired optimization and uncertainty quantification in logistics networks; construction of resilient and adaptive digital twins for global supply chains; stochastic modelling supporting artificial-intelligence and blockchain integration for transparency, traceability and resilience; and uncertainty-aware modelling in sustainable and green logistics. The KL expansion emerges as a rigorous, computationally tractable tool for dimensionality reduction, random-field generation and risk quantification across these domains, thereby bridging classical stochastic process theory with the emerging requirements of Industry 4.0 and quantum-era logistics systems. Keywords— Karhunen–Loève expansion; stochastic processes; uncertainty quantification; digital twin; supply chain resilience; quantum logistics; green logistics; AI–blockchain integration.
Open access
Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
Risk and Portfolio Optimization
Infrastructure Resilience and Vulnerability Analysis
Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized supply chain management by improving decision-making, sustainability, and operational efficiency. Startups in sustainable agriculture are depending more and more on AI-powered technology to boost traceability throughout the agricultural value chain, optimize output, cut waste, and enhance logistics. Businesses have been prompted to include intelligent supply chain systems that reduce environmental impacts while guaranteeing product quality and transparency due to the increased consumer demand for environmentally friendly products. By analyzing recent research, identifying AI applications, talking about implementation issues, and putting forth a conceptual framework for sustainable AI-driven supply chains, this paper investigates the role of AI in supply chain management for eco-friendly products and sustainable agriculture startups. Using a methodical approach to literature research, the study synthesizes information from international organizations, industry publications, and peer-reviewed journals. Demand forecasting, precision agriculture, inventory optimization, cold-chain monitoring, transportation efficiency, blockchain-enabled traceability, and circular economy practices are all greatly improved by AI, according to the results. But obstacles including high implementation costs, inadequate digital infrastructure, cybersecurity issues, and a lack of skilled workers continue to pose serious problems for companies. In order to promote social responsibility, economic viability, and environmental sustainability, the paper suggests an integrated AI-enabled sustainable supply chain framework. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Sustainable Agriculture, Supply Chain Management, Eco-Friendly Products, Agriculture Startups, Green Supply Chain, Machine Learning, Blockchain.
The paper provides the Abelian and Tauberian theorems for the generalized Mellin-Whittaker transform. The asymptotic results obtained here are also relevant to emerging interdisciplinary applications that rely on transform methods for the analysis of complex dynamical systems, including smart logistics ecosystems that converge the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, human-centric automation under the Industry 5.0 paradigm, resilient and adaptive global supply chains enabled by digital-twin technology, and quantum-assisted optimization frameworks for transportation and logistics. Further connections are drawn to battery-management algorithms for electric and hybrid vehicles, blockchain-secured supply-chain transparency, and systematic reviews of supply-chain resilience in the era of digital transformation. In the quantum-computing literature the short-time embedding of continuous dynamics into discrete Ising or QUBO Hamiltonians is a recognized bottleneck. The initial-value theorem guarantees that the leading order asymptotic of the physical signal is correctly represented by the lowest-order terms of the quantum Hamiltonian, thereby improving the quality of the solutions returned by quantum annealers and variational quantum algorithms alike. Key-words: edge computing, IoT-enabled logistics, multi-agent logistics, multi-commodity flows, edge computing, IoT-enabled networks, real-time decision support, digital-twin consistency, supply-chain resilience, Industry 5.0 automation, blockchain audit trails, smart mobility, battery residual capacity, green logistics.
Food supply chains continue to be susceptible to fraud, contamination incidents, and unclear provenance records, which erode consumer confidence and significantly harm the world economy each year. Because blockchain technology provides immutable, shareable, cryptographically verified ledgers among people who distrust each other, it is frequently suggested as a solution. The oracle problem, however, is inherited by the majority of deployed systems: a ledger ensures that recorded data is not altered, but it does not ensure that the data was accurate when it was entered. In addition to reviewing the opportunities it presents for food safety and sustainability reporting, this study examines the technological, financial, and regulatory obstacles of blockchain-based food traceability and proposes a new architecture called the Dynamic Trust-Weighted Oracle Consensus (DTW-OC) framework. We present the architecture, the scoring algorithm, a comparison against Proof-of-Work, Proof-of-Stake, and PBFT, an example dairy cold-chain scenario, and a research agenda for standardisation and interoperability. DTW-OC introduces a reputation-weighted, cross-validated oracle layer that scores every IoT sensor and human data source in real time and feeds that score into block-validator selection, so a source's influence on the ledger is proportionate to its demonstrated reliability.
Supply chain finance (SCF) plays a pivotal role in maintaining liquidity and operational continuity across global value networks. However, systemic supply chain disruptions, macroeconomic volatility, and information asymmetry frequently expose SCF programs to severe friction and default risks. While digital transformation is widely touted as a catalyst for supply chain resilience, empirical evidence regarding the explicit mechanisms through which distinct digital transformation capabilities enhance Supply Chain Finance Resilience (SCFR) remains fragmented. Grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capabilities Theory (DCT), and Information Processing Theory (IPT), this study develops and tests an integrated framework evaluating the direct and indirect impacts of Artificial Intelligence Capability (AIC), Blockchain Capability (BC), and Data Analytics Capability (DAC) on SCFR, mediated by Digital Trust in SCF Platforms (DT).Using a computational research simulation methodology, a respondent-level dataset (N=500) representing supply chain, finance, operations, and IT decision-makers across international enterprises was algorithmically generated under a defensible latent-variable covariance structure. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples was executed to evaluate the measurement and structural models. The structural analysis reveals that AIC (β=0.241,p<.001), BC (β=0.312,p<.001), and DAC (β=0.284,p<.001) significantly and positively drive Digital Trust in SCF Platforms, explaining 54.2% of its variance (R^2=0.542). Digital Trust, in turn, exerts a substantial direct effect on SCFR (β=0.385,p<.001). Furthermore, direct effects on SCFR were confirmed for DAC (β=0.218,p<.001) and AIC (β=0.152,p=.002), whereas the direct link from BC to SCFR was non-significant (β=0.071,p=.158). Formal mediation testing using percentile bootstrapping confirmed that Digital Trust fully mediates the relationship between Blockchain Capability and SCFR, while partially mediating the relationships for AIC and DAC. The overall structural model accounts for 58.6% of the variance in Supply Chain Finance Resilience (R^2=0.586,Q_"predict" ^2=0.412).This methodological prototype advances theoretical understanding by unpacking the granular capability configurations necessary to foster digital trust and financial resilience in supply networks. For practitioners and policymakers, the findings highlight that investing in blockchain technology yields minimal resilience benefits unless coupled with platform-wide digital trust mechanisms, whereas AI and analytics offer dual-pathway benefits across operational and relational domains.
Circular economy (CE) has become prevalent worldwide due to its economic and environmental benefits. More and more practitioners have deployed CE in supply chains to improve operational efficiency and sustainability. Thus, the integration of CE and supply chain has developed a new concept: circular supply chain (CSC). In particular, the CE model could remarkably reduce food waste within food supply chains (FSCs) and diminish the environmental impact from FSCs. Such a FSC that adopts CE principle is known as circular food supply chain (CFSC). However, lack of technical support for effective communication is a significant difficulty in developing CFSCs. Blockchain technology (BCT) could be the potential solution to this problem because of its decentralisation, public information sharing, high traceability and transparency, high security etc. Although many researchers have studied CFSCs in recent years, few studies investigate BCT as an impetus for CFSC development. Therefore, this research will fill this gap, focusing on the feasibility of BCT-based CFSCs, how BCT can establish CFSCs, and possible barriers. In addition, a few recommendations on developing BCT-based CFSCs will be provided.
Blockchain technology offers a distributed, immutable ledger that can improve transparency, traceability and trust among multiple parties in logistics and supply-chain networks. This expanded review synthesises systematic literature from 2018–2025, presents key real-world case studies, quantifies reported benefits, catalogues persistent challenges, and examines the convergence of blockchain with IoT sensors, artificial intelligence and digital twins. Emphasis is placed on food traceability, maritime shipping, pharmaceuticals, sustainability reporting and the socio-technical conditions required for successful adoption. The review also draws on related recent work on supply-chain resilience, digital twins, AI–blockchain integration and emerging quantum approaches to logistics optimization. Illustrative figures and a market-growth curve accompany the analysis. Keywords: Blockchain; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Traceability; Smart Contracts; Trade Lens; IBM Food Trust; Permissioned Ledger; Interoperability; Digital Twin; IoT Integration; Literature Review; Supply Chain Resilience; Quantum Logistics.