Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the potential impact of blockchain technology on supply chain performance (SCP). This study further delves into the enablers of blockchain adoption (BA) in SCM and investigates both the direct and mediated effects of blockchain assimilation on garnering a competitive edge in the supply chain and bolstering innovation proficiency, ultimately enhancing SCP. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative approach, leveraging partial least squares structural equation modelling. Empirical data were sourced from 500 validated data sets obtained through questionnaires. Findings The results indicate that technological readiness and knowledge sharing are key drivers for integrating blockchain into supply chains, with technology readiness displaying a substantially stronger influence. Furthermore, BA significantly enhances supply chain innovation capabilities (SCIC), competitive performance (CP) and overall supply chain efficiency. Notably, both SCIC and CP mediate and amplify the positive effects of blockchain on SCP, emphasising the vital role of innovation and competition in optimising the benefits of blockchain. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to bridge the gap in the literature connecting SCM and blockchain. The established model augments the theoretical discourse on the SCM-blockchain, offering scholars a validated framework that can be adapted and built upon in future studies.
This research aims to develop and optimize an intelligent supply chain framework tailored for the insurance industry by integrating an innovative inventory management policy supported by the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain technologies. Through an extensive literature review, key assumptions are established, needs are identified, and objectives are formulated. A multi-objective mathematical planning model is proposed to minimize cost and time within the supply chain, with optimization conducted under deterministic and fuzzy conditions. The model utilizes augmented epsilon constraint and weighted sum methods to address its multi-objectiveness. Noteworthy is the integration of advanced technologies such as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), blockchain, and online sales, distinguishing it from traditional approaches. Initial validation and testing in smaller dimensions demonstrate the model’s adaptability to precise methods, while larger dimensions necessitate the use of meta-heuristic algorithms for efficient problem resolution. Additionally, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis in the insurance industry on objective function coefficients reveals intricate relationships, offering valuable insights into optimization dynamics across diverse conditions.
Ardavan Babaei, Erfan Babaee Tırkolaee, Sadia Samar Ali
Abstract Blockchain Technology (BT) has the potential to revolutionize supply chain management by providing transparency, but it also poses significant environmental and security challenges. BT consumes energy and emits carbon gases, affecting its adoption in Supply Chains (SCs). The substantial energy demand of blockchain networks contributes to carbon emissions and sustainability risks. Moreover, for secure and reliable transactions, mutual authentication needs to be established to address security concerns raised by SC managers. This paper proposes a tri-objective optimization model for the simultaneous design of the SC-BT network, considering a two-step authentication process. The model considers transparency caused by BT members, emissions of BT, and costs related to BT and SC design. It also takes into account uncertainty conditions for participating BT members in the SC and the range of transparency, cost, and emission targets. To solve the model, a Branch and Efficiency (B&E) algorithm equipped with BT-related criteria is developed. The algorithm is implemented in a three-level SC and produces cost-effective and environmentally friendly outcomes. However, the adoption of BT in the SC can be costly and harmful to the environment under uncertain conditions. It is worth mentioning that implementing the proposed algorithm from our article in a three-level SC case study can result in a significant cost reduction of over 16% and an emission reduction of over 13%. The iterative nature of this algorithm plays a vital role in achieving these positive outcomes.
Vinay, Sagar Yadav, Attul Kumar, Prof. Renu Narwal
In the evolving landscape of supply chain management, the integration of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) stands as a beacon of innovation, promising to address the perennial challenges of efficiency, transparency, and reliability. This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of how AI can revolutionize blockchain supply chains, offering a synthesis of current research, methodologies, and case studies that highlight the transformative potential of this synergy. The supply chain, a complex network that underpins global trade, is often beleaguered by inefficiencies and vulnerabilities. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized and immutable ledger, has emerged as a solution to enhance traceability and trust. However, it is the infusion of AI that has the potential to catalyze a paradigm shift in supply chain management. AI’s capabilities in data analytics, machine learning, and autonomous decision-making can optimize logistics, predict trends, and automate tasks, thereby elevating the blockchain beyond its current utility. This research adopts a mixed-methods approach, drawing on qualitative insights from industry experts and quantitative data from performance metrics to assess the impact of AI on blockchain supply chains. Through a series of case studies, the paper illustrates the practical applications and challenges of this integration, providing a nuanced understanding of its implications. The findings reveal that AI significantly enhances the efficiency and accuracy of blockchain supply chains, leading to improvements in transaction times, data verification processes, and overall supply chain performance. The discussion delves into the strategic advantages of this integration, such as improved compliance and ethical supply chain practices, while also acknowledging the limitations and challenges that organizations must navigate. In conclusion, the paper posits that the convergence of AI and blockchain holds great promise for the future of supply chains. It offers a roadmap for practitioners looking to harness these technologies and sets forth directions for future research, particularly in the development of sophisticated AI algorithms tailored for blockchain applications and the long-term economic impacts on supply chain management. The study contributes to the broader field by providing empirical evidence and a new perspective on the potential of AI to create more resilient, efficient, and transparent supply networks..
Step into the dynamic world of supply chain management, where a significant transformation is unfolding through the adoption of innovative technologies. This chapter is a guide through this exciting journey, exploring the impactful changes brought about by robo advisors. We'll dive into their practical uses, the hurdles faced, and what the future holds. Looking ahead, we'll gaze into the future of supply chain management. From decentralized autonomous supply chains to the integration of augmented reality, self-aware robotic systems, and even the potential of quantum computing, there's much to anticipate. This chapter is not just a look into the crystal ball; it's a call to action, helping organizations prepare for the next phase of innovation and efficiency.
In recent years, blockchain technology has attracted substantial interest for its capability to transform supply chain management and finance. This paper employs evolutionary game theory to investigate the application of blockchain in mitigating financial risks within supply chains, taking into account the technology’s maturity and the risk preferences of financial institutions. By modeling interactions among financial institutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and core enterprises within the accounts receivable financing framework, this study evaluates blockchain’s impact on their decision-making and its efficacy in risk reduction. Our findings suggest the transformative potential of blockchain in mitigating financial risks, solving information asymmetry, and enhancing collaboration between financial entities and SMEs. Additionally, we integrate smart contracts into supply chain finance, proposing pragmatic procedures for their deployment in real-world contexts. Via a detailed examination of blockchain’s maturity and financial institutions’ risk preferences, this research demonstrates the primary determinants of strategic decisions in supply chain finance and underscores how blockchain technology fosters system stability using risk mitigation. Our innovative contribution lies in the design of smart contracts for the ARF process, rooted in blockchain’s core attributes of security, transparency, and immutability, thereby ensuring efficient operation and cost reduction in supply chain finance.
Sai Haree Ram S, Uppala Durga Samirth S, V. Pandimurugan
In the dynamic realm of global IT supply chains, businesses confront formidable challenges, particularly during critical junctures like product launches. Traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, while effective, often entail substantial implementation costs. The supply chain department, indispensable for ensuring seamless operations within product-based enterprises, assumes heightened significance during expansions and pivotal moments. Yet, achieving optimal goods supply remains a persistent challenge without a resilient and well-connected supply chain. Centralized frameworks present inherent limitations, including single points of failure, security vulnerabilities and many more, all of which impede operational efficiency and jeopardize critical information. To address financial constraints and enhance operational efficiency, this research proposes decoupling the supply chain from traditional ERP systems while integrating with shipment management systems. The methodology leverages open-source solutions such as the Inter Planetary File System and the Ethereum blockchain to develop a Blockchain-Enabled Shipment Management System. This system seamlessly integrates with traditional ERP systems, acting as a hybrid solution that optimizes costs, ensures transparency, traceability, and security while harnessing the decentralized advantages of blockchain technology. The strategic approach empowers businesses with unparalleled capabilities to navigate the complexities of the dynamic global IT supply chain, especially during critical events like product launches. By leveraging blockchain technology and decoupling supply chain management from traditional ERP systems, this research contributes to paving the way for enhanced coordination, efficiency, and resilience in the face of evolving market demands.
Proof-of-stake (PoS) has emerged as a natural alternative to the resource-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain, as was recently seen with the Ethereum Merge. PoS-based blockchains require an initial stake distribution among the participants. Typically, this initial stake distribution is called bootstrapping. This paper argues that existing bootstrapping protocols are prone to centralization. To address centralization due to bootstrapping, we propose a novel game $Γ_\textsf{bootstrap}$. Next, we define three conditions: (i) Individual Rationality (IR), (ii) Incentive Compatibility (IC), and (iii) $(τ,δ,ε)-$ Decentralization that an \emph{ideal} bootstrapping protocol must satisfy. $(τ,δ,ε)$ are certain parameters to quantify decentralization. Towards this, we propose a novel centralization metric, C-NORM, to measure centralization in a PoS System. We define a centralization game -- $Γ_\textsf{cent}$, to analyze the efficacy of centralization metrics. We show that C-NORM effectively captures centralization in the presence of strategic players capable of launching Sybil attacks. With C-NORM, we analyze popular bootstrapping protocols such as Airdrop and Proof-of-Burn (PoB) and prove that they do not satisfy IC and IR, respectively. Motivated by the Ethereum Merge, we study W2SB (a PoW-based bootstrapping protocol) and prove it is ideal. In addition, we conduct synthetic simulations to empirically validate that W2SB bootstrapped PoS is decentralized.
Blockchain is a decentralized and distributed ledger system that records and verifies transactions across a network of computers and ensures transparency, immutability, and trustworthiness. Smart contracts are programs or protocols embedded into the distributed ledgers and are used to automate agreements between parties of a blockchain. Smart contracts are vulnerable to attacks due to their immutable and public nature, thus, it is important to guarantee the correctness of contracts already at design-time in order to avoid catastrophic events and huge loss of money.
Everyday life depends heavily on the supply chain, and its traceability guarantees the quality and safety of the products. Thus, there is a pressing need for an effective and trustworthy solution to enhance logistic traceability. Traditional traceability systems suffer from low tracking efficiency and inconsistent data. However, the developing blockchain technology promises to improve these issues by being transparent, tamper-proof, and decentralised. This article analyses previous research, highlights problems, and investigates logistic traceability options based on blockchain. First, the conventional traceability approach and stakeholder demands are explained, along with the fundamentals of blockchain technology. Next, a thorough evaluation and analysis of the current publications and enterprise applications is conducted. Lastly, difficulties and potential lines of inquiry are explored. Subsequent studies may concentrate on developing focused consensus processes, creating suitable access controls, examining the function of regulators in the supply chain, etc. This analysis demonstrates that although there are still many obstacles to overcome, blockchain offers a lot of promise to solve traceability problems.
Shivangi Viral Thakker, Santosh B. Rane, Vaibhav S. Narwane
Purpose Digital supply chains require nascent technologies like blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT). There is a need to develop a roadmap for the implementation of these technologies, as they require a huge amount of resources and infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges of implementing blockchain-IoT integrated architecture in the green supply chain and develop strategies for the same. Design/methodology/approach After a thorough literature survey of Scopus-indexed journals and books, 37 barriers were identified, which were then brought down to 15 barriers after confirming with industry and academic experts using the Delphi method. Using the total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) method and cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis, the barriers were modeled, and finally, strategies were formulated using a concept map to handle the barriers in the blockchain-IoT integrated architecture for a green supply chain. Findings This paper presents the research on barriers that can be considered for incorporating blockchain and IoT in the green supply chain. It was found from the TISM model that environmental concerns are Level-1 barriers and need to be addressed by developing appropriate technology and allocating funds for the same. An integrated ecosystem with blockchain and IoT is developed. Research limitations/implications The focus of this study was on the challenges of blockchain and IoT; hence, it is required to extend the research and find challenges for different industries and also analyze the criteria using other multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. Further research is required for the integration of blockchain-IoT with supply chain functions. Practical implications The transformation of a traditional supply chain into a green supply chain is possible with the integration of technologies. This research work and the strategies developed are useful to managers and practitioners working on technology implementation. Planning resources and addressing key barriers is possible with the concept maps and architecture developed. Social implications Green supply chain management (SCM) is gaining importance in industry as well as the academic sector due to government Policies and norms worldwide for reducing emissions and encouraging environment-friendly production systems. Incorporating blockchain and IoT in a green supply chain will further digitize and increase transparency in supply chains. Originality/value We have done a categorization of all barriers based on the expert survey by academicians and industry experts from industries in India. The concept map helps in identifying possible solutions for the challenges and initiatives to be taken for the smooth integration of technologies in the green supply chain.
Lixing Chen, Feng Gao, Yang Bai, Jun Wu · 6 authors
Blockchain has revolutionized a variety of fields by providing decentralization, immutability, transparency, and auditability. This paper designs Blockchained Edge Resource Auction (BERA) for edge computing systems to allocate computing resources to application service providers (ASP) in a secure manner. BERA comprises two key components: Blockchain-based Sealed-Bid Auction (BSBA) and Graph Neural Network (GNN)-based Fraud Detection (GFD). BSBA designs smart contracts to realize sealed-bid auctions overhead blockchain. It incorporates the homomorphic commitment technique to guarantee the transactional privacy of ASPs’ bidding information and performs interval membership zero-knowledge proof to verify the legitimacy of auction results. While the privacy-preserving property of BSBA is desirable, the veiled bidding information tends to breed fraudulent behaviors. Therefore, GFD is further proposed to identify abnormal auction behaviors in BSBA without revealing bidding information of ASPs. GFD converts the blockchain data of BSBA to an auction behavioral graph of ASPs, and uses GNN to discover stealth frauds based on interactive patterns. In addition, we design a subgraph extraction scheme for GFD to improve its scalability. We implement BERA on a private Ethereum blockchain and successfully realize edge resource auctions. We simulate several types of auction frauds and identify them with GFD. The experimental results show that our method outperforms other benchmarks.
The supply chain management sector strategic examination of the blockchain relies smart contract technology employs a comprehensive approach, drawing insights from reputable secondary sources to explore performance metrics, transactional flow optimization, consensus mechanisms, and security considerations. The study reveals nuanced performance variations in average throughput and transaction duration, emphasizing the scalability and stability of the blockchain network. The depicted transactional flow showcases enhanced communication and transparency, aligning with strategic goals for supply chain optimization. The introduction of a Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus algorithm underscores the importance of efficient consensus mechanisms for resilience against attacks. By integrating PoA, the proposed blockchain-based smart contracts contribute to a strategic and reliable supply chain management system, enhancing transparency and mitigating potential risks. A robust security analysis demonstrates moderate fault tolerance, high defense mechanisms, and effective security recovery capabilities, aligning with the overarching goals of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical supply chain data. Ethereum's Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism is referenced as an exemplar for improving scalability and security. The comparative analysis highlights the proposed CMBC (Consensus Mechanism with Blockchain) as a standout solution, offering middle-ground high attack diversity, fault tolerance, recovery, and a high attack cost, robust security. CMBC outperforms alternatives, demonstrating superiority in enhancing security and resilience against potential adversarial threats. The proposed CMBC demonstrates notable strengths across key performance indices when compared to Fortified-Chain and SaYoPillow. The proposed method is implemented using python software. The effective standard deviation values, ranging from 9.58 to 25.13, further underscore the system's stability and reliability in processing transactions within various node configurations. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the performance and security considerations crucial for successful blockchain deployment.
This research introduces a decentralized supply chain optimization model that incorporates blockchain technology. The model, implemented through an optimized iterative method, integrates ordering, holding, and purchasing costs to offer a comprehensive view of total costs for both retailers and suppliers. The model's uniqueness and optimality are demonstrated through theoretical analysis, highlighting the optimal ordering interval as the sole solution to the derived equation. Employing an algorithmic methodology, optimal replenishment schedules are efficiently calculated using Wolfram Mathematica 13.0. A numerical example and sensitivity analysis illustrate the impact of key parameters on replenishment cycles, order quantity, and costs, encompassing wholesale prices, demand uncertainty, and holding/ordering costs. Managerial insights derived from sensitivity analysis guide decision-makers in optimizing supply chain management, emphasizing strategies such as wholesaler price balance and strategic blockchain information management. In essence, this research contributes to an enhanced understanding of decentralized supply chain models with blockchain, providing a systematic decisionmaking optimization approach for increased efficiency and resilience.
Anum Nawaz, Liguan Wang, Muhammad Irfan, Tomi Westerlund
Drug supply chains have been facing severe issues as counterfeit product cases are increasing exponentially. A supply chain management system that ensures transparency, reliability, and provenance of drugs would increase the trustworthiness of the whole industry. One solution to all three needs is utilizing blockchain-based distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Even though DLTs are emerging as an ideal infrastructure for multi-stakeholder supply chain applications, they still need to be more mature to address the specific challenges specific to each use case. In this article, we propose a distributed blockchain-based framework, PHTrack, leveraging hyperledger sawtooth as a drug supply chain traceability system. Hyperledger sawtooth addresses scalability issues by offering a robust foundation to support large-scale drug supply chain operations in a modular way for it’s each participating stakeholder. Furthermore, it simplifies the integration process with existing systems, even those employing different technologies, thereby facilitating a smoother transition to DLTs. The design of PHTrack is oriented towards minimizing resource consumption throughout the process, particularly within hyperledger sawtooth nodes. Additionally, it incorporates quantum secure off-chain communication for peer-to-peer (P2P) communication. A set of experiments was conducted to validate the proposed framework. Experiments have shown that PHTrack provides reliable and comprehensive drug provenance as well as real-time drug supply chain tracking.
Although online auctions have gained popularity as a marketplace format, they encounter challenges stemming from bidders withdrawing high bids without penalty, and wasting organizer resources due to redundant auction rounds. This behavior, known as overbidding, undermines efficiency and remains a longstanding issue in traditional auction designs. It’s worth noting that one of the common reasons for bid withdrawals is exceeding their financial capacity. Participants bid beyond their budgetary constraints, not necessarily with the goal of obtaining the asset but for alternative motives. In an effort to address these overbidding inefficiencies, this paper presents Zk-Auction, a decentralized blockchain-based cross-chain auction system. Zk-Auction leverages the privacy-preserving capabilities of zero-knowledge proofs to cryptographically verify bidder funds for each bid, deterring inflation beyond actual holdings. A novel sidechain architecture simulates interoperability between independent "Banking" and "Auction" blockchains, enabling bid authentication without revealing identities or balances. By tackling the core challenges of existing centralized auction platforms, Zk-Auction adopts a distributed off-chain matching and on-chain settlement approach to maintain security and interoperability across heterogeneous distributed ledgers. The integration of Zero-Knowledge Proofs in bid validation ensures a privacy-preserving manner. Additionally, a proof-of-concept prototype demonstrates feasibility at scale. Evaluations of the system show enhanced participant accountability, thereby incentivizing sincere bidding behavior in contrast to traditional designs that are susceptible to wasteful overbidding.