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Blockchain-integrated technologies for solving supply chain challenges

Article  in  Modern Supply Chain Research and Applications · May 2021

DOI: 10.1108/MSCRA-10-2020-0028

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Blockchain-integrated Blockchain-
integrated
technologies for solving supply technologies

chain challenges
Dhruman Gohil and Shivangi Viral Thakker
Mechanical, KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai, India
Received 23 October 2020
Revised 19 January 2021
Abstract 21 March 2021
Accepted 5 April 2021
Purpose – Blockchain technology was developed to synchronize the data and transactions over the supply
chain network and connected nodes. This paper aims to show how blockchain technology can enhance
flexibility and agility in supply chain operations. The integration of blockchain and other recently developed
technology can help deal with supply chain uncertainties and other challenges being faced by the industry.
Design/methodology/approach – Through an extensive literature review of existing research papers and
conversation with supply chain managers, barriers and challenges in the supply chain were identified. Some
elements were researched of blockchain technology that can be used to resolve some challenges. Blockchain
technology and other technologies integration is developed for implementation in supply chain for better
visibility and efficiency of supply chain.
Findings – The challenges in the supply chain are categorized, and the solution is given through the
integration of blockchain and other technologies like Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.
The integration shows the execution of tasks through blockchain and various technologies in supply chain.
Research limitations/implications – Blockchain in supply chain is finding its strong place in India when
compared to developing nations. There is a need for technology experts, supply chain managers and
consumers to understand blockchain’s importance. Challenges faced by industries to use blockchain may be
analyzed further with real-life industry case studies.
Practical implications – This research helps enterprises in successful execution of smart technologies in
their supply chains. This research helps enterprises in successful execution of smart technologies in their
supply chains. Managers and practitioners may use the models developed in real-time implementation.
The technologies are described in detail to help the practitioners select the best suitable for their organization.
Social implications – Digital supply chains are finding the way in industries due to lean and efficient nature.
It is beneficial to use the smart technologies to make supply chain green and sustainable.
Originality/value – The implementation of the digital supply chain and its challenges are discussed in the
research paper. This will work as a platform for research in the area of technologies for supply chain.
Keywords Smart contracts, Internet of things, Supply chain operations, Blockchain technology,
Artificial intelligence
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
The supply chain includes all the activity that involves production of goods and delivering
finished goods from procurement stage to product stage. The supply chain in all industries
contains very complex architecture and framework. All industries need to improve their
supply chain to enhance productivity and gain more profits in business.
Maintaining a good supply chain has its challenges and barriers like trust among
stakeholders, transparency and efficiency at each level of the supply chain. Blockchain has
the potential to enhance flexibility and agility in supply chain operations (Cole et al., 2019).

© Dhruman Gohil and Shivangi Viral Thakker. Published in Modern Supply Chain Research and
Applications. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative
Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create
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derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full and Applications
attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at http:// Emerald Publishing Limited
2631-3871
creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode DOI 10.1108/MSCRA-10-2020-0028
MSCRA Blockchain allows all the stakeholder involved in the ecosystem to participate, share and
validate upon all pieces of information and data. Blockchain can be presented append-only
transactional data store, for centralized brokers that are handled by single trusted authorities
(Viriyasitavat et al., 2019).
This paper examines challenges of conventional supply chain and classifies them
according to a suitable technical solution. Application and implementation of modern
technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IOT) has
many advantages for resolving difficulties. The paper presents theoretical work for finding
supply chain challenges and coming up with possible solutions by implementing blockchain
technology architecture and its integration with other recently developed technologies.
The research considers all levels of supply chain, starting from raw materials of the product
to the product lifecycle until it reaches the consumer. Some objectives of the research are as
follows:
(1) Identifying challenges of traditional supply chain.
(2) Classifying the problems and determining the technology.
(3) Study the integration of blockchain with the technology to understand how it can be
used to make the supply chain operations more efficient and agile.
(4) Development of integrated architecture implementing blockchain and other modern
technologies individually to make complete process more transparent.
In this paper ahead, integration of blockchain and other integration of technology like IOT
and AI with blockchain is discussed with a process flowchart. Some of the challenges of all
supply chain members are carried out, and their solution is given through blockchain and
integration of modern technologies, followed by a discussion and conclusion.

2. Literature survey
Walmart Canada has started with the implementation of blockchain technology with
the logistics firms for inventory transportation. A shared node of a blockchain server
allows to synchronize track shipments, logistics data and automate payments without
requiring changes to the logistics firms’ operations or information technology systems
(Banerjee, 2015).
Maersk and IBM employ blockchain technology to digitize trade workflow and operations,
create a global tamper-proof system and track shipments/deliveries end-to-end, including
expensive point-to-point communications. Through blockchains, companies gain a real-time
digital ledger of transactions and movements for all participants in their supply chain
network.
IBM and Samsung took a step by IOT devices that consume electricity into blockchain-
based energy management (Viriyasitavat et al., 2019). If all members of the supply chain use
blockchain technology properly, it can be proved very profitable and stable to increase the
security and transparency of supply chain.

2.1 Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology synchronizes transactions, contracts and data across all nodes and
network, and each stakeholder validates transaction and verifies it (Abeyratne and
Monfared, 2016). Blockchain is a distributed ledger that is visible and accessible to everyone
include in the network. Blockchain technology is a chain of blocks, and every block contains
thousands of verified transactions. Due to many blocks connected in one string, it becomes
tough for someone to tamper the data. Blockchain technology allows creating a portable
identity. Many companies are heading their operations toward efficient digital supply chain Blockchain-
(DSC) under required standards, solutions for integrating business processes with all the integrated
supply chain members in their network.
Blockchain gives us the technological capability of creating a record of human exchange,
technologies
currency exchange and all kinds of physical assets. All types of assets can be stored, moved,
transacted and managed connected to a distributed ledger connected to millions of
computers. The distribution process of a blockchain system relies on consensus protocol,
allowing mutually untrusted, uncoordinated parties to agree on transactions and blocks on
blockchain server (Zheng et al., 2018).
All the supply chain members in industries are linked to the blockchain through a matrix
of nodes. All the transactions and data of members in a chain are stored and managed at the
same place (Vanpoucke et al., 2009). All members and stakeholders of the chain can easily
interact with each other and get the trusted and correct data of all the transactions. Complete
decentralization of all the members in the chain can be formed. It forces many potential users
to re-engineer and streamline their systems, clean up their data, upgrade their databases and
work across their network to create solutions for the common good. In the area of supply
chains, once CPS (cyber-physical systems) autonomously decide to order for material usage
and tracking information, replacement from suppliers can be stored in blockchain ledger,
allowing resilient and accurate tracking information and preventing counterfeit products
(Viriyasitavat et al., 2019).
2.1.1 Rationale. The major purpose of blockchain technology for supply chain is tracking
all transactions of products and entire product life cycle. The tracking of processes and items
from raw materials through suppliers to the customers with data, manufacturing, locations,
etc. gives better transparency, increasing the efficiency and control on operations. There is
strong need of converting traditional supply chain into digital supply chain to remove slow
and manual processes, strengthening traceability and reducing IT transaction costs. All the
medium-sized organization have enterprise resource planning (ERP) system as their
management and planning system, but ERP can be used in internal organization; blockchain
can help to connect all the organization of supply chain network on single server and connects
all responsible members, stakeholders (Kim and Laskowski, 2018). Blockchain in supply
chain allows all supply chain members to verify the requested data and then upload on the
blockchain server so that data is not tampered by anyone. This helps all members to get trust
over systems. Integration of modern disruptive technologies helps supply chain to achieve
real-time insights of operations and provides secured way of mining, storing and
analyzing data.
2.1.2 Advantages of blockchain in supply chain. All the stages in the supply chain use ERP
software to store and manage day-to-day business activities such as handling employees,
accounting, production, compliance, etc. individually. Blockchain technology helps to connect
all the organizations in supply chain network and increase efficiency and traceability of the
overall process (Stevenson and Spring, 2007). Blockchain and integration of other technology
with blockchain enhance the product lifecycle management. It gives real-time feedback to the
consumers and the other organization included in the supply chain. It can revolutionize the
digital world by enabling a distributed consensus, where every online transaction involving
digital assets, past and present, can be verified at any time in the future (Shireesh and
Petrovsky, 2016). It does this without settlement of security privacy of the digital assets and
contracts involved (Li et al., 2020). Whenever a transaction is processed between any of the
parties in the supply chain, all the members get the real-time tracking of the operations and
then validate it. Once validated, they get added to the public ledger of blockchain server,
which cannot be tampered and hacked easily. The stakeholders and investors involved in the
supply chain organizations can track the complete process, including finance, legal,
operations, demand and supply forecasting and logistics providers (see Table 1).
MSCRA Sr
No Advantage Description of advantage Source

1 All the contracts and In a blockchain server, a transaction is recorded Abeyratne and
transactions can be stored on the server and the document gets it own Monfared (2016)
digitally unique hash
2 More visibility and As blockchain contains many secure nodes that Hu et al. (2019)
transparency is accessible to all the members involved, all the
transactions and documents are completely
visible to members on real-time basis
3 Trust among stakeholder As there is complete transparency, blockchain Kshitri (2018)
increases servers record all the transactions that cannot be
changed once updated on the server, trust
among stakeholder increases
4 More accurate and reliable All entries in blockchain server are validated Bi et al. (2013)
data for analytics through a public verification process that
ensures accuracy without the need for a central
authority. All the computers together verifies all
the entries before updating on the server as per
specified rules and controls that are already
embedded in system
5 Decreases any kind of It is very difficult to perform fraud on blockchain Wattana
probability of fraud and server and its transactions because of 51% Viriyasitavat et al.
Table 1. tampering in the process attack system. Each and every entry is stored (2019)
Advantages of and updated on millions of nodes/computers
blockchain in which makes impossible for hackers for
supply chain transaction reversal

The implications of blockchain technology in supply chain operations is not only limited
to manufacturing companies but also in healthcare, retail, banks, fintech start-ups, media
and entertainment, agriculture, law and most crucial government sectors. Blockchain’s
other functions that are used to make the supply chain operations more agile are
inventory management, demand forecasting, asset tracking and intellectual property
storage (Nawari and Ravindran, 2019). Real estate is the other example in which a large
number of organizations or suppliers are involved. It becomes tough for the constructions
companies to track the complete process and product lifecycle by all the suppliers
and distributors. Blockchain and its integration with other technology can be proved
very helpful in the real estate industry to form a complete decentralization (Wang
et al., 2017).
2.1.3 Blockchain technologies and supply chain uncertainties. As the supply chain includes
many stakeholders and organizations, it becomes difficult to make decisions. Because of
the complex structure of the supply chain, there exist many uncertainties that need to
be resolved to prevent damage in operations. Fuzzy logic can be used to measure the
supply chain performance and reduce the uncertainties that exist in the supply chain.
Fuzzy logic helps to get a deeper insight into process performance, operations from the
input and output aspects than traditional accounting and measuring methods. Xu and
Viriyasitavat (2019) have proposed a supply chain performance measurement system
using AHP and fuzzy logic which was applied to integrate both qualitative and
quantitative metrics to provide a complete view of the supply chain management and its
overall competitiveness.
Some applications of fuzzy logic that can be applied in the supply chain involved route
planning for logistics, equipment maintenance for manufacturers, the efficiency of automatic
machines, quantitative pattern analysis for industrial quality assurance, funds management Blockchain-
for financial teams and automation of processes/operations for warehousing firms/ integrated
distributors. It has numerous applications when they are integrated with IOT and
blockchain. In any particular supply chain, storage and visibility of data to all the
technologies
stakeholders helps all members involved to take accurate decisions on a real-time basis,
automating systems through sensors, cloud and are measurable. Fuzzy and other analysis
methods such as grey system theory can be applied in every process that is measurable and
helps to make sensible and predictive decisions.

3. Supply chain operations challenges

Supply chain operations include the execution plan of all the processes and connectivity of all
the systems (Banerjee, 2015). All companies need to improve their supply chain operations to
increase their financial and operational performance. The involvement of a large number of
stakeholders in the supply chain increases the operational challenges and reduces the one-to-
one interaction among different members. There are some challenges in the supply chain
because of its complex structure (see Table 2):
In Figure 1, implementation path of blockchain technology in supply chain can be seen.
There are four layers in blockchain server such as ledger layer, smart contract layer,
transaction layer and data input layer for data acquisition, data processing, data verification

Sr
No Challenge Description of challenge Source

1 Lack of trust among all Supply chain contains many stakeholders with a Francisco and
stakeholders complex processing chain, so access of all real-time Swanson (2018)
activities in the operations is major reason of trust
among different stakeholders
2 Efficiency at each level In supply chain network, there are many operations Huo (2012), Zheng
cannot be tracked like manufacturing, employee and inventory et al. (2018)
management, logistics, sales, etc. so tracking the
efficiency of all the operations is difficult without any
common platform
3 Less transparency and In large supply chain networks because of more Kshetri (2018)
productivity members involved and many operations, there is less
transparency of all operations to all the stakeholders/
members
4 Lack of digitalization In traditional supply chain, there is no digital Panicker et al.
platform that connects all the supply chain (2016)
organizations which enables difficulties like payment
efficiency, transparency, management and control
5 Lack of integration at all There should be integration platform that connects Pasi et al. (2020)
levels supplier, manufacturer, distributor, retailer and
consumer which helps to ease the operations and
real-time data tracking and securely storing of data
6 Lack of end-to-end Visibility of complete product lifecycle in supply Rane and
visibility chain network is very necessary else there might be Thakker (2019)
many problems such as logistics challenges, delivery
time tracking and consumer trusts
7 Handling and Maintaining all kinds of contracts such as financial Banerjee et al.
maintaining legal contracts, ownership certificate and investment (2018)
contracts contracts physically is difficult. Legal team can face Table 2.
challenges to send contracts to other stakeholders Supply chain
securely operations challenges
MSCRA

Figure 1.
Blockchain technology
for supply chain

and data storage. All member/stakeholders involved in supply chain are nodes through
which they are connected to a blockchain server.

4. Blockchain and smart contracts

A smart contract can verify its correctness, imposed instructions and predefined rules.
The smart contracts are self-executing, immutable and distributed. Smart contracts can be
programmed with a language named solidity. Smart contracts is storing of contracts
which is similar to storing of transactions on blockchain (Rane and Thakker, 2019). Smart
contract is the nontampering computer program that is stored inside a blockchain server.
They are completed immutable and distributed. Once the smart contract is created
and stored on blockchain server, it becomes challenging to tamper with the contract’s
code. Everyone on the network validates the output. The feature of blockchain smart
contracts gives the ability to program the blockchain to govern transactions among
participants involved in decision-making or generating and accessing the data (Banerjee
et al., 2018).
Smart contracts can self-manage and self-execute payments. They can build function
libraries and are good at authenticating. Trust of process executions can be achieved by
encoding business operations into smart contracts that impose the correct performance
among untrusted parties, and trust of IOT information is derived from the agreement of
business partners that mutually select IOT services for each task execution in a business
process (Xu and Viriyasitavat, 2019). Smart contracts can compute business logic and
understand upto the core they facilitate three functions:
(1) Store rules
(2) Validate rules
 (3) Self-execute rules Blockchain-
Blockchain technology can be used by integrating delivery platforms and payment systems integrated
in digital contracts that runs across organizations, integration with logistics providers and technologies
other supply chain members. The main feature of blockchain in a smart contract is
“trustless” transactions. Smart contract handles enforcement, management, performance
and payment. The smart contract is an agreement between two people on the digital
network. Smart contract on blockchain reduces time and cost delays of handling and
forming the contract manually. The possible cases of smart contracts are pre-contracted
budgets and deals to automated access systems and extending from e-commerce to
autonomous machine transactions (Sulkowski, 2019). Ujo Music is a decentralized music
platform that allows the artists to record a piece of music on a blockchain-based smart
contract that shows the amount of share of each stakeholder in the project. Smart contracts
and blockchain will revolutionize many industries and businesses to enable electronic
transactions without any human intervention (Stefansson, 2002). Smart contract gives the
registry of every part of the product on the ledger. It shows the ownership certificate of all the
products or components that helps to gain trust among all the supply chain members.
Supply chain contains cupplier, manufacturer, distributor, retailer and consumer cycle.
There are many stakeholders involved in the complete process. Once the retailer or the
manufacturer receives a product, they can check the originality of every component of the
product. The supplier might sometime do fraud and send the duplicate part to a
manufacturer that decreases quality of the product and also the life of product. If the
consumer gets a complaint about the product, the retailer can directly check which supplier
has done the fraud and directly report to him due to smart contracts. All the investment
contracts of an organization such as term sheet, funding agreements, partnership
documents, manufacturer documents and organization collaboration documents can be
directly stored on blockchain server in the form of smart contracts. Such important
documents are encrypted and available to other stakeholders through blockchain in a
secured way. Traditional method of handling and maintaining all types of contracts
physically can be easily solved through integration of blockchain and smart contract (Reyna
et al., 2018). Digital and self-executing smart contracts helps organization for their cost
cutting in legal team. Some organization can save their employee salary that is responsible
for renew and verification of legal contracts, tax audits and compliances alert. Blockchain
and smart contract if used properly can help companies to save their legal fines, deductions
for late payment of taxes and reduce counterfeiting and frauds.
The applications of blockchain and smart contracts in supply chain are:
(1) Protecting copyrighted content (Savelyev, 2018).
(2) Store employee and land contracts
(3) Store stakeholder and investments contracts
(4) Ownership and registry of all assets or products
(5) Peer-to-peer transactions
In Figure 2, all supply chain members are connected on a common blockchain server where all
the smart contracts can be saved. Supply chain members/stakeholders can access to all smart
contracts and verify updating of contracts through mobile application and consumers can get
the access through bar code. There are bar codes on all manufactured products so that
anyone can get the access of ownership, verification details and proof of origin. All the deals
and contracts involved in the companies are stored on server and are encrypted so that all
allowed members and organization can access all contracts on real-time.
MSCRA

Figure 2.
Blockchain technology
and smart contract
integration for
supply chain

5. Technologies for integration with blockchain

The technologies that can be integrated with blockchain technology to turn supply chain
operations more flexible and agile are IOT and AI. Both the technologies are separately used
in industries and not many organizations have incorporated blockchain along with these
technologies. Following sub-sections discus integration of IOT and AI with blockchain
network and information flow for the same.

5.1 Blockchain and IOT

IOT refers to the IOT that takes data from the server and stores on the Internet, which can be
examined by the admin anytime and anywhere (Alaba et al., 2017). The digital supply chain
(DSC) is the best example representing the integration of blockchain and IOT. The DSC
requires the dynamic collaboration of partners by integrating or exchanging specific data
across various organizations and systems (Viriyasitavat et al., 2019). At each step and every
process location of packages, containers and products can be tracked through IOT system
integrated with RFID tags, GPS tag, sensors, bar code and chips. This allows an enhanced,
real-time tracking of goods from their origins. Blockchain has genuine potential to gain data
security and trust for automation and intelligence development in IOT (Xu and Viriyasitavat,
2019). IOT works in the supply chain through these four necessary steps:
(1) Sensors and actuators
(2) Internet gateways
 (3) Edge IT analytics Blockchain-
(4) Data center management integrated
The sensors are connected to machinery to automate some processes and gain real-time data.
technologies
Those sensors are connected to Internet gateways of that particular area. The Internet
gateways take real-time data through sensors that are stored in the database. Decision
analytics is done with that data for the decision-making process (Novo, 2018). As it is real-time
data, it helps to make right and genuine decisions for the further process. The real-time data
through Internet-based medium increase efficiency and productivity of the supply chain.
Integration of blockchain and IOT increases the trust among all the stakeholders and
members involved in the complete supply chain because they get access to the real-time data.
Everyone in the chain can track the stage of the product and assume the delivery time. This
integration helps in the inventory management, demand forecasting, financial and
operational management of all the individual organizations involved in the chain. Asset
tracking is the most crucial feature of blockchain-IOT in supply chain. All the logistics
providers’ activities can be tracked entirely with the help of IOT, and it is accessible to all the
members of the chain with the help of a decentralized blockchain server (Pureswaran, 2015).
This access of logistics provider helps all the members of the string to manage their
operations efficiently (Hackius and Petersen, 2017). The distributor has the most advantage
of blockchain-IOT integration as he can track all the goods in the large warehouse through
RFID tags (Angeles, 2009). It helps to increase the trust of all the members that all the rights
are safe in the warehouse. Feedback of products shared by customers by using smartphones
can directly be transferred to the manufacturer, which allows companies to given efficient
customer services. These IOT characteristics bring about a trust concern for the utilization of
IOT services in modern business processes (Xu and Viriyasitavat, 2019). The integration of
blockchain and IOT also helps to solve problems related to fragmented data sources.
Blockchain technology provides strong security to IOT data and devices and predictive
analysis and legal contracts as they are vulnerable by 51% of attack on connected servers
(Alphand et al., 2018). Blockchain-IOT integration in supply chain helps supply chain
members to reduce their employees responsible for traditional supply chain management and
save their large amount of revenue. Manufacturers can reduce staff of quality assurance
and maintenance team as that task can be efficiently done by sensors on the machinery, and
real-time data are uploaded through IOT on blockchain server. The allotted supervisor
can keep track of all the production through server and change the required setting as per
reports and data on blockchain server. It is very important for any organization to make a
good KPI (key performance indicator) to increase efficiency of processes; blockchain-IOT can
help companies to boost their KPI system on real-time basis which is visible to all
stakeholders.
RFID and barcodes are how the products or goods are tracked, and they help manage the
inventory efficiently (Kim and Garrison, 2010). RFID tag passes the data to the RFID reader,
which is connected to the Internet. Transportation products are fitted with the tracking
device, which provides real-time information of goods along the supply chain. From
manufacturing equipment, maintenance, production efficiency and shipping notices through
logistics service provider and RFID scanning, everything is tracked on computerized systems
(Fan et al., 2015). The integration of blockchain and IOT helps to improve the existing
traditional supply chain operations and transform it into a new supply chain to increase
operations efficiency and productivity (Xu and Viriyasitavat, 2019). Identifying product
damage with the help of sensors and ML (machine learning) is a critical application. The data
are uploaded on the blockchain server, and the supervisor responsible for that task can do the
required settings. The uses of blockchain and IOT in supply chain are:
MSCRA (1) Real-time data of product to all the stakeholders
(2) Tracking of stages of product
(3) Better visibility into procurement.
(4) Reliable data analytics for decision-making
(5) Improvement in operational and financial performance of all members in the chain
(6) Identifying product damage
In manufacturing supply chain, blockchain and IOT integration can be the new revolution
because of its numerous advantages such as real-time data, efficient operations, secured
storage of data on real-time basis, etc. (Kehoe and Boughton, 2001). The major operations
in which blockchain and IOT integration can help are: production planning and control,
supply chain real-time data of raw material, equipment, machinery maintenance, quality
assurance, inventory management of manufactured goods, etc. (Fang et al., 2016). Efficient
resource utilization can be done with the help of this integration due to real-time data
regularly.
In Figure 3, blockchain and IOT integration roadmap and benefits in supply chain is
displayed. Sensors and other data sources are connected to all members individually and
uploaded on Internet gateways and associated cloud platforms. After processing data, data
management and storage systems help organizations in data segmentation through data
analysis and create proper business reports (Haddud et al., 2017). Such reports are very
accurate and help organization to increase their revenue, create new business models and
work on development in required field. All real-time reports are uploaded on the blockchain
server that is visible and accessible to other members/stakeholders which helps them in
planning and strategizing their operations.

5.2 Blockchain and AI (artificial intelligence)

AI is used to create intelligent computers and machines that act like humans. AI algorithms
are developed to make calculated and real-time data-analyzed decisions. John McCarthy
explained term, “Artificial Intelligence” as a way to get the machine doing things that is
usually performed by human intelligence (Shubhendu and Vijay, 2013). Both AI and
blockchain technology can help the supply chain increase the security of data storage, double
the efficiency of data and make smart decisions (Banerjee et al., 2018). Blockchain stores a
large amount of data securely, and AI creates newer scenarios and discovers patterns based
on data behavior.
As supply chain includes many stakeholders and managers, there is large amount of
data processed on the blockchain network (Chen, 2018). The integration of blockchain and
AI in the supply chain helps analyze a large amount of data and make better decisions.
Decisions taken by AI can be more accurate than individual choices because of the large
amount of data. Solutions are being developed by the researchers in specific industries that
could revolutionize way of storing data, its analysis and especially for the supply chain and
manufacturing industry. IBM has entered the AI-blockchain-based management with
supply chain suite. To date, the majority of deep learning methods and machine learning of
AI depend on centralized model for training in which a group of servers run a specific model
against training and validating datasets (Salah et al., 2019). With access to an identical view
of a shared, trusted and secured platform of transactions, data, analytics and documents
helps in supply chain to take calculated decisions in all parts of operations. Integration of AI
and blockchain helps to enhance data security, which allows all the manufacturers to gain
trust over all the raw material and components provided by the supplier through digital
 Blockchain-
integrated
technologies

Figure 3.
Blockchain technology
and IOT integration for
supply chain

signature with a private key. Recording an AI system’s decision-making process on a

blockchain would increase transparency and gain public trust to understand the robotic
decisions (Salah et al., 2019). The integration of AI and blockchain technologies enables
MSCRA intelligent Decentralized Autonomous Agents (or DAOs) for automatic and fast validation
of data/value/asset transfers among different stakeholders in a supply chain (Magazzeni
et al., 2017). Applying AI techniques to blockchain-based business transactions can help
refine the supply chain by automating the entire process. AI-enabled NLP scans through the
supply chain documents like contracts, purchase orders, chat logs with customers or
suppliers and significant others to identify commonalities that are used as feedback to
optimize SCM as part of continual improvement. Decentralized AI algorithms and
applications can be developed by blockchain-AI integration in real world.
When AI platforms and technology are integrated with blockchain, can identify data
patterns and predictive analysis which includes predicting future demand, capture data
from the point of sale systems, old purchase information, predicting sales patterns,
identifying potential issues in advance, optimizing routes to reach the destination and
handling network traffic in the overall supply chain (Salah et al., 2019). It also helps in
inventory management data and demand forecasting to give the alert about the stock
clearance. It can help notify the correct time to order the new stock by analyzing all the
previous data processed through all the supply chain members on the blockchain server.
Manufacturers reduce supply chain latency for components and parts used in their most
heavily customized products using machine learning algorithms connected to the AI, and
blockchain play a significant role in the finance sector of the supply chain as all the
transactions are processed and stored on the blockchain server by all the stakeholders
involved in the supply supply chain (Pfohl and Gomm, 2009). AI helps to manage all the
operations and, through its data analysis algorithm, supports all the stakeholders to keep
track of expenses, the financial performance of the company existing in its supply chain.
This integration analyses all the transactions according to the organization involved in the
supply chain and helps notify about the requirements of funds and plans to raise funds for
upcoming operational expenses. Intelligent data-driven decisions help all the stakeholders
and members of the supply to make correct decisions on a real-time basis (Zhao et al., 2016).
Applying AI algorithms to the blockchain-based transactions can help to reframe supply
chain by automating the entire process and finding new revenue sources. AI agents and IOT
devices helps supplier, manufacturer, logistics provider and distributor to improve the
supply chain operations with predictive analysis that allows monitoring all the requirement
of all the members involved in the supply chain. AI algorithm and blockchain integration
reduces the work of supply chain managers of the organization and increases their
efficiency. Planning strategies help in operational efficiency and resilience of AI applications
and systems by taking the current input state and executing different logic and rule-based
algorithms to reach predefined goals (Contreras-Cruz et al., 2017). This integration of
blockchain and AI can also be used in the banking sector to store all the data securely on
blockchain server and data analysis, decisions of approving loans, managing cash flow and
deciding customer’s withdraw limit depending on his previous data and transactions
through AI.
In manufacturing supply chain, AI driven smart contracts can increase the effectiveness
of regular smart contract through analysis. AI can analyze past contracts and suggest
changes for future contracts. Predictive maintenance is the most important advantage of
blockchain-AI integration. AI algorithm installed in a machine can reduce the maintenance
uncertainties in the machine and improve the production quality efficiency due to standard
outputs.
In Figure 4, in blockchain and AI integration, once the data are acquired through
all supply chain members and data sources, all the data are properly processed and
segmented through normalizing, encoding and transformation. The data that are not
required is removed from the dataset. The segmented dataset is then trained as per
the execution and report requirements. Then an AI algorithm is imposed on the
 Blockchain-
integrated
technologies

Figure 4.
Blockchain technology
and AI (artificial
intelligence)
integration for
supply chain

dataset, and the data are then experimented, trained for a particular output. The
output that is concluded is compared with the real-time data and reports and a
necessary action is taken. Model recalibration takes place if the results are not as per
required output.

6. Solutions for supply chain challenges

Solutions for supply chain challenges is shown in Table 3.
 Table 3.
MSCRA

Supply chain
challenges and
solutions using
blockchain and
integrated technologies
Supply chain Technology and
members Challenges in operations integration Description

Manufacturer (1) Real-time tracking of manufactured products Blockchain and Blockchain-IOT helps manufacturing organizations track
(2) Maintaining efficiency of products IOT their production on a real-time basis and maintain the orders
(3) Handling raw materials and coordinating with all the as per requirement (Viriyasitavat et al., 2019).
suppliers according to requirement Once the data are stored on the blockchain server through
(4) Coordinating with other stakeholders of the supply chain sensor, they are visible to all the stakeholders to gain trust and
regularly plan their operations according to ongoing operations. Sensors
(5) Integration of all the members through digital supply gather all the data related to a machine like a temperature,
chain electricity and energy, which helps manufacturing engineers
(6) Gaining the trust of all the stakeholders involved in the maintain the computer. All the maintenance-related data are
supply chain stored on the blockchain server through IOT that help to
(7) Maintaining efficiency and productivity of large schedule upcoming maintenance that increase the efficiency of
machines machines (Tapscott and Tapscott, 2017).
Blockchain, IOT All the quantity and other details of raw materials used are
and AI updated on Blockchain server through IOT sensor, AI
algorithm here helps to analyze all the data and notify the
organization about the decision-making of orders from
suppliers and inventory management.AI algorithm also keep
track of machines and manufactured products through data
on blockchain server and notify to scheduled maintenance of
machines and their energy, electricity usage (Story et al., 2006).
AI trained and intelligent machines can detect problems of
machines by scanning data of default manufactured products.
Scheduling maintenance and demand forecasting are the two
major applications of blockchain and AI for manufacturers
Logistics (1) Less visibility in all process Blockchain and Blockchain helps store all products, order details and IOT. It
Provider (2) Real-time tracking of order IOT helps in real-time tracking of the order and their
(3) Efficiency reduces because of complex operations transportation, helping to gain the trust of all stakeholders in
management the supply chain and helping the consumer track their
(4) Maintain transaction of all supply chain members delivery. All the data through sensors are updated on the
cloud, and real-time tracking is available to all the
stakeholders and logistics partner involved (Bruque-Camara
et al., 2016).

(continued )
Supply chain Technology and
members Challenges in operations integration Description

Finance team (1) Difficult to track transactions of all chains Blockchain Blockchain technology stores all the transactions securely and
(2) Stakeholder face problems to track their investments technology makes it visible to all the stakeholders and helps them gain
(3) Difficult to calculate financial performance of an trust in ongoing supply chain operations (Larios-Herna ndez,
organization 2017). It allows companies to maintain their cash flow on
(4) Pay high salary to finance employees for company common server. It helps to keep and store all the e-voices and
auditing, financial reports and maintaining cash flow on a bills of all the members of the supply chain and are visible to
daily basis from all members of supply chain all members involved (Caniato et al., 2016).
Blockchain and AI Blockchain an AI integration helps to make financial decisions
accurately
Legal Team (1) Stakeholders have less trust and fear in handling legal Blockchain and All the legal contracts are stored digitally on the blockchain
documents securely smart contracts server securely and are visible to all the stakeholders involved
(2) All members of the supply chain face difficulty in in the supply chain. It helps manufacturers to gain the trust of
handling many contracts raw material sent by the supplier through ownership
(3) Challenges of duplicate parts and their ownership certificate. Automobile manufacturers can access all the
certificate ownership certificates of all the parts used in the assembly of
an automobile
Distributor (1) Handling and tracking all the products in the warehouse Blockchain and Blockchain stores all the products from suppliers on the
(2) Managing all the staff to handle all different types of IOT server, and IOT helps to track products on a real-time basis.
products RFID tags help to find the location of the products in the large
(3) Maintaining all the transactions of all the chain members warehouses (Zelbst et al., 2020). Blockchain stores all the
and storing them securely invoices and payment transactions from all the
manufacturers, logistics providers and retailers
Retailer (1) Tracking of product development stages Blockchain and All the real-time insights of all the processes are updated on
(2) Maintaining all transactions and invoices for all the IOT the blockchain server through IOT. Retailer can track the
products available logistics provider and plan his inventory according to order
(3) Identifying the right member/company for future orders delivery date (Yli-Huumo et al., 2016).
by the quality provided by them Blockchain and All smart contracts involved in the supply chain are updated
(4) Identify the organization involved in transporting smart contract on the blockchain server and accessed by the retailer anytime.
duplicate products If the customer complaints about the duplicate part in the
(5) Track all logistics provider and delivery details product, a retailer can easily find the organization/supply
chain member responsible through the ownership certificate of
that product uploaded on the blockchain server as a smart
contract
integrated
Blockchain-
technologies

Table 3.
MSCRA 7. Discussion
Adopting all modern technology such as integration of blockchain with IOT, AI can increase
the efficiency of operations, employees and organizations. It also brings many responsibilities
and guidelines to be followed by the organization and all the supply chain participants. Some
of the guidelines that need to be followed by the members of supply chain in their
organization are:
(1) All the companies have different operational strategies with a unique way of tracking
operations and executing the tasks. It is advised to research all the company
processes first and then make an implementation plan to get the most benefit of
technology in their supply chain operations.
(2) Supply chain involves many members involved from the organization and outside the
organization, so before adopting any technology, it is essential to make a proper flow
of the technology usage, which involves and benefits all the members in the supply
chain.
(3) Adopting new modern technology in traditional supply chain is highly expensive, so
a proper financial plan is preferred, and accurate unit economics should be ready
before selecting any technology implementation in the organization. A company
needs to plan for long term in terms of investment in technology and its returns.
(4) All the technologies mentioned above that enhance the flexibility and agility of
supply chain operations are very modern and challenging to learn by old employees.
All companies have to plan training sessions and workshops for the employees,
laborers, managers and stakeholders involved in the operations to make them
efficient and smooth use of the technology.
(5) The organizations, members involved in supply chain have to evaluate all the legal
documents and legal compliance requirements to adopt new technology. There could
be much legality in smart contracts, blockchain servers and IOT laws, as data are the
base of all these technologies.

8. Conclusion, recommendations and implications

This paper presents the findings and research in the blockchain technology that can be used
in the supply chain to increase efficiency and enhance the agility of the supply chain. The
challenges faced by industries in the traditional supply chain discussed, and to overcome the
difficulties, blockchain technology and its integration with other modern technologies are
considered for implementation. Based on the literature surveys and survey from a few
industry experts, challenges and their specific solution are identified in the chart in
integration with the blockchain technology. Blockchain technology can become one of the
essential techniques in supply chain operations in the future. The architecture developed for
blockchain technology for the supply chain and its integration with the supply chain helps
overcome some of the challenges analyzed in this research. Blockchain technology and its
integration with smart contracts, IOT and AI, when used in the traditional supply chain, can
not only solve the challenges but also bring new revenue sources and improve the business
model financially and operationally. This architecture can be roadmap for organizations
planning to implement blockchain technology in their supply chain and convert traditional
supply chain into a fully digital supply chain. The architecture demonstrates the application
of blockchain technology and its integration with modern technologies such as smart
contracts, IOT, AI for all the operations involved in the supply chain. Adopting these
technologies helps improve services and develop legal, finance, employee management and
trust among stakeholders.
 Supply chain operations face many challenges in spite of the availability of advanced Blockchain-
technologies. The major challenges for the supply chain operations are time, consistency, integrated
transparency and trust among all stakeholders. Even if blockchain technology and its
integration with AI and IOT are advanced technologies to solve barriers, organizations might
technologies
not be ready to share information on a platform for all parties to view and access. The
government regulations vary in all the countries across the world, so international
procurement standards are different for all the supply chain partners from different
countries. Standard operating procedures are required to be developed in all the supply chain
activities, processes and operations for successful implementation of these technologies in
supply chain network. Small organizations and companies on a small scale with less revenue
might face problems in adopting this technology because of less technical knowledge and
expense. The company’s objectives, resources and employees need to align all their activities
with the digital supply chain revolution.

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About the authors

Dhruman Gohil is a Mechanical engineering student at KJSCE interested to do research
in Digital Supply chain, advance manufacturing and industry 4.0 revolution. He is
founder of Nurturing Lives (NGO) that was started in the first year of engineering. He
has interests in entrepreneurship and has expertise in business planning and
strategies. He has worked with college professor and developed a Blockchain-IOT
integration architecture in manufacturing supply chain with purpose of human
intervention. He has successfully completed series of courses on Digital manufacturing
from State University of New York.

Prof. Shivangi Viral Thakker is working as Assistant Professor in K J Somaiya College of

Engineering, Mumbai and is a Doctoral Student in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, SPCE, Mumbai, India. Her current areas of research are Green procurement,
Green supply chain management and artificial intelligence. She is a CII Certified Supply
Chain Executive. She has publications in International Journals and Conferences and
have received research grant from Mumbai University for her research work. She has
completed Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Shivangi Viral Thakker is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: shivangiruparel@somaiya.edu

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