Leveraging the Internet of Things and Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management

Abstract

Modern supply chains have evolved into highly complex value networks and turned into a vital source of competitive advantage. However, it has become increasingly challenging to verify the source of raw materials and maintain visibility of products and merchandise while they are moving through the value chain network. The application of the Internet of Things (IoT) can help companies to observe, track, and monitor products, activities, and processes within their respective value chain networks. Other applications of IoT include product monitoring to optimize operations in warehousing‚ manufacturing, and transportation. In combination with IoT, Blockchain technology can enable a broad range of different application scenarios to enhance value chain transparency and to increase B2B trust. When combined, IoT and Blockchain technology have the potential to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of modern supply chains. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we illustrate how the deployment of Blockchain technology in combination with IoT infrastructure can streamline and benefit modern supply chains and enhance value chain networks. Second, we derive six research propositions outlining how Blockchain technology can impact key features of the IoT (i.e., scalability, security, immutability and auditing, information flows, traceability and interoperability, quality) and thus lay the foundation for future research projects.

Antecedents of blockchain adoption: An integrative framework

“…A further suggested widespread utilization involves the Internet of Things (IoT) in which all communications between smart devices is stored securely (Nofer et al, 2017; Rejeb, Keogh, & Treiblmaier, 2019). For example, Clohessy and Clohessy (2020) highlight how blockchain ability is to enable IoT or smart devices to transact and communicate data securely in real‐time with 360° visibility for all parties in a network can prevent counterfeit pharmaceutical medication not only entering supply chains but also being sold to consumers.…”

A Content-Analysis Based Literature Review in Blockchain Adoption within Food Supply Chain

“…This real-time information capturing ability is especially important for frozen and fresh food products, as the quality is closely related to the external environment [22,65]. The automation by IoT can increase the efficiency of monitoring and capturing information, and reduce the manual errors [17,22,28,75]. However, there are also a few challenges of IoT deployments including data confidentiality, vulnerability, data integrity, and stakeholder's privacy [34,55,[75][76][77].…”

“…The automation by IoT can increase the efficiency of monitoring and capturing information, and reduce the manual errors [17,22,28,75]. However, there are also a few challenges of IoT deployments including data confidentiality, vulnerability, data integrity, and stakeholder's privacy [34,55,[75][76][77]. Therefore, protection and security are important when using IoT devices in supply chains, which can be developed by combining with blockchain protocol [19,34,35,39,75,76].…”

Utilization of text mining as a big data analysis tool for food science and nutrition

“…Blockchain, a technology that enables the sharing of encrypted records or digital events among collaborating parties, has recently been applied to agriculture and food retail supply chain for increasing food traceability (Astill et al, 2019;Kamilaris, Fonts, & Prenafeta-Bold́, 2019). The combined usage of the IoT and Blockchain technology would have the potential to improve supply chain management (Rejeb, Keogh, & Treiblmaier, 2019). For instance, a significant issue in food supply chain is food waste (Pearson & Perera, 2018).…”