Factors influencing blockchain adoption in supply chain management practices: A study based on the oil industry

A sustainable Blockchain framework for the halal food supply chain: Lessons from Malaysia

Effectively managing the healthcare supply chain (HCSC) process is crucial for healthcare providers not only during pandemics such as COVID-19 but also in their normal operations. Despite significant advances in new technologies and treatment options providers still suffer from poor procurement, ordering, forecasting, and distribution practices. Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) are an important stakeholder in HCSC and benefit providers with cost savings, volume discounts, and vendor selection. However, the current GPO contract process is time-consuming and lacks efficiency. Hence, our proposed solution integrates blockchain technology and decentralized storage to promote transparency, streamlines communication with stakeholders, and minimize the procurement timeline while avoiding pricing discrepancies and inaccuracies. Our solution connects all the stakeholders such as manufacturer, GPO, distributor, and provider using Ethereum network. In this paper, we propose a blockchain solution using smart contracts to automate the GPO contract process. We propose a generic framework for contracting process in the HCSC with detailed algorithms depicting various interactions among HCSC stakeholders. The smart contract code was developed and tested using Remix IDE and the code is publicly shared via Github. We discuss various security risks and present detailed cost analysis of various transactions incurred by the stakeholders. Our analysis demonstrates that the proposed blockchain-based solution is economically feasible as only a minimal transaction fee is expended by the stakeholders in the distributed network.

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Automating Procurement Contracts in the Healthcare Supply Chain Using Blockchain Smart Contracts

With the aggravation of the global environmental crisis, consumers are keen to use green products, and enterprises are more committed to technology investment and innovation to meet consumers’ green preferences. This study considers a supply chain system composed of one manufacturer and one retailer, where the manufacturer invests in green emission reduction technology (GERT) to reduce carbon emissions, and the retailer invests in information disclosure technology to transmit the higher greenness quality of products to consumers. We discuss the technology investment decisions and cooperation strategies between the manufacturer and the retailer, as well as the impacts of government regulations on supply chain members’ decisions. We consider three scenarios: decentralized, government intervention, and cost sharing and government intervention. We derive the optimal technology investment decisions of the manufacturer and retailer. In addition, we identify the conditions for the manufacturer to subsidize the retailer’s disclosure technology costs. The results show that a higher emission reduction subsidy encourages GERT investments and increases supply chain members’ profits. However, when the government sets a higher emission reduction standard, the subsidy neither increases the emission reduction nor benefits the retailer, and hurts the manufacturer’s profit. We also demonstrate that when there is cost sharing and government intervention, emission reduction and supply chain performance are always better than in the other scenarios.

Sustainable supply chain management considering technology investments and government intervention

In this paper, we introduce cloud supply chain which is a business model based on cloud-enabled networking of some third-party physical and digital assets to design and manage a supply chain network. Cloud supply chain integrates concepts and technology of Industry 4.0 and digital platforms emerging in the “supply chain-as-a-service” paradigm. This paper conceptualizes the cloud supply chain as a new and distinct research area. Through analysis of practical cases, we deduce some generalized characteristics of the cloud supply chain. In the generalised model, we formalize supply chain multi-structural dynamics and dynamic service composition. Our results show that the main generalized characteristics of the cloud supply chain are related to (i) multi-structural dynamics; (ii) platforms, digital supply chains, ecosystems, and visibility, (iii) dynamic service composition with dynamically changing buyer/supplier roles, (iv) resilience and viability, and (v) intertwined supply networks and circular economy. We close by discussing future research directions including novel context of Industry 5.0. 

Cloud supply chain: Integrating Industry 4.0 and digital platforms in the “Supply Chain-as-a-Service”

Blockchain is a technology with unique combination of features such as decentralized structure, distributed notes and storage mechanism, consensus algorithm, smart contracting, and asymmetric encryption to ensure network security, transparency and visibility. Blockchain has immense potential to transform supply chain (SC) functions, from SC provenance, business process reengineering to security enhancement. More and more studies exploring the use of blockchain in SCs have appeared in recent years. In this paper, we consider a total of 178 articles and examine all the relevant research done in the field associated with the use of blockchain integration in SC operations. We highlight the corresponding opportunities, possible societal impacts, current state-of-the-art technologies along with major trends and challenges. We examine several industrial sectors such as shipping, manufacturing, automotive, aviation, finance, technology, energy, healthcare, agriculture and food, e-commerce, and education among others that can be successfully revamped with blockchain based technologies through enhanced visibility and business process management. A future research agenda is established which lays the solid foundation for further studies on this important emerging research area.

Surabhi Somani

Papers

Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities