scholarly journals Applications of Blockchain Technology in Sustainable Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7870
Author(s):  
Ahmad A. A. Khanfar ◽  
Mohammad Iranmanesh ◽  
Morteza Ghobakhloo ◽  
Madugoda Gunaratnege Senali ◽  
Masood Fathi

Developing sustainable products and processes is essential for the survival of manufacturers in the current competitive market and the industry 4.0 era. The activities of manufacturers and their supply chain partners should be aligned with sustainable development goals. Manufacturers have faced many barriers and challenges in implementing sustainable practices along the entire supply chain due to globalisation, outsourcing, and offshoring. Blockchain technology has the potential to address the challenges of sustainability. This study aims to explain the applications of blockchain technology to sustainable manufacturing. We conducted a systematic literature review and explained the potential contributions of blockchain technology to the economic, environmental, and social performances of manufacturers and their supply chains. The findings of the study extend our understanding of the blockchain applications in sustainable manufacturing and sustainable supply chains. Furthermore, the study explains how blockchain can influence the sustainable performance of manufacturers by creating transparency, traceability, real-time information sharing, and security of the data capabilities.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Alexei Pérez-Velázquez ◽  
Jorge Laureano Moya-Rodríguez

The direction for the construction of a sustainable supply chain concept has an evolution and contribution of multiple disciplines that have been elaborated by academic and business bias. From this point on, defining a concept of this subject represents an issue that demands an interpretative effort, since several factors and theoretical approaches influence this category. The objective of this article is to demarcate a theoretical framework on sustainable supply chains and relate it to the barriers present in the measurement of sustainable performance. The method applied in this assessment combines systematic literature review, qualitative analysis of content and bibliometrics, through interconnected steps, which allow a detailing of the dimensions and under dimensions of the sustainability in the supply chain and the identification of the barriers that are associated with the measurement of performance. The material considered is supported through theoretical and empirical studies, which approached the formulation of the concepts and their applicability at different levels of the supply chain. This allows the content analysis to demarcate certain stages of development and the different theoretical approaches that respond and assist the concept. The results contribute to the definition of a roadmap to measure of sustainable performance, an issue that is the basis of future studies over this theme.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-97
Author(s):  
Dhruman Gohil ◽  
Shivangi Viral Thakker

PurposeBlockchain 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/approachThrough 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsBlockchain 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 implicationsThis 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 implicationsDigital 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/valueThe 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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9872
Author(s):  
Shaheera Haroon ◽  
Muhammad Wasif ◽  
Rameez Khalid ◽  
Sana Khalidi

The sustainability of supply chains is now one of the major global issues due to the vision of the United Nations (UN). By 2030, it is the primary focus of the UN to attain all the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDG). Hence, the primary goal of this study is to examine how practitioners think about sustainable supply chains. Five hypotheses are established to assess the perceptions of supply chain professionals. Forty-two (42) indicators are gathered from the existing literature to establish the survey instrument to collect the responses from supply chain practitioners. Finally, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to evaluate the mediation effects. It is found that social aspects are significantly impacted by the environmental aspects, as compared to the economic aspects. None of these indicators play any mediation effect, as all three are equally important for the sustainable supply chains.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Acioli ◽  
Annibal Scavarda ◽  
Augusto Reis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is 1) to investigate the effects on the crucial Industry 4.0 technological innovations that interact between the real and virtual worlds and that are applied in the sustainable supply chain process; 2) to contribute to the identification of the opportunities, the challenges and the gaps that will support the new research study developments and 3) to analyze the impact of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators of the sustainable supply chain performance in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachThis research is performed through a bibliographic review in the electronic databases of the Emerald Insight, the Scopus and the Web of Science, considering the main scientific publications on the subject.FindingsThe bibliographic search results in 526 articles, followed by two sequential filters for deleting the duplicate articles (resulting in 487 articles) and for selecting the most relevant articles (resulting in 150 articles).Practical implicationsThis article identifies the opportunities and the challenges focused on the emerging Industry 4.0 theme. The opportunities can contribute to the sustainable performance of the supply chains and their territories. The Industry 4.0 can also generate challenges like the social inequalities related to the position of the man in the labor market by replacing the human workforce with the machines. Therefore, the man-machine relationship in the Industry 4.0 era is analyzed as a gap in the literature. Therefore, as a way to fill this gap, the authors of this article suggest the exploration of the research focused on the Society 5.0. Also known as “super-smart society,” this recent theme appeared in Japan in April 2016. According to Fukuda (2020), in addition to the focus on the technological development, the Society 5.0 also aims at the quality of life and the social challenge resolutions.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the analysis of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the sustainable supply chain performance. It addresses the impacts of the Industry 4.0 technologies applied to the supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it analyzes the research gaps and limitations found in the literature. The result of this study can add value and stimulate new research studies related to the application of the Industry 4.0 technologies as facilitators in the supply chain sustainable performance. It can encourage the studies related to the COVID-19 impacts on the sustainable supply chains, and it can promote the research development on the relationship among the man, the machine and the labor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohita Gangwar Sharma

PurposeMany commodity supply chains suffer from an unfair value distribution across the supply chain like “Coffee Paradox.” This study explores the coffee supply chain to determine how the country of origin–geographical indicator can be used as a method of fair distribution of value and provenance across the supply chain effectuated by the blockchain technology. By looking at an exemplar case study for India, this study provides insights into diverse research streams and practice.Design/methodology/approachBased on the case method, analyzing the implementation of blockchain in the coffee industry by a leading Indian software implementation of the logic, dynamics and forces for a provenance model has been devised. It further adopts a stakeholder cum institutional theory framework to understand the logical implementation of a blockchain project embedded in a territorial logic for a commodity supply chain.FindingsThis study specifically looks at coffee which is representative of a commodity supply chain. It also explores how the malaise of unfair value distribution gets addressed by bringing farmers and the consumers on a common platform facilitated by blockchain technology. This study contributes to the literature on blockchain, territory, commodity and supply chain. Using stakeholder cum institutional theory, this study helps to explore how the implementation is successful by different actors in the supply chain through collaboration.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a new stream of multi-disciplinary study at the interface of supply chain, technology, international trade and geography.Practical implicationsBlockchains are embedded in the supply chain, and supply chains are embedded in territories. This linkage is paramount and the ability to make these blockchain projects successful requires the deep study of the interaction of territory, technology and actors from the provenance angle. De-commodification of coffee can be actualized through blockchain.Social implicationsThe coffee paradox and skewed value distribution is also a social problem wherein the farmers do not get the right price of their produce and are exploited. This case also highlights how this social malaise can be addressed and rightful and equitable distribution of value happens across the value chain.Originality/valueThis linkage between territory, blockchain, commodity supply chain and institutions has not been discussed in the literature. Adopting the territorial design approach, this study is an attempt to stimulate inter-disciplinary conversations and thereby create a provenance framework for commodity and research questions for scholars from different disciplines and divergent disciplinary perspectives.


Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Nageswar ◽  
Siva Yellampalli

With traditional ERP systems, there is a lack of networking among suppliers, partners, and logistics providers. So, there is a need to have a holistic view of production and movement of goods from production to last mile delivery. The physical and digital supply chains need to be integrated to ensure secure supply chains that promote business excellence, collaboration among stakeholders, and reduce costs. The high-level view over their supply chains allows them to function better in a multi-channel world. It also helps them identify where to reduce stock without compromising customer service. Otherwise, it leads to a delay in delivery, counterfeit products, thefts, fraud, and cyberpiracy, which may lead to lawsuits and losing of brand image. The tacit function of supply chain management is to provide tracking of specific goods in the supply chain. So, it is imperative to leverage the blockchain technology stack to map multi-enterprise value networks and enable connected multi-modal networks.


Author(s):  
Bhoomi Gupta ◽  
Harsh Yadav

Recently, blockchain technology has been recognized for other industries than finance, proving it's potential other than cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. Supply chain is one of the exponentially growing industries which needs to undergo through changes in order to survive in tomorrow's economy. There are many risks involved in current supply chains that can be potentially eliminated with the implementation of blockchain. This chapter analyses the various aspects of blockchain technology and how other technologies can be integrated with it to deliver exceptional solutions. Various risks present in the current system are discussed along with how those risks can be handled using blockchain, contributing towards building a risk resilient supply chain.


Author(s):  
Yigit Sever ◽  
Pelin Angin

Following the globalization initiated by containerization of logistics, supply chains might be due another revolution by the integration of the disruptive blockchain technology that addresses the current issues with the management of complex global supply chains. Blockchains are distributed digital ledgers that require no central authority to operate while offering a tamper-proof and transparent history of each transaction from the very beginning. Distributed nature of these ledgers ensure that every participant of the supply chain has access to trusted data. The industry has already begun experimenting with blockchain integration into their operations. For the majority of the organizations, however, these experiments stay in proof-of-concept stages or small pilot studies. In this chapter, the authors discuss the supply chain characteristics that make blockchain integration favorable, lay the groundwork for how blockchain can be used for supply chain operations and how it has been used so far.


Author(s):  
Jay R. Brown ◽  
Maxim A. Bushuev ◽  
Andrey A. Kretinin ◽  
Alfred L. Guiffrida

In today's supply chains, green and sustainable business practices have become an integral part of long-term strategy as well as the day-to-day operations, and sourcing and logistics play fundamental roles in ensuring the success of sustainable supply chains. In this chapter, we review recent research on three classes of decision models that are used in the logistics and sourcing functions of sustainable supply chains. Specifically, we examine and summarize recent developments in sustainable decision models for supplier selection, inventory lot-sizing, and last-mile delivery. Our review of the green and sustainable features found in these three models results in a single-source consolidation of models used in sustainable sourcing and logistics. This review may prove useful to researchers who focus on sustainable supply chain management and to practitioners who seek to expand their toolkit of models for the management and control of their supply chain.


Author(s):  
Ye-Sho Chen

In 2015, the United Nations set up 17 sustainable development goals to transform the world. Sustainable supply chains play a key role in achieving these goals. In this article, the authors propose an interactive platform with communication systems and technologies to empower sustainable development participants actively engaging in managing sustainable supply chains and international soft landings. Specifically, this article illustrates how to develop an interactive “Flying High, Landing Soft” platform of wetland entrepreneurship to address the growing global problem of wetland losses. The interactive platform, grounded in the theory of digital nervous systems and equipped with social interaction technologies, and allows student entrepreneurs to participate in exploring and developing business solutions to maintain a healthy wetland and have positive impact on global sustainability development.


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