The globalized production and the distribution of agriculture production bring a renewed focus on the safety, quality, and the validation of several important criteria in agriculture and food supply ...chains. The growing number of issues related to food safety and contamination risks has established an immense need for effective traceability solution that acts as an essential quality management tool ensuring adequate safety of products in the agricultural supply chain. Blockchain is a disruptive technology that can provide an innovative solution for product traceability in agriculture and food supply chains. Today's agricultural supply chains are complex ecosystem involving several stakeholders making it cumbersome to validate several important criteria such as country of origin, stages in crop development, conformance to quality standards, and monitor yields. In this paper, we propose an approach that leverages the Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts efficiently perform business transactions for soybean tracking and traceability across the agricultural supply chain. Our proposed solution eliminates the need for a trusted centralized authority, intermediaries and provides transactions records, enhancing efficiency and safety with high integrity, reliability, and security. The proposed solution focuses on the utilization of smart contracts to govern and control all interactions and transactions among all the participants involved within the supply chain ecosystem. All transactions are recorded and stored in the blockchain's immutable ledger with links to a decentralized file system (IPFS) and thus providing to all a high level of transparency and traceability into the supply chain ecosystem in a secure, trusted, reliable, and efficient manner.
The advent of blockchain technology can refine the concept of DTs by ensuring transparency, decentralized data storage, data immutability, and peer-to-peer communication in industrial sectors. A DT ...is an integrated multiphysics, multiscale, and probabilistic simulation, representation, and mirroring of a real-world physical component. The DTs help to visualize designs in 3D, perform tests and simulations virtually prior to creation of any physical component, and consequently play a vital role in sustaining and maintaining Industry 4.0. It is anticipated that DTs will become prevalent in the foreseeable future because they can be used for configuration, monitoring, diagnostics, and prognostics. This article envisages how blockchain can reshape and transform DTs to bring about secure manufacturing that guarantees traceability, compliance, authenticity, quality, and safety. We discuss several benefits of employing blockchain in DTs. We taxonomize the DTs literature based on key parameters (e.g., DTs levels, design phases, industrial use cases, key objectives, enabling technologies, and core applications). We provide insights into ongoing progress made towards DTs by presenting recent synergies and case studies. Finally, we discuss open challenges that serve as future research directions.
The year 2020 has witnessed unprecedented levels of demand for COVID-19 medical equipment and supplies. However, most of today's systems, methods, and technologies leveraged for handling the forward ...supply chain of COVID-19 medical equipment and the waste that results from them after usage are inefficient. They fall short in providing traceability, reliability, operational transparency, security, and trust features. Also, they are centralized that can cause a single point of failure problem. In this paper, we propose a decentralized blockchain-based solution to automate forward supply chain processes for the COVID-19 medical equipment and enable information exchange among all the stakeholders involved in their waste management in a manner that is fully secure, transparent, traceable, and trustworthy. We integrate the Ethereum blockchain with decentralized storage of interplanetary file systems (IPFS) to securely fetch, store, and share the data related to the forward supply chain of COVID-19 medical equipment and their waste management. We develop algorithms to define interaction rules regarding COVID-19 waste handling and penalties to be imposed on the stakeholders in case of violations. We present system design along with its full implementation details. We evaluate the performance of the proposed solution using cost analysis to show its affordability. We present the security analysis to verify the reliability of the smart contracts, and discuss our solution from the generalization and applicability point of view. Furthermore, we outline the limitations of our solution in form of open challenges that can act as future research directions. We make our smart contracts code publicly available on GitHub.
Purpose Quality 4.0 incorporates the role of automation and digitization and provides competitive advantage for organizations by enhancing customer experience and increase profitability. The purpose ...of this study is to critically examine the organizational readiness factors for the successful implementation of Quality 4.0 implementation and assess their importance.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a quantitative research methodology to examine readiness factors of Quality 4.0 in organizations by 147 senior management professionals in various organizations including manufacturing and service companies in America, Asia and Europe participated through an online survey.FindingsThe readiness factors for Quality 4.0 were critically ranked amongst manufacturing and service organizations by senior management professionals from three continents. Five significant reasons for non-adoption of Quality 4.0 were lack of resources, inability to link Quality 4.0 with the corporate strategy and objectives, lack of understanding of benefits, high initial investment and the current quality management strategy and methods are already delivering good results hence unsure of the need for Quality 4.0. The handling of big data in quality management was the most important factor for adopting Quality 4.0, irrespective of the size and nature of the organization. More accuracy and less errors and improved decision-making the factors of adopting Quality 4.0 in service sector were not significant for manufacturing sector. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reported that costs and time savings over the long run were not so significant.Practical implications This study is focussed on the significance of pros and cons of adopting Quality 4.0 in organizations. Senior managers in both large and SMEs can benefit immensely from understanding before investing heavily towards implementing Quality 4.0. The importance of identified organizational readiness factors for the successful adoption of Quality 4.0 can be used as indicators to understand how ready an organization is to implement Quality 4.0. The top three readiness factors for the successful adoption of Quality 4.0 were identified as: top management commitment, leadership and organizational culture. Improved understanding of the readiness factors can be highly beneficial to senior quality professionals in both manufacturing and service companies in the journey towards successful implementation of Quality 4.0.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study on assessing Quality 4.0 readiness factors at an intercontinental level and therefore serves as a foundation for many future studies. The study provides a theoretical foundation for the Quality 4.0 in terms of organizational readiness for successful adoption and overcoming implementation challenges. During the planning, implementation and progress review of Quality 4.0, review the readiness factors while planning and resourcing a Quality 4.0 implementation strategy to ensure effective performance.
Healthcare supply chains are complex structures spanning across multiple organizational and geographical boundaries, providing critical backbone to services vital for everyday life. The inherent ...complexity of such systems can introduce impurities including inaccurate information, lack of transparency and limited data provenance. Counterfeit drugs is one consequence of such limitations within existing supply chains which not only has serious adverse impact on human health but also causes severe economic loss to the healthcare industry. Consequently, existing studies have emphasized the need for a robust, end-to-end track and trace system for pharmaceutical supply chains. Therein, an end-to-end product tracking system across the pharmaceutical supply chain is paramount to ensuring product safety and eliminating counterfeits. Most existing track and trace systems are centralized leading to data privacy, transparency and authenticity issues in healthcare supply chains. In this article, we present an Ethereum blockchain-based approach leveraging smart contracts and decentralized off-chain storage for efficient product traceability in the healthcare supply chain. The smart contract guarantees data provenance, eliminates the need for intermediaries and provides a secure, immutable history of transactions to all stakeholders. We present the system architecture and detailed algorithms that govern the working principles of our proposed solution. We perform testing and validation, and present cost and security analysis of the system to evaluate its effectiveness to enhance traceability within pharmaceutical supply chains.
Blockchain technology has disclosed unprecedented opportunities in the healthcare sector by unlocking the true value of interoperability. Specifically, the striking features of blockchain technology, ...such as data provenance, transparency, decentralized transaction validation, and immutability, can help to compensate for stringent data management issues (e.g., patient recruitment, persistent monitoring, data management, and data analytics and accurate reporting) in clinical trials (CTs). Although several research studies show that blockchain solutions help to improve patient retention, data integrity, privacy and ensure CTs compliance with regulatory policies, a comprehensive survey on this topic is lacking. In this survey, we provide insights into the adoption of blockchain technology in CTs. We categorize and classify the literature by devising a meticulous taxonomy of the decentralized tasks of CT and practices based on indispensable parameters. Furthermore, we provide insights on works in progress toward deploying blockchain solutions in CTs. Finally, we identify and discuss several challenges that hinder the successful implementation of blockchain technologies in CTs.
Pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) consists of multiple stakeholders including raw material suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, regulatory authorities, pharmacies, hospitals, and patients. The ...complexity of product and transaction flows in PSC requires an effective traceability system to determine the current and all previous product ownerships. In addition, digitizing track and trace process provides significant benefit for regulatory oversight and ensures product safety. Blockchain-based drug traceability offers a potential solution to create a distributed shared data platform for an immutable, trustworthy, accountable and transparent system in the PSC. In this paper, we present an overview of product traceability issues in the PSC and envisage how blockchain technology can provide effective provenance, track and trace solution to mitigate counterfeit medications. We propose two potential blockchain based decentralized architectures, Hyperledger Fabric and Besu to meet critical requirements for drug traceability such as privacy, trust, transparency, security, authorization and authentication, and scalability. We propose, discuss, and compare two potential blockchain architectures for drug traceability. We identify and discuss several open research challenges related to the application of blockchain technology for drug traceability. The proposed blockchain architectures provide a valuable roadmap for Health Informatics researchers to build and deploy an end-to-end solution for the pharmaceutical industry.
Smart cities have the potential to overcome environmental problems caused by improper waste disposal by improving human health, protecting the aquatic ecosystem, and reducing air pollution. However, ...today's systems, approaches, and technologies leveraged for waste management are manual and centralized. This fact makes them vulnerable to manipulation and the single point of failure problem. Also, a large portion of the existing waste management systems within smart cities fall short in providing operational transparency, traceability, audit, security, and trusted data provenance features. In this paper, we explore the key role of blockchain technology in managing waste within smart cities as it can offer traceability, immutability, transparency, and audit features in a decentralized, trusted, and secure manner. We discuss the opportunities brought about by blockchain technology in various waste management use cases and application scenarios, including real-time tracing and tracking of waste, reliable channelization and compliance with waste treatment laws, efficient waste resources management, protection of waste management documentation, and fleet management. We introduce a framework that leverages blockchain-based smart contracts to automate the key services in terms of waste management of smart cities. We compare the existing blockchain-based waste management solutions based on important parameters. Furthermore, we present insightful discussions on several ongoing blockchain-based research projects and case studies to highlight the practicability of blockchain in waste management. Finally, we present open challenges that act as future research directions.
Clinical Trials (CTs) help in testing and validating the safety and efficacy of newly discovered drugs on specific patient population cohorts. However, these trials usually experience many ...challenges, such as extensive time frames, high financial cost, regulatory and administrative barriers, and insufficient workforce. In addition, CTs face several data management challenges pertaining to protocol compliance, patient enrollment, transparency, traceability, data integrity, and selective reporting. Blockchain can potentially address such challenges because of its intrinsic features and properties. Although existing literature broadly discusses the applicability of blockchain-based solutions for CTs, only a few studies present their working proof-of-concept.
We propose a blockchain-based framework for CT data management, using Ethereum smart contracts, which employs IPFS as the file storage system to automate processes and information exchange among CT stakeholders. CT documents stored in the IPFS are difficult to tamper with as they are given unique cryptographic hashes. We present algorithms that capture various stages of CT data management. We develop the Ethereum smart contract using Remix IDE that is validated under different scenarios.
The proposed framework results are advantageous to all stakeholders ensuring transparency, data integrity, and protocol compliance. Although the proposed solution is tested on the Ethereum blockchain platform, it can be deployed in private blockchain networks using their native smart contract technologies. We make our smart contract code publicly available on Github.
We conclude that the proposed framework can be highly effective in ensuring that the trial abides by the protocol and the functions are executed only by the stakeholders who are given permission. It also assures data integrity and promotes transparency and traceability of information among stakeholders.
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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