Blockchain-oriented dynamic modelling of smart contract design and execution in the supply chain

By Alexandre Dolgui, Dmitry A. Ivanov, Semyon A. Potryasaev, Boris V. Sokolov, Marina Ivanova, Frank Werner. International Journal of Production Research, 2019

454 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Recently, the applications of Blockchain technology have begun to revolutionise different aspects of supply chain (SC) management. Among others, Blockchain is a platform to execute the smart contracts in the SC as transactions. We develop and test a new model for smart contract design in the SC with multiple logistics service providers and show that this problem can be presented as a multi-processor flexible flow shop scheduling. A distinctive feature of our approach is that the execution of physical operations is modelled inside the start and completion of cyber information services. We name this modelling concept ‘virtual operation’. The constructed model and the developed experimental environment constitute an event-driven dynamic approach to task and service composition when designing the smart contract. Our approach is also of value when considering the contract execution stage. The use of state control variables in our model allows for operations status updates in the Blockchain that in turn, feeds automated information feedbacks, disruption detection and control of contract execution. The latter launches the re-scheduling procedure, comprehensively combining planning and adaptation decisions within a unified methodological framework of dynamic control theory. The modelling complex developed can be used to design and control smart contracts in the SC.

Subfields: Information Systems, Management of Technology and Innovation, Management Science and Operations Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5a12f8a28f6e4cb83f8a4c79659e2368dc5a6cad

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Citations in the corpus

Generative artificial intelligence in supply chain and operations management: a capability-based framework for analysis and implementation (2024, unknown): “…cutting-edge technologies such as IoT (Luo, Thevenin, and Dolgui 2022), 5G (Dolgui and Ivanov 2022), Metaverse (Dolgui and Ivanov 2023), Blockchain (Dolgui et al. 2020), Big Data (Jahani, Jain, and Ivanov 2023) and Cloud technologies, AI is pivotal in powering the digital transformation…”
Unearthing the determinants of Blockchain adoption in supply chain management (2020, background): “…et al. 2016), demand forecasting (Hofmann and Rutschmann 2018) and risk analytics (Ivanov, Dolgui, and Sokolov 2019) as well as the use of blockchain (BC) technology to monitor and optimise various aspects of supply chain performance (Saberi et al. 2019; Manupati et al. 2019; Dolgui et al. 2019).”
Analysis of resilience strategies and ripple effect in blockchain-coordinated supply chains: An agent-based simulation study (2020, background): “By automating transactions, value exchange, and information sharing, smart contracts promise increased process accuracy, security, speed, and traceability, while at the same time reducing costs (Dolgui et al., 2020a).”
Blockchain-based food supply chain traceability: a case study in the dairy sector (2020, background): “Today smart contracts have been included in the majority of existing blockchain applications (Dolgui et al. 2019).”
A literature review of blockchain technology applications in supply chains: A comprehensive analysis of themes, methodologies and industries (2021, unknown): “The contract terms agreed upon by supply chain participants are fixed in the coding used for smart contracts, which define the statement obligations, benefits, and penalties, and the terms are enforced when the conditions for execution are met (Dolgui et al., 2020).”
Trends and applications of resilience analytics in supply chain modeling: systematic literature review in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020, background): “Smart contracts through Blockchain platforms can offer both proactive and reactive supply chain management (Dolgui et al. 2020).”
When Blockchain Meets Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review on Current Development and Potential Applications (2020, background): “With data updates and an event-driven mechanism, smart contracts may facilitate the manipulation of supply chain activities [36].”
Researchers' perspectives on Industry 4.0: multi-disciplinary analysis and opportunities for operations management (2020, background): “Sensors, automated guided vehicles (AGV), blockchain, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, big data analytics, track&trace systems (T&T), andmobile robots are facilitating the formation of cyber-physical systems (CPS) in manufacturing and supply chains (Waller and Fawcett 2013; Li et al. 2017;”
Blockchain technology for enhancing swift-trust, collaboration and resilience within a humanitarian supply chain setting (2020, methodology): “This in itself may be seen a significant contribution to the literature, as previous research efforts have clearly called for empirical validation of trust created via distributed ledger technology (Min 2019; Roeck, Sternberg, and Hofmann 2019; Dolgui et al. 2019).”
Blockchain technology in supply chain operations: Applications, challenges and research opportunities (2020, unknown): “26 Dolgui et al (2019) It studies the development and testing of a blockchain based dynamic model and computational algorithm using control for the smart contract design in the SC. 27 Epps et al (2019) The paper explores standardizing blockchain implementation in SC so that it can be scaled to…”