Abstract
The manufacturing industry inclines to worldwide business operations due to the economic advantage of product design and development. In this way, globalized manufacturing supply chains make their management and control more difficult. As a distributed ledger technology that ensures transparency, trust, traceability, and cybersecurity, blockchain technology promises to ease some global manufacturing operation problems. This chapter presents blockchain technology basics and analyses the issues (e.g., traceability, cybersecurity, flexibility, and smart contracts) related to the blockchain-based manufacturing information system. Next, the chapter presents related research work in the manufacturing industry in recent years. It also includes a classification mechanism for manufacturing information systems based on specific properties. It is followed by discussing the critical issues that need to consider in designing industry-specific reference information system architecture. Finally, the chapter discusses the scope of future research.
TopIntroduction
Manufacturing in the modern economy organizes supply chains, including business processes ranging from product design, product development, and delivery of the final product to customers. In a typical manufacturing supply chain, raw materials purchase from suppliers and products manufactured at one or more production plants. Then the product move to intermediate storage (e.g., warehouse, distribution centres) for packing and shipping to retailers or customers (Pal, 2017; Pal, 2019). In this way, a manufacturing supply chain consists of business partners in the network, and these are the suppliers, transporters, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and end-customers. Any manufacturing supply chain's ultimate performance depends on the involved stakeholders' business practices and corporate practices (e.g., public policies, business environment) and infrastructures.
In this way, a manufacturing supply chain creates a complex network of business processes. Also, due to globalisation and business process decentralisation, the efficient performance of a manufacturing supply chain requires a high degree of visibility - defines as the capability of sharing on time and accurate data throughout the entire supply chain, and coordination among supply chain partners. In today's global business environment, companies recognise the strategic importance of well-managed manufacturing supply chains.
Technologies provide the impetus in how industrial and manufacturing companies manage their regular business practices and supply chains. With the help of sophisticated automated business process solutions, like real-time monitoring of manufacturing network operations, warehouse daily operation management, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, as well as advanced data capture and wireless networking facilities, many organisations from different sectors (e.g., automotive, apparel) are squeezing more and more efficiency out of their regular business process operations.
Blockchain-based computing is one of the essential technologies for the automation of geographically distributed complex manufacturing information systems. Many academics and practitioners believe that blockchain-based technologies represent the most attractive new paradigm for information systems development in recent decades (Pal, 2020a) (Pal, 2020b). The usage of blockchain-based information systems has already found different applications in manufacturing, real-time control system, electronic commerce, network management, transportation system, medical care, and entertainment business. The increasing success of blockchain-based computing applications in these areas is that the inherent distribution allows for the system's natural decomposition into multiple blocks that interact to attain a target strategic-objective. The blockchain-based computing paradigm can significantly improve the design and analysis of the problem domains under the following three conditions: (i) the problem domain is geographically distributed; (ii) the subsystems exist in a dynamic environment; and (iii) the subsystems need to interact with each other more flexibly.
Figure 1. A diagrammatic representation of a blockchain
The domain of global manufacturing communication systems is well suited to a blockchain-based approach because of its geographically distributed nature, and it is hybrid information system-based operating characteristics. From an intelligent manufacturing management perspective, blockchain-based systems' most appealing traits are autonomy, collaboration, and reactivity. Blockchain-based systems can work without the direct intervention of humans or others. This feature helps to implement an automated information system in the global manufacturing industry.
The advance of manufacturing technologies relates closely to information technologies. Since a manufacturing system's design and operation need numerous decision-making activities, prompt and effective decisions depend not only on reasoning techniques but also on the quality of information. Therefore, current manufacturing control systems need appropriate security of their data.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Private Key: An instance of code, privately held, and paired with a public key to initiate text encryption algorithms. A primary key is created as part of public-key cryptography during asymmetric key encryption.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P): Where participants to a network send information to one another without using intermediaries or central points.
Block: A message sent by a participant in a blockchain system that has been authenticated and verified by that system and consensus reached on it, and which has been added (as a block) to the previous block in this chain of blocks. Blocks typically record transactions or the change in the status of something.
Blockchain: A distributed ledger taking the form of an electronic database that is replicated on numerous nodes spread across an organisation, a country, multiple countries over a diverse geographical area form a blockchain. Each hash for a block depends on the block header for that block. The block header for the block contains a reference to the previous block in the chain. Accordingly, therefore is a continuous chain back in time.
Permissionless: A blockchain is permissionless when anyone is free to submit messages for processing and/or be involved in the process of reaching consensus. While a permissionless blockchain will typically use a consensus protocol to determine the blockchain's current state, it could equally use some other process (such as using an administrator or sub-group of participants) to do so.
Node: A single computer involved in processing a message to reach consensus. Nodes are joined to each other through the computer network.
Hashing: The process by which a grouping of digital data is converted into a single number, called a hash. The number is unique (effectively a “digital fingerprint” of the source data), and the source data cannot be reverse-engineered and recovered from it. In the context of blockchain, what is hashed is the block header.
Permissioned: A blockchain is permissioned where its participants are pre-selected or subject to gated entry on the satisfaction of certain requirements or approval by an administrator of the blockchain. A permissioned blockchain may use a consensus protocol to determine a blockchain's state, or it may use an administrator or sub-group of participants to do so.
Block Header: A message or messages relating to a transaction are bundled together in a block and given title known as a block header. The block header is dependent on the combination of messages in the block. A block header lists the transaction(s), the time at which the list was made (that is, a timestamp), and a reference back to the most recent block.
Distributed ledger: A collection of data (making up a database), an identical copy held on numerous computers across an organisation, a country, multiple countries, or the entire world. A blockchain is a distributed ledger, but not all distributed ledgers are blockchains.
Message: A submission of data (typically a transaction) for processing by nodes with the object having the message authenticated and verified and consensus reached.
Address: An alphanumeric string constituting a participant’s public key for encryption of messages.
Consensus Protocol: A computer protocol in the form of an algorithm constituting a set of rules for how each participant in a blockchain should process messages (say, a transaction of some sort) and how they should accept the processing done by other participants. The purpose of a consensus protocol is to achieve consensus between participants as to what a blockchain should contain at a given time (including new blocks). Terms used to describe consensus protocols in the context of blockchain technologies include “proof of work” or “proof of stake”.