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Fakultät Maschinenbau
Shaping the future, creating trust - Networking together for the logistics of tomorrow

Blockchain technology in supply chain management

At a time when global supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and challenging, blockchain technology is becoming more and more important in supply chain management (SCM). Whether for increasing resilience, seamlessly recording supply chains or designing sustainable processes - blockchain offers a wide range of use cases that have the potential to fundamentally change logistics. Our projects and research projects focus on connecting stakeholders on a secure basis, creating trust and reducing dependencies in supply chains.

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Current trends

Blockchain technology can change the way we handle financial data in particular. It enables the secure and traceable processing of transactions that are transparent for all participants in the supply chain. This not only creates trust, but also opens up new opportunities for more efficient collaboration along the entire value chain. Among other things, blockchain technology can thus contribute to the required transparency and accountability in the area of environmental, social and governance reporting for companies. Major trends in the course of digitalization are increasing decentralization and automation. In particular, the use of smart contracts, which automate processes and thus increase efficiency, is becoming increasingly important. In addition, interoperability between different blockchain platforms is becoming increasingly important in order to enable flexible and scalable supply chains. The combination with technologies such as artificial intelligence and IoT is also opening up new ways to improve data integrity and decision-making processes in complex supply chains.

Button Blockchain technology in supply chain management © LFO​/​ TU Dortmund

Orientation and research focus

  • Establishing blockchain technology as an integral part of modern value chains and demonstrating its potential
  • Developing teaching materials to provide both students and industry partners with a sound understanding of this key technology
  • Developing innovative applications and business models based on blockchain technology (e.g. guarantees of origin for renewable energy sources such as hydrogen)
  • Investigating synergies between blockchain technology and other key Industry 4.0 technologies in the context of supply chain management, in particular the combination of blockchain with artificial intelligence and the linking of the technology with 3D printing processes to open up new value creation potential
  • Integration of blockchain technology to optimize financial flows within supply chains to create transparent, secure and efficient financial transactions in order to further improve collaboration between the players in the value chains