Here is my thesis, completed for the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the Oulu University, titled "Implementation of a System Supporting Traceability and Visibility in the Supply Chain."
The world of supply chain systems has evolved tremendously over the last 20 or 30 years, and the development continues with new technological advancements. Distributed ledger technology has proven to be an effective tool in financial software solutions, but increasingly, decentralized supply chain management software solutions are being adopted in industries beyond business and finance.
One of these distributed ledger technologies is blockchain, which is already widely used in the context of business applications and increasingly as part of supply chain management systems. Blockchain incorporates several useful features, such as data immutability, data permanence, and data decentralization. In theory, these features of blockchain should instill more trust among organizations in supply chain networks, as these networks consist of parties that often cannot fully trust each other. The use of this groundbreaking new technology raises new questions about what precautions should be taken and what factors need to be considered for successful software development processes.
The purpose of this thesis is to provide the reader with up-to-date information on the utilization of blockchain technology in the context of supply chain systems and how software development processes can be enhanced by using frameworks and processes designed for decentralized ledger technology. The article primarily focuses on the implementation process and possibilities of supply chain systems and blockchain, as well as how blockchain facilitates the implementation of better traceability and transparency in supply chain systems. The thesis also explores various problems and solutions in the implementation processes of supply chain systems and blockchain technology, examining different approaches to software development, specifically frameworks and processes used in the development of supply chain systems using distributed ledger technology. Additionally, the article includes a conceptual implementation of a blockchain application written in PHP 8 and sheds light on the fundamental principles behind blockchain technology.
Literature and research on the utilization of distributed ledger technology in supply chain management systems, as well as supporting software development processes and frameworks, are continuously growing trends. There is quite a bit of recent research covering the use of distributed ledger technology in the context of supply chain systems. However, many publications address the research topic only in a vague theoretical manner, lacking practical example implementations. Therefore, this article aims to present cases from publications that involve real-world implementations of blockchain-based supply chain system solutions.
The outcome of the research suggests that the use of blockchain technology in the context of supply chain systems is not limited to theoretical environments but is also applicable in practical use cases. The thesis also proposes that the integration of distributed ledger technology into supply chain management systems requires attention to several different aspects compared to traditional software development. The decentralized nature of distributed ledger technology demands special attention from software developers and proper new tools and processes for effective software design.