A Blockchain-based Framework to Achieve Supply Chain Visibility

within Niche Manufacturing Modern manufacturing practices are increasingly modular, relying on a number of different independent parts to deliver the final product. These parts are manufactured by different suppliers who may in turn rely on their own suppliers, creating a web-like structure. Although benefits of modern manufacturing practices are remarkable, their success depends upon enhanced visibility into the product's supply chain to streamline movement of materials, identify and eliminate defects, ensure standardisation, and achieve effective inventory management. A number of established enterprise solutions (MES, ERP) help streamline supply chain processes, however the visibility provided by such systems is limited to 'tier 1' suppliers. The blind spot left by these systems limits the ability of a modern manufacturing organisation in many ways such as limiting ability to estimate lead times for materials, lack of provenance for materials traceability, and affecting business's ability to achieve standardisation across the supply chain especially for make-to-order products where adherence to custom design specifications is critical to success. This talk will outline the efforts to design and develop a blockchain-based framework to achieve supply chain visibility within niche manufacturing. Specifically, it will highlight use of distributed ledger technologies to achieve parts traceability across different tiers of the supply chain as well as exploring use-cases such as digital Certificates of Conformity and critical parts.