A Blockchain Architecture for Reducing the Bullwhip Effect

Sélinde van Engelenburg*, Marijn Janssen, Bram Klievink

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)
266 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Supply chain management is hampered by a lack of information sharing among partners. Information is not shared as organizations in the supply chain do not have direct contact and/or do not want to share competitive and privacy sensitive information. In addition, companies are often part of multiple supply chains and trading partners vary over time. Blockchains are distributed ledgers in which all parties in a network can have access to data under certain conditions. Private blockchains can be used to support parties in making their demand data directly available to all other parties in their supply chain. These parties can use this data to improve their planning and reduce the bullwhip effect. However, the transparency that blockchain technology offers makes it more difficult to protect sensitive data. The dynamics between these properties are not well understood. In this paper, we design and evaluate a blockchain architecture to explore its feasibility for reducing information asymmetry, while at the same time protecting sensitive data. We found that blockchain technology can allow parties to balance their need for inventory management with their need for flexibility for changing partners. However, measures to protect sensitive data lead either to reduced information, or to reduced speed by which the information can be accessed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of Business Modeling and Software Design - 8th International Symposium, BMSD 2018
PublisherSpringer
Pages69-82
Number of pages14
ISBN (Print)9783319942131
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Event8th International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design, BMSD 2018 - Vienna, Austria
Duration: 2 Jul 20184 Jul 2018

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Business Information Processing
Volume319
ISSN (Print)1865-1348

Conference

Conference8th International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design, BMSD 2018
Country/TerritoryAustria
CityVienna
Period2/07/184/07/18

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Blockchain
  • Blockchain technology
  • Bullwhip effect
  • Distributed ledger
  • Information asymmetry
  • Information sharing
  • Supply chain management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Blockchain Architecture for Reducing the Bullwhip Effect'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this