Private-Blockchain-Based Industrial IoT for Material and Product Tracking in Smart Manufacturing

Automation in smart manufacturing depends on many parties in the supply chain and distribution networks. A smart manufacturer needs to track the location and state of materials from its suppliers and products to its customers/distributors to manage the corresponding production schedule. The need for such information can be fulfilled by the use of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices installed at each respective party. However, even though all parties may trust one another, they have confidential data produced by the IIoT devices that are not allowed to be shared with other parties, or only allowed to be exchanged with certain parties. Even though the data are not confidential, they may still be required to share partial data based on the needs of each party. On the other hand, all parties have their independent systems that differ from each other, which leads to complex integration. Regarding those situations, a private-blockchain-based IIoT is promising to bridge the need for product and material tracking information exchange between parties while maintaining the respective confidentiality.