Enhancing Supply Chain Efficiency and Security: A Proof of Concept for IoT Device Integration With Blockchain

Abstract

The manufacturing industry comprises various departments, and the supply chain is crucial in ensuring uninterrupted commodity flow during production. However, traditional supply chain systems face transparency, data visibility, and security challenges. This scientific article presents a Proof of Concept (PoC) that explores integrating IoT devices with blockchain technology to address these issues. Our PoC focuses on enabling IoT devices to autonomously sign transactions to the blockchain using IoT devices' authenticated private keys, eliminating the need for external wallets. This approach offers scalability, efficiency, and real-time responsiveness benefits. Leveraging the devices' transaction processing capabilities enhances scalability, allowing for a higher transaction volume. Automation of transaction signing streamlines the process, improving efficiency and eliminating delays caused by human interaction. Real-time responsiveness is ensured, eliminating any latency introduced by external wallets. We provide a detailed workflow of the use case and simulation results, making our research findings more accessible. Through this work, we demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of this method in scenarios where continuous, automated interaction with the blockchain is required through IoT devices. The PoC code is publicly available on GitHub.INDEX TERMS Accessibility, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, real-time responsiveness, supply chain management.