Evaluating a Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Purchasing Process Through Simulation

Abstract

Tracking financial data is a task that usually involves intermediaries and this issue has not been totally covered by information systems. Blockchain has been presented as a potential solution though. The aim of this paper is to perform a proof of concept of purchasing management that makes use of blockchain technology in order to track financial data. The adopted methodology was simulation to compare two different scenarios: a traditional purchasing process (As-Is) and another using blockchain (To-Be). The output of the simulations was used to compare the transactional costs of each model measured through two variables: the execution time of placing orders and the number of service stations required. It could be verified that the blockchain network alternative had a superior performance according to the type of architecture employed. In the present study, the private blockchain with proof of work adjusted to seek hashes that begins with two consecutive zeros had the best achievement.