Blockchain-Based Decentralized Product Lifecycle Management: A Framework for Production Network

The current global trade wars, rising logistics costs, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic have compelled companies to re-evaluate their production strategies. An increasingly popular approach to address these issues is decentralized production, which involves manufacturing products near to the customers to reduce logistics and warehousing expenses, improve lead times, and decrease carbon emissions. However, the decentralized nature of the production network necessitates a secure communication platform for stakeholders to access authentic data in real-time. In this regard, blockchain technology is identified as a promising solution due to its characteristics, which make it suitable for product data management across its lifecycle, especially in a decentralized production network. Therefore, this work proposes a conceptual framework for a blockchain-based product lifecycle management (PLM) system to ensure data provenance, security, authenticity, and trusted traceability in a decentralized production network. Moreover, this study highlights that there is currently no such practical model available for decentralized production scenario. Consequently, we argue that successful deployment of a blockchain-based network would require a collaborative approach that involves close interaction and cooperation among all stakeholders in the network.