Building Trust in Supply Chains: The Blockchain-QR Code Advantage

Supply chain management is the heart of the global economy, constantly evolving as new technologies emerge. This complexity requires detailed security and traceability, essential to track every stage from production to consumption, and to ensure that data is both secure and authentic. Errors in this process, particularly in the case of sensitive products such as foodstuffs or medicines, can have serious consequences. In this context, much research has explored the use of blockchain technology to improve supply chain security and traceability. However, these solutions have proved incomplete, leaving the way open to new challenges. Our paper sits at the frontier of this emerging research, proposing a novel approach that combines blockchain and QR codes to address the complex needs of supply chain management. We present an architecture that offers unrivalled traceability thanks to the use of unique QR codes for each product, immutably recorded on the blockchain. Each scanned QR code automatically triggers the recording of information on the blockchain via smart contracts, ensuring a precise history that will be accessible to all stakeholders in the chain. Our solution also offers exceptional granularity, enabling each product to be tracked individually, which previous approaches did not allow. This is crucial for ensuring product safety and compliance, boosting consumer confidence and reducing the risk of counterfeiting. Although three similar initiatives have been identified in the literature, our architecture stands out for its level of detail and explicitness, providing the bases. However, widespread adoption will require continued collaboration to standardise protocols and ensure global interoperability. Our future research will focus on optimising operational costs and developing advanced fraud detection and prevention mechanisms, thereby strengthening supply chain security on a global scale.