Evaluation of project completion time prediction accuracy in a disrupted blockchain-enabled project-based supply chain

Abstract

Disruption risks may arise in a project-based supply chain due to the involvement of various actors, e.g. suppliers and transport service providers, along the chain besides its decentralised structure. This paper addresses monitoring the project completion time estimates at different stages of a project lifetime through tracking package ownership transfer events. We track the ownership transfer events by employing blockchain technology and smart contracts. Blockchain technology offers data security and builds trust along the supply chain. Consequently, a blockchain-enabled tracking system for package ownership transfer enhances real-time monitoring of project completion time estimates. In addition, this paper uses a simulation-based approach to quantify the acquired benefits from a real-time blockchain-enabled traceability system in a project-based supply chain. The proposed approach considers a straightforward supply chain consisting of two parties. Our proposed approach examines multiple disruption scenarios to assess the impact of blockchain technology integration on the project completion time estimates accuracy. The results show, for all scenarios, the superior performance of the blockchain-enabled traceability system compared to the baseline model with limited tracking of ownership transfer events.

Keywords:

• Blockchain
• smart contracts
• project management
• supply chain management
• supply chain disruption
• logistics
• simulation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, M.A., upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education under [grant 10.13039/501100004532]; and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under [grant 10.13039/501100002385].

Notes on contributors

Mahmoud Ashraf

Mahmoud Ashraf received the B.Sc. (Hons) in production engineering from Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, in 2017. He is currently pursuing the M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering and systems management at Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), Alexandria, Egypt.

From 2017 to 2021, he was a Teaching Assistant at Alexandria University. In March 2021, he joined Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology as a Research Assistant. His research interest includes quantifying the acquired benefits from integrating new technologies with supply chain management.

Islam Ali

Islam Ali received a B.Sc. (Hons) in Production Engineering from Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, in 2009. He received his MSc in Industrial Engineering from Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, in 2011. He received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 2017.

From 2009 to 2011, he was a Teaching Assistant at Alexandria University. From 2012 to 2017, he was a Research and Teaching Assistant at Purdue University. He joined Alexandria University in 2017 as an Assistant Professor. He joined Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2021, on leave from Alexandria University. His research focuses on the design, analysis, and application of efficient algorithms to solve different types of routing and scheduling problems in the fields of Supply Chain Management and Logistics.