Challenges and Opportunities of Blockchain Technology in Industrial Applications

Abstract

Digital technology is changing the world, one industry at a time. It is still unclear if and to what extent the manufacturing industry is impacted by the innovative blockchain technology. Although a fairly new technology, it has many practical use cases and new applications of the technology are continuously introduced. The paper presents an assessment of the current maturity phase of Blockchain and evaluates the challenges and benefits of potential applications in the manufacturing industry. Further the paper explores the potential use cases for the manufacturing industry by giving an overview of the existing blockchain solutions. Moreover, the highlights from the World Economic Forum 2017 are reported where a set of actions was given that will move this technology forward.