Blockchain applications and challenges for supply chain and Industry 4.0: a literature review

Application of blockchain technology to facilitate a flexible, reliable, and efficient supply chain is an emerging phenomenon. Motivated by its potential use, researchers have started investigating blockchain's use for managing complex global supply chains. In addition to established supply chain performance criteria, Industry 4.0 requires a more data driven supply chain (SC), where data collection, transmission and processing capabilities are embedded in smart products. However, review articles of blockchain in SC primarily report descriptive statistics, but do not provide sufficient evidence on how topics are studied together. This article discusses the role of blockchain in SC and presents a methodology to study co-occurrence of blockchain topics in SC. Three most often researched topics identified are transparency/traceability, transaction related issues and tracking. Using a machine learning algorithm, we further examine trends of co-occurrence among various topics of interest and identify 'gaps' in existing literature and point to future research directions.