Securing the Supply Chain: A Comprehensive Solution with Blockchain Technology and QR-Based Anti-Counterfeit Mechanism

doi:10.23940/ijpe.23.05.p3.312323

Abstract

Abstract: Counterfeit protection is a serious concern for businesses, as it can compromise consumer safety and damage a company's reputation. To address this issue, researchers have conducted a review of available technologies and found that blockchain-based solutions offer several advantages over traditional methods. The use of REST APIs enables secure and transparent tracking of products through the supply chain, while smart contracts facilitate automatic ownership transfers. The traceability provided by blockchain technology allows stakeholders to track a product's origin and journey, improving security and transparency. Implementing a blockchain-based supply chain management system can also improve efficiency and reduce costs associated with lost or misplaced items. This research paper advocates for businesses to invest in advanced technologies like blockchain to protect their supply chains and ensure the safety and authenticity of their products. The system described in the paper involves generating unique identification numbers (UIDs) and associating them with products during the manufacturing process with QR codes and scratchable film for consumer access, while also emphasizing the need for businesses to adopt innovative technologies to maintain competitiveness and customer trust.

Key words: Blockchain, supply chain, counterfeit protection, REST API, QR, Hyperledger, traceability

Mohammad Adnan Muzafar, Aman Bhargava, Anupriya Jha, and Parma Nand. Securing the Supply Chain: A Comprehensive Solution with Blockchain Technology and QR-Based Anti-Counterfeit Mechanism [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2023, 19(5): 312-323.

Add to citation manager EndNote|Reference Manager|ProCite|BibTeX|RefWorks

References

1. International Chamber of Commerce, The Economic Impacts of Counterfeiting and Piracy, [online] Available at: https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/policies-reports/economic-impacts-counterfeiting-piracy-report-prepared-bascap-inta/ [Accessed:2023].
2. United States Department of Homeland Security, Intellectual Property Rights Seizure Statistics, [online] Available at: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/priority-issues/ipr/statistics [Accessed:2023].
3. Crosby M., Pattanayak P., Verma S. and Kalyanaraman V.Blockchain Technology: Beyond Bitcoin, Applied Innovation, vol. 2, no.(6-10), pp. 71-81, 2016.
4. Swan M.Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy, O'Reilly Media, Inc, 2015.
5. Tapscott, D. and Tapscott, A.Blockchain revolution: how the technology behind bitcoin is changing money, business, and the world, Penguin, 2016.
6. Lian, X., Zhu, T. and Li, G. Blockchain and its applications in the supply chain, in2018 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI), pp. 240-245, IEEE, 2018, 31 July - 2 August.
7. Tayal A., Solanki A., Kondal R., Nayyar A., Tanwar S. and Kumar N.Blockchain‐based efficient communication for food supply chain industry: Transparency and traceability analysis for sustainable business, International Journal of Communication Systems, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. e4696, 2021.
8. Kamarudin, N. A. and Md Noorani, M. S. A review on the implementation of blockchain technology in logistics and supply chain management, in2020 International Conference on Smart Technologies and Management for Computing, Communication, Controls, Energy and Materials (ICSTM), pp. 180-186, 2020.
9. Dorri, A., Kanhere, S. S. and Jurdak, R.Blockchain in the Internet of Things: Architectures, protocols, and challenges, IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 92-99, 2018.
10. Huang Q., Huang H., Ma L., Li Y. and Li L.The Design of Traceability Management System for Grain Quality and Safety Based on Blockchain and IoT, Complexity, vol. 2021, 2021.
11. Markus, S. and Buijs, P.Beyond the hype: how blockchain affects supply chain performance. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, vol. 27, no. 7, pp.177-193, 2022.
12. Dorri, A., Kanhere, S. S. and Jurdak, R.Blockchain in internet of things: Challenges and Solutions, arXiv [cs.CR], 2016
13. Alladi T., Chamola V., Parizi R. M. and Choo K.-K.R. Blockchain applications for industry 4.0 and industrial IoT: A review, IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 176935-176951, 2019
14. Iftekhar, A. and Cui, X.Blockchain-based traceability system that ensures food safety measures to protect consumer safety and COVID-19 free supply chains, Foods, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 1289, 2021
15. Muzafar M. A., Bhargav A., Jha A. and Nand, P. Counterfeit Protection In Supplychain Using Blockchain: A Review,2023 International Conference for Advancement in Technology (ICONAT), Goa, India, pp. 1-6, 2023, January
16. Unhelkar B., Joshi S., Sharma M., Prakash S., Mani A. K. and Prasad M.Enhancing supply chain performance using RFID technology and decision support systems in the industry 4.0-A systematic literature review, International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 100084, 2022.
17. Sankaran, S. and Rajkumar, R.Unique barcode identifier for patient record using geographical, calendar, time barcodes with error detection, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 9, no. 38, 2016.
18. Yao, Y., Wang, L. and Shen, J.Features and applications of QR codes, International Journal of Innovative Education Research, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 166-169, 2022
19. Lancaster I. M.Holograms and authentication: meeting future demands, in Practical Holography XVIII: Materials and Applications, 2004
20. AlpVision, n.d., Counterfeit protection with digital watermark - alternatives, [online] Available at: https://alpvision.com/solution/digital-watermark/ [Accessed:2023].
21. Lockhart, H. and Paine, F. A.Tamper-evident packaging, in Packaging of Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Products, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 172-187, 1996
22. He W., Tan E. L., Lee E. W. and Li T. Y. A solution for integrated track and trace in supply chain based on RFID & GPS,2009 IEEE Conference on Emerging Technologies & Factory Automation, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, pp. 1-6, 2009, September.
23. Blau Y.,Bar-On, O., Hanein, Y., Boag, A. and Scheuer, J. Holographic speckle-based authentication paradigm, in Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, pp. AF3K.2, 2019
24. Bader, L.et al.Blockchain-based privacy preservation for supply chains supporting lightweight multi-hop information accountability, Information Processing & Management, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 102529, 2021.
25. Kshetri N.Blockchain's roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 39, pp. 80-89, 2018.
26. Tan B., Yan J., Chen S. and Liu X., 2018. The impact of blockchain on food supply chain: The case of walmart. In Smart Blockchain: First International Conference, SmartBlock 2018, Tokyo, Japan, December 10-12, 2018, Proceedings 1 (pp. 167-177). Springer International Publishing, 2018
27. Gao K., Liu Y., Xu H. and Han T.Design and implementation of food supply chain traceability system based on Hyperledger Fabric, International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 185-193, 2020.
28. Kang, J.et al.Blockchain for Secure and Efficient Data Sharing in Vehicular Edge Computing and Networks, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 4660-4670, 2019
29. Rocha, G. da S. R., de Oliveira, L. and Talamini, E. Blockchain applications in agribusiness: A systematic review, Future Internet, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 95, 2021
30. Swanson, M. De Beers Diamond Traceability System, Blockonomi, [online] Available at: https://blockonomi.com [Accessed:2023].
31. Kelly, J. De Beers' blockchain solution guarantees the authenticity of diamonds, Forbes, [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanjkelly/2018/09/06/de-beers-blockchain-solution-guarantees-the-authenticity-of-diamonds/?sh=5bca97945b5c [Accessed:2023].
32. Jensen, T., Hedman, J. and Henningsson, S.How TradeLens delivers business value with blockchain technology, MIS Quarterly Executive, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 221-243, 2019
33. Casino F., Kanakaris V., Dasaklis T. K., Moschuris S. and Rachaniotis N. P.Modeling food supply chain traceability based on blockchain technology, IFAC-PapersOnLine, vol. 52, no. 13, pp. 2728-2733, 2019.
34. Jabbar S., Lloyd H., Hammoudeh M., Adebisi B. and Raza U.Blockchain-enabled supply chain: analysis, challenges, and future directions, Multimedia Systems, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 787-806, 2021.
35. IBM, n.d., IBM Food Trust, [online] Available at: https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/solutions/food-trust [Accessed:2023].
36. Tribis Y., Bouchti A. E., Bouayad H. and Talamini E.Blockchain Technology based Supply Chain State of the art and Future Prospects, International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 125-136, 2021.
37. Dasaklis T. K., Voutsinas T. G., Tsoulfas G. T. and Casino F.A systematic literature review of blockchain-enabled supply chain traceability implementations, Sustainability, vol. 14, no.4, p. 2439, 2022
38. Yan Y.Food safety and social risk in contemporary China, Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 705-725, 2012
39. Khezr, S. Moniruzzaman, M. Yassine, A. and Benlamri, R. Blockchain technology in healthcare: A comprehensive review and directions for future research, Appl. Sci.(Basel), vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 1736, 2019.

[1]	Kavita Pandey and Shikha Jain. A Secured and Privacy Preserved VANET Communication using Blockchain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2023, 19(6): 417-424.
[2]	Amanpreet Singh and Jyoti Battra. Strategies for Data Backup and Recovery in the Cloud [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2023, 19(11): 728-735.
[3]	Surekha Thota and Shantala Devi Patil. The Future of Employment Verification: Verifiable Credentials for a Seamless Verification Process [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2023, 19(10): 644-653.
[4]	Hongjing Deng, Xuan Zhang, Jiahao Jiang, Jie Wang, and Hexiang Huang. Privacy Protection of Personal Education Information on Blockchain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2022, 18(5): 317-328.
[5]	Yubin Qu, W. Eric Wong, and Dongcheng Li. Empirical Research for Self-Admitted Technical Debt Detection in Blockchain Software Projects [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2022, 18(3): 149-157.
[6]	Zhihong Liang, Na Du, Yuxiang Huang, Kai Liu, and Zhichang Guo. Performance Improvement Scheme of Blockchain Consensus for Supply Chain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2022, 18(3): 158-166.
[7]	Padma Priya R, Aditya Tiwari, Ayush Pandey, and Siddharth Krishna. Identifying Video Tampering using Watermarked Blockchain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2021, 17(8): 722-732.
[8]	Chuan Zhao, Yan Song, Min Zuo, and Hongji Yang. Performance Analysis for Green Food in Dual-Channel Supply Chain Considering Fairness Concern [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2021, 17(1): 155-166.
[9]	Aidi Xu, and Yunfeng Shang. Cooperative Quality Evaluation of Supply Chain using Structural Characteristics [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2020, 16(5): 775-783.
[10]	Guoyang Pan, Yi Yang, Guoqing Li, Jian Wang, and Weixing Huang. Blockchain for Collaborative Creation System [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2020, 16(10): 1608-1616.
[11]	Yong Gan, Yuan Zhuang, and Lei He. RFID Tag Ownership Transfer Protocol using Blockchain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2019, 15(9): 2544-2552.
[12]	Dexin Zhu, Xiaohui Li, Jianan Wu, and Lijun Song. A Quantum Key-based Mobile Security Payment Scheme [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2019, 15(8): 2165-2172.
[13]	Liang Zhihong, Huang Yuxiang, Cao Zechun, Liu Tiancheng, and Wang Yuehua. Creativity in Trusted Data: Research on Application of Blockchain in Supply Chain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2019, 15(2): 526-535.
[14]	Jinhua Fu, Mixue Xu, Yongzhong Huang, and Hongwei Tao. A New Network Intrusion Detection System based on Blockchain [J]. Int J Performability Eng, 2019, 15(12): 3187-3195.