Reference no: EM133279628

Case: Blockchaining is mainly associated with cryptocurrency, but the integration of a decentralized digital ledger system can be advantageous to complex supply chains, especially in safety-imperative fields. For organization that are slow to make technological improvements however, such as the military, the integration of a blockchain system could be very challenging. For industries where, proper inspections or inventory must be maintained to prevent expiration of product (such as food supply), maintaining a record of all activities that are accessible to all interested parties, blockchain makes sense (Guar & Giaha, 2020). Maintaining records for supply chain activities in a safety-sensitive industry are just as advantageous.

Prior to 1963, the US Navy had no formal way of certifying it's submarines safe for operations (Leveson & Moses, 2012). After the loss the USS Thresher, an investigation uncovered the necessity of numerous design and maintenance process changes, as a result the SUBSAFE program was created (JFMM, 2022). The Quality Maintenance program in the US Navy has grow significantly since the early 60s. The loss of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 and the loss of 10 sailors due to a major steam leak onboard the USS Iwo Jima in 1990 however, caused the Navy to realize that tracking and documentation of component manufacturing and supply chain is just as important as the maintenance process itself (JFMM, 2022).

The use of blockchain in a supply chain to document a component from raw material, to manufacturing to delivery, to installation, and every step in between, would greatly benefit any engineering industry, not just spaceship or naval warship construction or maintenance. The challenge lies within the implementation of such a program. While it sounds amazing on paper, the logistic implementation of a blockchain system in an engineering & manufacturing industry would be a monumental undertaking. This undertaking is not at simple as digital documentation of all activities. In the case of the US Navy, every point of the supply chain would require a complete overhaul of the documentation process and system. The documentation and tracking system is very complex as it is. Even the US government, with its incredibly large defense budget, would struggle to be able to provide the required resources for an undertaking of this size. For smaller industries, this change is simply not an option.