Barriers to implementation of blockchain into supply chain management using an integrated multi-criteria decision-making method: a numerical example

Abstract

Information and product visibilities have been crucial in today’s supply chain processes, as economic, environmental and social sustainability concepts, which have been frequently focused on in recent years, prioritize the transparency of business processes. Blockchain technology, with continuously expanding application areas, has been revealed to be applicable in supply chain processes. On the other hand, integration of blockchain technology into supply chain processes will not be as smooth as estimated, since some challenges and constraints have already been identified. Therefore, companies aiming to integrate blockchain into supply chain processes should qualify and investigate each of these challenges. In the literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study addressing the issues arising during the integration process. Moreover, most studies related to blockchain technology have merely examined the positive aspects. This study, on the contrary, discusses the technologic, financial, organizational and environmental challenges that are confronted on a sectoral basis during the integration process. The fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS methods, which are used in uncertainties and are capable of simultaneous multi-criteria evaluation, were employed. Furthermore, it is intended to produce a study that is of benefit to industrial actors by analyzing the findings related to the challenges merging during technological transformation. The outputs of this study are as follows: (i) High investment costs, data security and utility are important; (ii) integration is harder for the health and logistic sectors; (iii) the supply chains, which are less complicated, will be able to coordinate faster than the blockchain technology does. Consequently, the obtained results are evaluated, and strategic outputs are shared for the decision-makers aiming to integrate blockchain technology into the supply chain processes.