Blockchain's Smart Contracts: Driving the Next Wave of Innovation Across Manufacturing Value Chains
- 1. Blockchain’s Smart Contracts:
Driving the Next Wave of Innovation
Across Manufacturing Value Chains
Smart contracts with embedded business rules promise not only to
reduce transaction costs but to create more agile value chains that
enable closer cooperation and enhanced trust across the extended
manufacturing ecosystem.
Executive Summary require overcoming resistance from both gov-
ernment and established intermediaries such as
Blockchain — the cryptocurrency technology
banks.
with the potential to eliminate financial services
intermediaries — may also have the power to fun- This white paper explains blockchain, what it
damentally change the manufacturing industry means for the manufacturing industry and how
as we know it. By allowing supply chain partners to begin using it to drive quantum leaps in effi-
to create trusted relationships without the need ciency, agility and innovation.
for banks or, perhaps, even traditional purchasing
processes, manufacturers, suppliers, customers Blockchain Explained
and machines can find each other and do busi-
Blockchain is a software mechanism, now primar-
ness much more quickly and inexpensively.
ily known in the form of bitcoin in the financial
services world, that provides a distributed systemEven more importantly, they will be able to form
of trusted assets and transactions without themore agile supply chains through “smart con-
need for a central trust authority.tracts” that automatically find, negotiate with
and close deals with partners the world over. This
For manufacturers and their suppliers or logis-
will help all participants across the value chain to
tic partners, an individual transaction in a block
speed new products to market that meet ever-
might contain bills of lading for raw materials
changing business needs, and will enable more
or finished goods, proof of the origin, quality or
trusted and fruitful relationships.
operations performed on a part or instructions
for the place and time of a delivery. In each case,But leveraging blockchain will require carefully
the information could be stored, trusted, sharedbalancing risks versus benefits, integrating new
and changed by the partners without going to thetechnologies and processes with legacy systems
cost, expense and delay of negotiating formal con-and evaluating the maturity of the required tech-
tracts or paperwork such as letters of credit fromnologies, standards and providers. It will also
a bank or a bond for a transportation provider.
• Cognizant 20-20 Insights
cognizant 20-20 insights | june 2016
- 2. cognizant 20-20 insights 2
Unlike in a traditional supply chain, where these
documents and contracts are maintained by each
partner’s purchasing, accounting or legal depart-
ment, in a blockchain these elements are stored
on many decentralized nodes. Their privacy and
integrity is maintained by “miner-accountants”
rather than by a counterparty or a third party
such as a bank (see Figure 1).
Blockchain enables the creation of smart con-
tracts, with terms and conditions both sides can
specify and that assure trust in the enforceability
of the contract and the identity of the counter-
party. This system of distributed trust allows for
lower transaction costs in the short term, but this
Blockchain enables the creation of
smart contracts, with terms and
conditions both sides can specify
and that assure trust in the
enforceability of the contract and
the identity of the counterparty.
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TRANSACTION
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BLOCKCHAIN
OF BITCOIN
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How Blockchain Works
A distributed database running on multiple servers continually checks the security and integrity of
each transaction or data entry. Blocks chained by hash values and incentivized proof of work provide
a foundation for distributed trust in blockchain.
Figure 1
- 3. cognizant 20-20 insights 3
is just the beginning. In the long run it will enable
more agile value chains, closer cooperation with
business partners and faster integration with the
Internet of Things (IoT), among other things.
Blockchain: A Deeper Dive
The initial objective of blockchain technology was
to enable trusted financial transactions between
any two parties without the need for a third party
such as a bank. While it’s best known in the finan-
cial services world, it can be used in any industry
to enable faster, less expensive transactions and
to support more agile supply chains that would
be impossible otherwise.
When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced bitcoin in
a white paper in 2008,1
he did not use the term
blockchain. But he laid the foundation for it by
identifying the need to prevent “double spend”
(two parties spending the same currency) without
relying on a central trust authority such as a bank.
Solving this problem requires:
• Publicly “announcing” all transactions or
changes to any of the currency, documents or
transactions to all participants in a blockchain.
• Creating a system that allows all participants to
agree on the transactions and their sequence.
It is the second requirement that gave birth to
blockchain, a distributed database maintained by
a series of servers. One server preserves a time
stamp on all transactions on the blockchain. This
server collects a set of transactions in blocks and
publishes a hash (a unique set of numbers that, if
changed, shows the data or transaction is invalid)
for each block of transactions with a time stamp
to verify their authenticity. As illustrated in Figure
1 (previous page), each owner of a transaction or
document transfers the coin to the next owner
by digitally signing a hash of the previous trans-
action and the public key of the next owner and
adding these to the end of the block.
However, that leaves the problem of how to
ensure the validity of each block without a cen-
tral authority to track all transactions. Blockchain
solves this by providing an incentivized proof-
of-work task for each participant. This process,
called “mining,” involves attempting to find a
numerical value, known as a “nonce,” that when
combined with all open transactions in a block
can be “hashed” into a value that satisfies a cer-
tain “difficulty” but is also easily verifiable. Once
the nonce is found by a miner, the miner publishes
the block with a hash to the rest of the peer-to-
peer network that makes up the blockchain. Other
nodes accept the block, validate it and store it
locally. The nodes then
collect the next set of
transactions and start
another proof-of-work
challenge. The node
that solves the hashing
challenge gets a reward
in the form of bitcoins.
The blockchain concept
has been extended over
the last six years for
use not only with cur-
rency but other types of
records as well as smart
applications that can conduct transactions inde-
pendently. Innovations such as the Ehtereum2
platform for decentralized applications and the
Hyperledger3
project to create a cross-industry
open standard for distributed ledgers are making
distributed, trusted and secure blockchain
technology increasingly relevant for the manu-
facturing industry.
Blockchain in Manufacturing
The need for compressed product lifecycles has
led to increased conflicts between manufacturers
and suppliers. One particularly sensitive issue is
managing the development and engineering of a
complex product in a way that protects both the
manufacturer’s and supplier’s competitive edge
and differentiation. Other issues over the lifetime
of a product, such as fixing the responsibility in
automotive recalls, are made more difficult and
expensive by the lack of trust between partners
on both the transactional and strategic levels (see
Quick Take, page 6).
Imagine a not-too-distant scenario where smart
products on the IoT must securely run embedded
software, and instantly and securely share mas-
sive amounts of data among those applications.
These capabilities will add more tiers to the supply
chain and dramatically increase the number of
players and latency for root-cause analysis and
corrective actions at the design level.
If the past is any indicator, the emerging complex-
ity of products and business models will make a
lack of trust an ever greater drag on manufactur-
ing supply chains. Manufacturing organizations
must spend large amounts of time, money and
effort on negotiation, communications and paper-
work to overcome this absence of trust. This is
#
2
The blockchain concept
has been extended
over the last six years
for use not only with
currency but other
types of records
as well as smart
applications that can
conduct transactions
independently.
- 4. cognizant 20-20 insights 4
where the transformative power of blockchain
lies, delivered by three critical capabilities:
• Distributed integrity and reputation.
Blockchain gives a trading partner immediate
and low-cost trust in the identity and
reputation of the counterparty
in any financial or trading
relationship. This not only
reduces the cost and time
of transactions with known
partners, but reduces the time
and cost required to establish
new business relationships. It
also expands the universe of
suppliers and customers for
everything from raw materials
to shipping and repair services,
delivering quantum leaps in
efficiency and agility.
• Built-in monetary incentives to assure the
security of every transaction and asset
in the blockchain. This allows blockchain
technology to be used not only for transac-
tions, but as a registry and inventory system for
recording, tracking and monitoring all assets
across multiple value chain partners. This
secure information can range from informa-
tion about raw materials or work-in-progress to
intellectual property such as product specifica-
tions, purchase orders, warranty recalls or any
currency or contract.
• The ability to tap rules-based intelligence
to perform business functions. Blockchains
enable the creation of intelligent, embedded
and trusted program code, letting participants
build terms, conditions and other logic into
contracts and other transactions. It allows
business partners to automatically monitor
prices, delivery times and other conditions,
and automatically negotiate and complete
transactions in real time. This reduces trans-
action costs, maximizes efficiency and allows
manufacturers to use data in different ways. It
also opens the door for machine-to-machine
transactions across the IoT.
These capabilities enable the transformation of a
traditional supply chain, where transaction doc-
uments and contracts must be maintained by
each partner’s purchasing, accounting or legal
department. With blockchain technology, all
transactional elements are stored on decentral-
ized computing nodes by various partners.
Two important examples of how blockchain can
change manufacturing and logistics are:
• Smart contracts:4
A blockchain smart contract
between a supplier and a buyer would consist
not of a paper document in a drawer or a word
processing document on a computer server. It
would take the form of a computer program
that runs on the blockchain and is executed
by the entire blockchain network. Its program
code — the terms and conditions of the contract
— cannot be changed, and thus provides the
trust that used to require elaborate control
and audit processes. Not only can blockchain
contracts contain the same level of detail as a
physical contract, they can do something no
conventional contract can: Perform tasks such
as negotiating prices and monitoring inventory
levels. This, again, replaces expensive, manual
effort with automated, dynamic tracking of
supply chains, inventory levels and prices to
reduce costs and maximize profits.
To understand the potential of such smart con-
tracts, think back to the “digital marketplaces”
of the late 1990s and early 2000s. They served
the role of a centralized trust and transac-
tion processing hub which connected multiple
supply chain partners. Blockchain technology
can transform the vision
of an “any-to-any” market-
place into reality. Imagine,
for example, a commodity
seller publishing a smart
contract on a blockchain
platform such as Ethereum
that includes exact terms
and conditions for product
specifications, delivery and
payment. Any buyer on the
blockchain can find and act
on the contract, acquire
the needed product or ser-
vice and pay for it without
the processing overhead of
the early digital marketplaces.
• Smart equipment and products: Consider,
for example, a smart vending machine that
registers itself on a blockchain platform and
tracks its own inventory and cash position. The
machine will not only issue a replenishment
order when it needs restocking, but can find
the needed products at the best price, and
order and pay for them without manual effort
or the involvement of its owner. We believe
this ability of smart machines to decentralize
Any buyer on the
blockchain can
find and act on the
contract, acquire
the needed product
or service and pay
for it without the
processing overhead
of the early digital
marketplaces.
Blockchain gives
a trading partner
immediate and
low-cost trust in
the identity and
reputation of the
counterparty in any
financial or trading
relationship.
- 5. 5cognizant 20-20 insights
decision-making and execution will bring a new
era of efficiency to the manufacturing value
chain. This concept is also relevant for IoT and
machine-to-machine (M2M) integration using
distributed blockchain technology.
As illustrated in Figure 2, a supplier or manufac-
turer issues a smart contract (Smart Contract 1,
highlighted in light blue) on a blockchain including
product definition, quantity, price, availability date
as well as shipping and payment terms. A buyer
looking for the product can use the blockchain to
find the smart contract, verify the reputation of
the supplier/manufacturer for quality and timeli-
ness and complete the transaction. This replaces
the more difficult and expensive manual process-
ing required to issue a purchase order to the
supplier.
Next, a supplier will search for a smart contract
(Smart Contract 2, highlighted in gold) from a
carrier with details such as “origination, des-
tination, capacity, shipping conditions, carrier
fees and shipping time.” The supplier will accept
the smart contract from the carrier. When the
product is delivered to the buyer, the delivery
confirmation will close Smart Contract 2 and the
supplier will pay the carrier the shipping fees in
cryptocurrency.
The delivery confirmation will also trigger a finan-
cial settlement in Smart Contract 1 between the
supplier and buyer. In traditional supply chain pro-
cesses, banks are used as the intermediary in the
payments process. With smart contracts, the use
of cryptocurrencies within blockchain will handle
the settlement of funds.
The advantages of this approach include:
• Low barriers to entry for a supplier and a
buyer to conduct the transaction.
• The “reputation” of blockchain participants'
performance on past smart contracts will
help the highest-performing companies to
demand premiums.
Buyer or
Smart
Equipment
Supplier
Carrier or
Smart Container
Bank
Purchase
order
Receive products
Accounts
receivable
Cash
application
Payment
processing
Accounts payable Payment
Sales order Shipment
Product movement
using carrier
Product catalog
with pricing
DUE
PAID
Smart Contract 1
Smart Contract 2
Order-to-Cash Process with Smart Contracts
By providing trusted, automated transactions without the need for third parties, blockchain enables
efficiency and agility wherever products, information or payments change hands.
Figure 2
- 6. cognizant 20-20 insights 6
• Smart equipment can replace human con-
tracting parties for certain transactions, as
in our example of the vending machine.
• Devices on the IoT can communicate with
smart contracts to keep track of the status
and state of smart contracts for settlements.
Smart shipping containers could, for example,
automatically sell their surplus capacity.
• Faster settlements using cryptocurrencies.
Getting Ready for Blockchain
Manufacturing value chains are complex, multi-
tiered combinations of various types of organiza-
tions providing design, sourcing, manufacturing,
delivery and service across multiple geographies.
Producing even a single component of a single
product may involve a myriad of transactions,
ranging from requests for quotes to the transmis-
sion of purchase orders and engineering change
notices. Each transaction type may require dif-
ferent financial and regulatory intermediaries,
as well as its own contract
and trust relationship
among the parties. The
immediate and low-cost
assurance of trust provided
by blockchain technology
can unleash disruptive inno-
vation by allowing any
supplier and any manufac-
turer to instantly find one
another and begin a trad-
ing relationship.
So far, disruptive innova-
tion in blockchain is being
driven primarily by tech-
nology start-ups with a
high tolerance for risk. Nonetheless, the overall
trajectory of blockchain technology is extreme-
ly high (see Figure 3, next page). As a result, we
The immediate and
low-cost assurance
of trust provided by
blockchain technology
can unleash disruptive
innovation by allowing
any supplier and
any manufacturer to
instantly find one
another and begin a
trading relationship.
MinersBlock
Hash
Smart
Contract
Nonce
Blockchain in Manufacturing: The Art of the Possible
Quick Take
The applications of blockchain technology across
the manufacturing space are endless. What fol-
lows are a few examples.
• Audit trails: Blockchain audit trails prove that
a shirt was made in a factory paying a fair wage
that provides good working conditions. This
allows the retailer to charge a premium, the
customer to feel good about the purchase and
the workers to live better. Using blockchain
audits to prove that organic food (or cage-free
eggs) is genuine, for example, can help justify
premium pricing, while fostering more humane/
sustainable agriculture.
• Real-time negotiation: Intelligent blockchain
contracts continuously query all other nodes in
a blockchain for the best pricing, delivery times,
and other terms and conditions for specialized
aircraft engine parts. An engine manufacturer,
for instance, can ramp up to meet demand
more easily while cutting costs, while a smaller
manufacturer can more easily fill demand from
major customers.
• Supply chain visibility and traceability:
Blockchain production records, for example,
can trace which automobile airbags were made
with an explosive compound that can cause
injuries or death. Automakers
can reduce their liability, as
well as their customer and
vehicle tracking costs, by
more quickly identifying
the vehicles in which
the airbags were
used. Customers know
more quickly whether their
vehicle is affected, increasing
their satisfaction with the auto
brand and reducing their risk of injury
or death.
• Tapping data from IoT: Easily tracked and
authenticated blockchain data from IoT gives
manufacturers more and better data about
how their products perform over time, enabling
them to improve quality. This also helps them
move beyond production to more lucrative sales
and services such as proactive replacement of
failing parts.
• IP management in product development:
Blockchain technology makes it easier and less
expensive to securely share intellectual property
such as designs, bills of material and production
schedules among suppliers, manufacturers and
shippers.
- 7. cognizant 20-20 insights 7
expect the next 12 to 18 months to be extremely
important for companies looking to develop their
blockchain innovation strategies.
As is typical with disruptive technologies, we
recommend first executing proofs of concept to
understand its potential and limitations, rather
than measuring early deployments on their
return on investment.
To help companies understand the relevance of
blockchain smart contracts to them, and target
their proofs of concept most effectively, we use
two tools.
The first is the decision chart shown in Figure
4, next page, which helps identify areas where
blockchain technology can deliver value.
One such area is in transactions where both
parties lack trust in the definition and verifica-
tion of a successful transaction. For example,
Blockcharge5
uses blockchain technology to pro-
vide the authentication of users and billing for
a peer-to-peer network of charging stations for
electric vehicles without the need for a middle-
man such as a bank.
A second useful tool to identify “low hanging fruit”
blockchain opportunities is the functional com-
plexity-automation capability framework shown
in Figure 5 (next page), developed by authors and
scholars Don and Alex Tapscott.6
Applying these two tools to the use of smart
contracts in two manufacturing value chain trans-
actions — the selling and purchasing of goods and
services — produces a sound decision framework,
as seen in Figure 6, page 9.
Challenges and Risks
Blockchain carries all the risks of any emerging
technology. These range from the maturity of the
technology itself to the standards surrounding it
to the challenges of integrating it with existing
platforms and business processes. The instant
provision of trust among trading partners, and
the ability of smart contracts to negotiate and
finalize transactions, may require major changes
in workflows and business processes.
Due to its disruptive nature, however, blockchain
also carries two unusual risks potential adopters
should monitor carefully.
2008-2009
Bitcoin launched
2014-2015
Bitcoin cryptocurrency
stable
2016
Maturity of blockchain
technology
Performance demanded
by early adopters (e.g.,
faster, global and seamless
payment settlements)
Performance demanded
by risk-averse adopters
(e.g., stable and proven IoT
ledger and smart contract
platform)
Progress by sustaining innovation
of “non-blockchain” technology
(e.g., centralized ledgers for IoT)
Progress by disruptive
innovation of blockchain
technology (e.g., blockchain-
based IoT by Filament)
Performance
Figure 3
Pace of Blockchain Adoption
We expect the pace of blockchain's disruptive innovation to accelerate in the next 18 to 24 months.
- 8. cognizant 20-20 insights 8
Product/service/
information required
is structured and
well-defined
Business partner can provide
identity, authorization and
reputation for the product/
service/information
transaction
Terms of the transaction can
be defined without ambiguity
by the participating parties
in the transaction
Not relevant for
blockchain smart
contracts (i.e.,
advisory services)
Prime candidate
for disruptive
innovation
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
Success of the transaction
can be easily measured,
observed and verified by the
involved parties
Relevant for blockchain
smart contract
YES
YES
Blockchain Smart Contract Relevancy Decision Chart for Manufacturing
Value Chain Transactions
Figure 4
• M2M integration
• Management of product
design and specifications
• Distributed IoT ledger
• EDI, B2B transactions
• Payments
• Product definitions
• Academic concepts
that will need 18–24
months to realize (e.g.,
distributed autono-
mous organizations)
EMERGING
PRODUCTS,
PROCESSES
AND SERVICES
LOW HIGH
HIGH
FunctionalComplexity
Automation Capability
The Low-Hanging Fruit: Where to start with Blockchain Innovation
Source: Adapted from Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and
the World, by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott, Penguin Random House, June 2016.
Figure 5
- 9. cognizant 20-20 insights 9
• Government acceptance of or interference
in blockchain peer-to-peer networks. Many
governments have not authorized the use of
blockchain cryptocurrencies due to their lack
of control over the monetary effects of cryp-
tocurrencies and concerns over the criminal
exploitation of the decentralized peer-to-peer
network. When choosing blockchain opportu-
nities, organizations should carefully consider
where such lack of government acceptance
would reduce or eliminate the value of
blockchain in its value chains.
• Resistance from established players such
as banks, exchange networks and other
trust intermediaries could delay blockchain
adoption. Manufacturers may want to trial
initial blockchain rollouts with smaller, newer
“true digital” trading partners than larger
partners unwilling to endanger their relation-
ships with existing intermediaries.
Looking Forward
Blockchain isn’t just for banking and currency.
Deployed correctly, its central benefit of rapid,
easily established trust among trading part-
ners can enable disruptive innovation in areas
ranging from audit trails, real-time negotiation,
supply chain visibility and tapping data from the
IoT to managing intellectual property in product
development. This trust can more quickly match
suppliers with the manufacturers that need their
products, and slash the costs and delays asso-
ciated with traditional accounting and vendor
management.
But blockchain technology and standards are
still emerging. Resistance from governments and
existing intermediaries could slow its progress. As
with any new technology, integrating blockchain
with existing technologies and new platforms
such as IoT, and adapting skills and business pro-
cesses to it, will require investment.
Enterprises should proceed cautiously, with
proofs of concept executed with partners, as they
identify the “sweet spots” for this powerful new
capability. We recommend that manufacturing
companies do the following:
• Implement block chain technology evaluation
and selective proofs of concept.
• Begin developing and testing innovative block
chain business models and products.
• Leverage experienced partners to build a
blockchain technology (hardware and software)
lab to best understand the ever-changing
potential and challenges.
Simple
Complex
Goods/Services/Content
Pricing
Established Discovered
• Personalized view
of data
• Community membership
• Standard items
• Content indexed or
aggregated across suppliers
• Prices set away from the
intermediary
• Items with complex
descriptions and
characteristics, requiring
RFQs
• Bid/ask format
• Commodities or near-commodity
• Anonymity on both
sides of the transaction
• Seller and buyer auctions
Relationship Smart
Contract
Relationship Smart
Contract
Transactional Smart Contract
Not suitable for Smart Contracts
Where Blockchain Works Best
Figure 6
- 10. About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process out-
sourcing services, dedicated to helping the world’s leading companies build stronger businesses. Headquartered in
Teaneck, New Jersey (U.S.), Cognizant combines a passion for client satisfaction, technology innovation, deep industry
and business process expertise, and a global, collaborative workforce that embodies the future of work. With over
100 development and delivery centers worldwide and approximately 233,000 employees as of March 31, 2016,
Cognizant is a member of the NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500, the Forbes Global 2000, and the Fortune 500 and is ranked
among the top performing and fastest growing companies in the world. Visit us online at www.cognizant.com or follow
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© Copyright 2016, Cognizant. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any
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Footnotes
1
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
2
www.ethereum.org/
3
www.hyperledger.org/
4
Nick Szabo, http://szabo.best.vwh.net/smart.contracts.html.
5
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A0LqJ9oYNg
6
Don Tapscott & Alex Tapscott, Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing
Money, Business, and the World, Penguin Random House, June 2016, http://blockchain-revolution.com/
the-book/.
About the Authors
Prasad Satyavolu is Global Head of Innovation within Cognizant’s Manufacturing & Logistics business
unit, where he focuses on the connected world (connected products, processes and infrastructure),
including connected car and telematics services, IoT solutions for urban mobility and smart cities. He
also focuses on customer fulfillment (integrated supply chain management that spans visibility plan-
ning and manufacturing execution) and general manufacturing industry challenges. Over the last
25-plus years, Prasad has held leadership roles in manufacturing and logistics and incubated a start-up
in IT services and consulting that served the manufacturing industry. He holds an advanced degree in
mechanical engineering from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra, India, and completed a
General Management Program (MEP) at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. He can be
reached at Prasad.Satyavolu@cognizant.com.
Abhijeet Sangamnerkar is a Senior Business Transformation Leader and AVP within Cognizant’s
Manufacturing & Logistics business unit. He has over 20 years of consulting experience in the automo-
tive, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and A&D industries. Abhijeet provides advisory services specializing
in digital transformation strategy, business cases and roadmaps, and has managed several global
transformation programs in the manufacturing industries. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School
of Management, Northwestern University, and a B.E. in electronics engineering from Gov’t College of
Engineering, Pune University, India. Abhijeet can be reached at Abhijeet.Sangamnerkar@cognizant.com.