Foundations of Blockchain

Tracking provenance in the supply chain

A supply chain is a system of entities that are involved in the process of creating a product and distributing it to consumers. This supply chain often involves suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers, where the product moves in the direction shown in Figure 12.1. The actors involved in the supply chain are often spread across several locations, which can make it challenging to keep track of the goods in the supply chain:

Figure 12.1: Process flow diagram of a typical supply chain

Every finished product moves along the supply chain due to the involvement of multiple entities during ...