Blockchain technologies can support traceability, transparency and trust among participants. This has primarily been explored in established supply chains and not in the growing use of business networks or ecosystems, which is a notable limitation since supply chains typically are organised with a dominant actor that ensures common information systems and standards that negate blockchain benefits. Hence, this study explores the design of a blockchain-based collaborative framework for resource sharing using smart contracts. These are particularly well-suited for supporting operations in broader networks or ecosystems beyond supply chains with established collaborations and hierarchies. Based on a systematic literature review, a demonstrator framework was developed for stakeholder interactions through a procurement and distribution unit backed with blockchain technology. The framework consists of (a) network architecture to demonstrate partner interactions; (b) rules for network working principles based on supply collaboration requirements; (c) UML diagram to define smart contract interaction sequence; and (d) algorithm for smart contract network verification and validation. Applicability of these smart contracts was verified by deployment on an Ethereum blockchain. The demonstrator framework ensures quality and data authenticity in supply networks, so it is useful for effective resource utilisation in networks where outsourcing and production surpluses are major issues.

Visibility across supply chains has been a key concern for organisations for many years, but the tools and information systems to achieve real-time visibility have not been available until recently. In response to uncertainty and complexity, advanced information and communication technologies have been explored for supply chain visibility (SCV). However, managerial perspectives are largely absent from the current literature. In response, this paper systematically documents managerial factors influencing SCV and information that should be collected and shared among supply chain partners for better visibility. A multi-stage Delphi analysis was conducted with 26 supply chain experts from various globally recognised enterprises with manufacturing units located worldwide. The results provide details on prioritised managerial perspectives and experiences within (1) factors affecting SCV (drivers, enablers, challenges and contingencies), (2) SCV content (supplier, internal and customer information) and (3) implications of SCV (capabilities and performance effects). One observation was that forecasting is not deemed as important due to severe disruptions in supply chains. Real-time visibility for better predictability emerged as the top priority. This study is among the few that empirically explores factors influencing supply chain visibility and generates new insights into why barriers can be difficult to overcome in complex supply chain settings.

Sustainability is a widely recognized concern and priority for healthy growth of the society and for preservation of the planet. Concerning this, textile sector has seen an unprecedented demand for sustainable products from the consumers, responding to which organizations have undertaken different initiatives. One of the major concerns in the textile sector is its complex supply chain networks and the involvement of numerous actors dealing with diverse raw materials and operations. The effective implementation of sustainability at the industrial scale would require the participation of all supply chain actors, along with an efficient traceability system to monitor and analyze different sustainability aspects. Furthermore, traceability is an integral part of the recycling process which contributes towards the sustainability. Therefore, the present article focuses on the contribution of traceable information towards attaining the sustainability in the textile sector. The three pillars of sustainability, namely, ecological, societal, and economic, are discussed for their relation and dependency on the traceability followed by an overview of the challenges in successful implementation of the traceability system, which is anticipated to shape the future research questions.

Textile and clothing industry is one of the oldest manufacturing industries and is a major contributor in the economic growth of developing countries. However, from past few decades, it has been criticised for its opaque, unsecured and untraceable nature of supply chain. Addressing these challenges, the paper proposes a system approach to introduce an item-centric secured traceability concept to monitor and control manufacturing processes and supply chain activities. In order to implement such secured traceability system, the paper describes the process for manufacturing, encoding and validating an innovative two-factor secured tag based on particle randomness that is printed on the surface of textile. Being micro-sized, the particles are easy to read and validate with pattern recognition. Further, as achieved through an uncontrolled manufacturing process, the randomness is unclonable to produce counterfeit tags. Furthermore, a sequence of experimental analyses has been conducted using various simulated scenarios to verify its applicability. A secured tag can be a low-cost and durable substitute for detachable, unsecured identifiers commercially available in the market.