(119p) Blockchain Technology and Agile Principles – Applications in Chemical Process Design

Bahman Ghorashi

Professor of Chemical Engineering

Tennessee Tech University

Abstract

Blockchain is defined as “a decentralized, distributed, and oftentimes public, digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks.”[1]As such, the attractiveness of blockchain is due to its design which makes it difficult to manipulate and alter the recorded transactions, which in turn creates a high degree of trust among the involved participants. Blockchain applications are many and growing in various sectors of the economy including the chemical industry. Some examples of blockchain applications include: smart contracts, supply chain management applications to identify and track transactions across the supply chain, machine-to-machine communication and various innovative combinations with artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). While the list of blockchain applications is growing fast, this technology is still in its infancy and has a tremendous potential to bring positive disruptive change in the way business operations and processes are carried out.

Goldman, et. al.[2]define organizational agility as: “The ability of an organization to respond quickly to unanticipated changes in the marketplace and to anticipate future demands and challenges in its core areas of competencies and react accordingly.” Certain characteristics are required in order to develop that ability. Those characteristics are:

• Workforce is multi-skilled
• Robust, reconfigurable teams, equipment and infrastructure
• Partnerships in all stages of manufacturing
• Self-directed work teams
• Management breaks barriers
• Effective integration of technology and information
• Fast product development time (concept-to-cash measured in weeks)
• High quality throughout the lifetime of the product

Additionally, other commitments and requirements need to be in place, such as:

• Building upon core capabilities
• Ability to rapidly apply the organization’s capabilities to different products and services
• A sincere customer focus
• A commitment to continuous improvement
• Elimination of non-value adding activities
• High quality products and services
• Adopting advanced technologies
• Employee education and training
• Large investments in R&D

According to Goldman, et al. operating in an agile environment calls for : “Short lifetimes for highly differentiated products, created and produced by an active, highly motivated workforce, organized into companies that have widely distributed authority”. As such, an agile organization could be viewed as one that has created the processes, tools, and training to make it possible to respond quickly to customer needs and market changes while still maintaining control over costs, efficiency and quality. Agile organizations strive to anticipate the future demands of customers and invest in people and information systems to respond quickly to market changes.

This study examines the various applications of blockchain technology and agile principles in chemical industry as well as potential ways to incorporate those principles into the design of unit operations and chemical processes leading to design of agile plants.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain, Retrieved: July 9,2020.

[2]L. Goldman, R.L. Nagel and K Preiss, Agile Competitors and Virtual Organizations - Strategies for Enriching the Customer, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995.