Editing Supply chain management (section)

==Digitizing supply chains==
Consultancies and media expect the performance efficacy of digitizing supply chains to be high.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/supply-chain-40--the-next-generation-digital-supply-chain|title=Supply Chain 4.0 – the next-generation digital supply chain {{!}} McKinsey|website=www.mckinsey.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref> [[3D printing|Additive manufacturing]] and [[blockchain]] technology have emerged as the two technologies with some of the highest economic relevance.

;Additive manufacturing: The potential of additive manufacturing is particularly high in the production of spare parts, since its introduction can reduce warehousing costs of slowly rotating spare parts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Heinen|first1=J. Jakob|last2=Hoberg|first2=Kai|date=December 2019|title=Assessing the potential of additive manufacturing for the provision of spare parts|journal=Journal of Operations Management|language=en|volume=65|issue=8|pages=810–826|doi=10.1002/joom.1054|issn=0272-6963|doi-access=free}}</ref> Digitizing technology bears the potential to completely disrupt and restructure supply chains and enhance existing production routes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Durach|first1=Christian F.|last2=Kurpjuweit|first2=Stefan|last3=Wagner|first3=Stephan M.|date=2017-11-06|title=The impact of additive manufacturing on supply chains|journal=International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management|language=en|volume=47|issue=10|pages=954–971|doi=10.1108/IJPDLM-11-2016-0332|issn=0960-0035}}</ref>

;Blockchain: In comparison, research on the influence of blockchain technology on the supply chain is still in its early stages. The [[Conceptual writing|conceptual]] literature has argued for a considerably long time that the highest performance efficacy is expected in the potential for automatic contract creation.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Iansiti|first1=Marco|url=https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain|title=The Truth About Blockchain|date=2017-01-01|work=Harvard Business Review|access-date=2020-03-29|last2=Lakhani|first2=Karim R.|issue=January–February 2017|issn=0017-8012}}</ref> [[Empirical evidence]] contradicts this hypothesis: the highest potential is expected in the arenas of verified [[customer review]]s and [[Certification mark|certifications]] of product quality and standards.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Durach|first1=Christian F.|last2=Blesik|first2=Till|last3=Düring|first3=Maximilian|last4=Bick|first4=Markus|date=2020-03-09|title=Blockchain Applications in Supply Chain Transactions|journal=Journal of Business Logistics|volume=42|language=en|pages=7–24|doi=10.1111/jbl.12238|issn=0735-3766|doi-access=free}}</ref> In addition, traditional supply chain has many drawbacks such as lack of transparency and trust, and some of them can be solved by blockchain technology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tönnissen |first1=Stefan |last2=Teuteberg |first2=Frank |date=June 2020 |title=Analysing the impact of blockchain-technology for operations and supply chain management: An explanatory model drawn from multiple case studies |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S026840121930101X |journal=International Journal of Information Management |language=en |volume=52 |pages=101953 |doi=10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.009|s2cid=181437777 }}</ref> The technological features of blockchains support transparency and traceability of information, as well as high levels of reliability and immutability of records.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hastig|first1=Gabriella M.|last2=Sodhi|first2=ManMohan S.|date=2020|title=Blockchain for Supply Chain Traceability: Business Requirements and Critical Success Factors|journal=Production and Operations Management|language=en|volume=29|issue=4|pages=935–954|doi=10.1111/poms.13147|s2cid=214419889|issn=1059-1478|url=https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/23275/1/Manuscript-BChain-FINAL-25-Nov2019.pdf}}</ref> That helps traditional supply chain management to be more efficient and reliable.