Blockchain-Based Master Data Management in Supply Chains: A Design Science Study.

Master data management is an essential task for organizations and even more critical when collaborations are pursued. Using centralized platforms to manage master data across business partners is straightforward but also entails risks. Besides the dependency on intermediaries, data sovereignty is limited and a single point of failure persists. With new decentralization trends and the uprising blockchain technology, there is potential for optimized and sovereign master data management across entities. We conduct a design science study to assess blockchain technology’s suitability to store and share master data in supply chains. The developed artifact was quantitatively evaluated, focusing on costs and transaction time to further contribute insights to blockchain technology’s economic suitability. The Ethereum-based application was implemented in evan.network and Ropsten test networks. The results substantiate the previous theoretical statements in the literature with reliable numerical data, which indicate that permissioned blockchain networks are more scalable and low-cost than permissionless networks. We also highlight further research opportunities.