Blockchain facilitates a resilient supply chain in steel manufacturing under covid-19

The impact of COVID-19 caused a crash in the supply chain across almost all manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers and now dramatically impacts many of the processes in the manufacturing sectors. In particular, the steel industry, as an energy-intensive industry, is being urged to adopt digitalisation technology to achieve optimization and sustainable production. Industries are fortunate to showcase an opportunity to advance the supply chain towards sustainability to deal with such a crisis. It is acknowledged that digital technology like blockchain can provide intercession by discovering real-time problems to perform certain Sustainable Development Goals related to procurement, production and processing, logistics and transportation and the environment. However, the data structure which requires implementation by blockchain technology in the steel supply chain is restricted. Blockchain technology has the outstanding position to transform the supply chain. The main challenge is that tracing border activities in the steel supply chain has not well been monitored. The digital system is drastically required to develop advanced technology to handle the disruptions and build a resilient supply chain. Using blockchain technology can capture the goods movement across the entire supply chain to verify the quality and product provenance. Furthermore, the rapid technology innovation in the steel sector involves the continuous update of skills and personnel. This study aims to explore the role of blockchain technology in the steel supply chain industry, such as inter-organizational trust, data transparency and immutability, interoperability and product type, and social influence and behavioural intention. A qualitative research approach was adopted on exploring multiple-case studies. The study reveals that blockchain technology contributes to a resilient steel supply chain in reducing risks and uncertainties with its transparency and immutability function. In the future, an integrated technology implementation framework should be developed to deploy Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technology in manufacturing industries to accelerate the digital transformation.