Blockchain-Secured Smart Manufacturing in Industry 4.0: A Survey

TLDR

Blockchain, a secure information technology, is driving business and industrial innovation, yet its adoption in Industry 4.0 smart manufacturing is hindered by scalability, flexibility, and cybersecurity challenges. This survey examines how blockchain can surmount cybersecurity barriers to enable intelligence in Industry 4.0. The authors identify eight cybersecurity issues affecting manufacturing systems and propose a framework for addressing them. They devise ten implementation metrics, analyze how the identified issues have been studied, and outline future research directions to address urgent cybersecurity concerns.

Abstract

Blockchain is a new generation of secure information technology that is fueling business and industrial innovation. Many studies on key enabling technologies for resource organization and system operation of blockchain-secured smart manufacturing in Industry 4.0 had been conducted. However, the progression and promotion of these blockchain applications have been fundamentally impeded by various issues in scalability, flexibility, and cybersecurity. This survey discusses how blockchain systems can overcome potential cybersecurity barriers to achieving intelligence in Industry 4.0. In this regard, eight cybersecurity issues (CIs) are identified in manufacturing systems. Ten metrics for implementing blockchain applications in the manufacturing system are devised while surveying research in blockchain-secured smart manufacturing. This study reveals how these CIs have been studied in the literature. Based on insights obtained from this analysis, future research directions for blockchain-secured smart manufacturing are presented, which potentially guides research on urgent cybersecurity concerns for achieving intelligence in Industry 4.0.