Blockchain-driven innovation in fashion supply chain contractual party evaluations as an emerging collaboration model

Abstract

With the advancement of distributed digital technology, the fashion supply chain management system is undergoing unprecedented transformations. Given the expansion and rapid iteration of the fashion industry, traditional supply chain management models struggle to adapt to the volatile market changes. In this context, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are integral components of the fashion supply chain, often face significant market pressure, leading to losses and even bankruptcy, which in turn causes delays across the entire supply chain. Thus, there is an urgent need for these businesses to adopt new technologies to reduce risks and achieve profitability. Although there have been attempts to introduce blockchain technology into the fashion supply chain, most of these efforts are still in the preliminary stages, with operations continuing to follow old methods. Therefore, this study aims to introduce an evaluation mechanism into the fashion supply chain, encouraging a collective maintenance of interests among SMEs. The main contribution of this paper includes the introduction of a set of innovative management evaluation mechanisms and collaboration models for SMEs in the fashion supply chain, with the goal of securing their rights to autonomous pricing and promoting healthy competition in the forthcoming Web 3.0 era. We implemented the enterprise-level consortium blockchain framework, Hyperledger Fabric. Through testing, it has been proven that the platform is effective and usable in ensuring data integrity and source transparency.