Object Creation Marking Linked to Blockchain Manufacturing Records
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manufacturing technologies lack effective means to monitor and control manufacturing parameters such as location, apparatus identity, quantity, and time of product creation, leading to challenges in ensuring product authenticity and preventing unauthorized copies, especially in complex supply chains.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a blockchain platform with smart contracts and cryptographic hashing to record and verify manufacturing parameters, creating a unique marking on products that links them to the blockchain ledger, ensuring only authorized manufacturing apparatus can create products and allowing stakeholders to trace provenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional manufacturing tracking methods are used, then manufacturing processes are simpler and easier to operate, but product authenticity cannot be verified and unauthorized copies cannot be prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a blockchain ledger as an intermediary between the manufacturing apparatus and stakeholders. The ledger records cryptographic hashes of manufacturing parameters (location, apparatus identity, quantity, time) and stores them immutably. This intermediary enables authentic verification of product provenance without requiring direct trust between parties, resolving the contradiction by providing reliability through a neutral, decentralized verification mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/manual tracking methods with cryptographic and blockchain-based digital verification. Instead of physical documentation or centralized databases that can be altered, the system uses cryptographic hashing and distributed ledger technology to create tamper-proof records. This substitution provides reliable authentication while maintaining operational simplicity through automated verification processes.
2Reliability
If blockchain verification systems are implemented, then product authenticity and supply chain integrity are enhanced, but system complexity and implementation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the verification system into distinct functional components: (1) manufacturing apparatus that captures and hashes manufacturing parameters, (2) blockchain ledger that stores the hashes immutably, and (3) verification mechanisms that allow stakeholders to check authenticity. This segmentation allows each component to be implemented and maintained independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining supply chain integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain ledger serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a database for storing manufacturing records, a verification system for authenticating products, a tracking mechanism for supply chain monitoring, and an immutable audit trail for regulatory compliance. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems, thereby managing complexity while enhancing supply chain integrity.
3Loss of information
If detailed manufacturing parameters are recorded on blockchain, then product provenance can be traced and quality control improved, but data storage requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential manufacturing parameters (location, apparatus identity, quantity, time) and converts them into cryptographic hashes for storage on the blockchain. By taking out only the critical information needed for verification and representing it in a compact hash format, the system maintains complete traceability of manufacturing provenance while minimizing data storage requirements and accelerating verification processing.
Data Source
AI summary
In an example, a method is described. The method includes determining a cryptographically-derived content for a marking based on a blockchain ledger. The blockchain ledger comprises a record authorizing a manufacturing apparatus to create an object. The method further includes determining object creation instructions to create a modified version of the object comprising the marking. The manufacturing apparatus may create the modified version of the object according to the determined object creation instructions.