Do Blockchain and IoT Architecture Create Informedness to Support Provenance Tracking in the Product Lifecycle

Consumers often lack information about the origin and provenance of the products they buy. They may ask: Is a food product truly organic? Or, what is the origin of the gemstone in the ring I purchased? They also may have sustainability concerns about the footprint of a product at the end of its life. Producers and sellers, meanwhile, wish to know how longitudinal tracking of the provenance of products and their components can boost their sales prices and after-market value, and re- veal new business opportunities. We focus on how the product lifecycle (PLC) can be leveraged to track information that typically has not been available to support distributed activities. Instead, they have been supported by the manufacturers that create new products. We pro- pose an architecture that utilizes blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) to support a range of PLC use case scenarios – from production to marketing and consumption, to maintenance and refurbishment, as well as recycling and disposal. We also offer design thinking about blockchain-IoT architecture to support products such as textiles, furniture and food. Our contribution is an architecture for cross-PLC management support and an explanation of its potential to enhance value through stakeholder informedness.