Verifiable Manufacturing Using Blockchain

Abstract: We propose a blockchain-based solution for enabling verifiability of manufacturing processes. We base our solution on the methodology of verifiable computing which, originally developed for cloud computing, enables clients to outsource computations to more powerful servers without the need to trust that the server correctly performed desired computation. Verifiable computing accomplishes this by enabling the client to generate cryptographic objects that the server must use to produce a cryptographic proof that verifies the correctness of results. The black box nature of servers in cloud computing is analogous to that of the manufacturing processes of an upstream manufacturer. In this work, we develop a one-to-one correspondence between physical processes and their digital representations as state sequences which is needed for the implementation of verifiable computing. Because direct application of verifiable computing in this case would be computationally prohibitive, we introduce a blockchain to provide a computationally feasible methodology for verifiable computing applied to physical processes. We implement and show the results of our implementation on a proof of concept, developed on Hyperledger Fabric.