# Trace product lifecycles privately with DLT

> Airbus developed a software demonstrator for circular supply networks together with iPoint-systems, Capgemini Engineering, CHAINSTEP, and the Blockchain Research Lab within the BMBF project DiBiChain. The aircraft component Bionic Partition served as a concrete application scenario for exchanging carbon footprint and recycling information over a prototype DLT application. Supply chain participants were thereby enabled to verify and publish sustainability data without revealing sensitive commercial secrets.

**Sector:** Secondary sector · **Industry:** Aerospace industry · **Organisation:** Airbus, iPoint-systems GmbH, Capgemini Engineering (vormals Altran Germany), CHAINSTEP GmbH, Blockchain Research Lab gGmbH · **Maturity level:** Pilot

Canonical URL: https://www.sapientblock.com/en/use-cases/airbus-produktlebenszyklen-anonym-dlt-nachverfolgen

## Documentation status

- **Project status:** Discontinued
- **Evidence:** Evidence medium
- **Editorial review:** pending

## Description

Airbus and its project partners developed a DLT-supported software demonstrator for sustainable product cycles in the DiBiChain collaborative project. The solution allows companies in multi-tier value networks to reliably pass on ecological information such as CO2 footprints or recycling data. This creates transparency over the entire lifecycle of a component without revealing confidential trade secrets or supplier structures.

Within the BMBF funding measure ReziProK, the DiBiChain project from July 2019 to June 2022 focused on the digital mapping of closed product cycles. As a realistic scenario, the consortium of Airbus, iPoint-systems, Capgemini Engineering, CHAINSTEP and the Blockchain Research Lab chose an aircraft partition called Bionic Partition. Using a prototype SustainHub application developed by iPoint, supply chain actors could request, record and store CO2 footprints and recycling information on a DLT network. Cryptographic approaches ensured that data remained verifiable while protecting the identities and confidential relationships of the involved partners. The demonstrator proved that DLT provides a viable foundation for protecting trade secrets while maintaining high ecological traceability.

## Benefits

- Reliable evidence for regulatory environmental requirements
- Reduced bilateral coordination effort during inspections
- Tamper-proof recording of material and emission figures
- Protection of trade secrets in complex supply networks
- Facilitation of closed loops through transparent recycling information
- Fewer manual data requests at supplier companies
- Faster validation of component information

## Challenges

- Willingness of all supply chain levels to actively maintain data
- Harmonisation of data formats across various company boundaries
- High integration effort in established industrial IT system landscapes
- Required understanding of cryptographic proof mechanisms

## Technology foundation

Distributed Ledger Technology forms the foundation for decentralised data exchange between suppliers and manufacturers. Through cryptographic methods and selective publication, CO2 and recycling figures can be stored tamper-proof without granting direct insight into confidential supply relationships.

## Sources

- [DiBiChain](https://www.blockchainresearchlab.org/research/dibichain/)
- [DIBICHAIN – Digital mapping of closed-loop systems using blockchain technology](https://www.ipoint-systems.com/resources/projects/)
- [ReziProK – DIBICHAIN](https://innovative-produktkreislaeufe.de/resswinn/en/Projects/DIBICHAIN.html)