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Why eForms Uses Bitcoin's Blockchain: Security and Availability Part 1

Jeff Steele


eForms Blockchain Clients - Coming to a Factory Floor near you.

At DSI, our commitment to Digital Transformation through our eForms Lightning System allows companies to record digital information about assets, processes, work instructions, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The system uses a traditional relational database to keep a ‘rolling’ operations ledger against these assets. 

What we mean by ‘rolling’ is that we only write to this database table and never edit data once it is in the data table; immutable if you will. We allow our system to append information to the digital assets and then like an accountant’s financial transaction ledger, and the system can replay every item ever written against the asset. A fully transparent database table of everything I need to know about the assets, procedures, or SOPs. Nice!

 

Logbooks and Forms That Collect Factory Floor and Manufacturing Data

If a company needs to record batch record information for manufacturing production lots with forms or logbook entries, these digital transformation systems are what is required to capture that data. In manufacturing, we have heard terms like Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Distributed Control Systems (DCS).eForms Electronic  Logbook, Forms, and work instructions in factory and production These systems traditionally store Batch or Recipe information and use that information as a record keeper for production information. This information may include initial process set point parameters, alarms & events, raw material information like QA status codes and usage quantities. All of this information gets recorded to process control databases or logbooks.

A challenge for IT personnel supporting manufacturing is the assembly of this data into one congruent format so that it is available for review and can stand as a permanent record of the production or manufacturing lot. Data Integrity is the term being used quite often these days. Making this data available to the business, customers, and to regulatory agencies is an ongoing challenge. Protecting the data so that it is always available is a complementary challenge that accompanies the congruency.

 

eForms to Use Blockchain to Better Protect Your Manufacturing Data

eForms Electronic  Logbook, Forms, and work instructions in pharmaceutical Biotech factory and productionWe've talked about Blockchain before in another post 'eForms Learning from Bitcoin's Blockchain in Pharma & Biotech.' Give that a read, but let's continue here. Traditional database tables are fantastic for recording data. IT organizations will then spend a good portion of the operations budget planning for, simulating, executing, and performing disaster recovery and business continuity procedures ensuring data protection and availability.

IT professionals have many tools available to help with backup procedures. In modern relational database systems, SQL Clusters and replication can help keep your data in a position where the system never goes down. These systems can be highly available and expensive since the IT staffs take it upon themselves to maintain these systems. Infrastructure, licensing, and IT personnel costs all add to the complexity of managing and keeping the data safe. Ouch!

eForms Takes the Next Step

There is an entire industry of IT services that will give your company assurances that you can both store your data and keep it safe. Companies will pay up for these services to guarantee business continuity.

As an industry, can we look forward to a world that reduces both the collection of data and the safety of data to a part of the infrastructure that is at worst available and best guaranteed? eForms browser based Electronic Process Logbook, Forms, and Workinstructions.I think we can. I believe that Deadline Solutions eForms app is part of this better world where networked electronic logbooks, SOPs, Work Instruction, MES, and DCS systems to count on the Blockchain.

As the eForms Lightning System introduces its Blockchain Wallet software in 2018, we will be posting more information on the uses and benefits of the Blockchain. Our eForms application is a web-based electronic process logbook, forms, and work instructions system is a paperless solution for both manufacturing and offices alike. It is what we call Paper on Glass.

Read Part 2

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