Supply Chain Leaders Forum - 21st November 2024

The Centre for Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management will be hosting the' Supply Chain Leaders Forum' at ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç on the 21st November 2024.

to learn from industry experts as we discuss Supply Chain Transformation, Sustainability opportunities and Cybersecurity best-practices for Manufacturers, through the lens of Digitalization and Technological Innovation.

Logistics and Supply Chain Scholarship Winner Announced
Date: 29th August 2024

Stephen Nyarko, an MSc student in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, has been selected as the recipient of the School of Management Global Clinical Supplies Group (GCSG) Scholarship for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Stephen received a £5,000 contribution towards his academic fee and will also receive an invitation to join the annual Global Clinical Supplies Group Conference taking place in Malta in October.  Read more.

Launch of the new 'Grow with Logistics Academy'
Date: June 2024

The Centre for Logistics, Procurement and Supply Chain Management has partnered with Vodafone Logistics to establish its 'Grow with Logistics Academy'.  This will offer the Vodafone Logistics' team an opportunity for continuous professional development led by the renowned subject experts at Cranfield.   Read more here.

Dr Abhijeet Ghadge, Associate Professor (Reader) of Supply Chain Management joins Critical Imports Council at Department for Business and TradeADS Group
Date: April 2024

Dr Ghadge has been selected to join the UK government’s new Critical Imports Council.

The Council is composed of 23 industry leaders who will advise the government on how to secure resilience in supply chains, following on from the January launch of the Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy. The Council’s remit will be to identify, assess and mitigate disruptions of the supply of critical imports to the UK such as medicine and high-tech components. Dr Ghadge, an expert in supply chain resilience, is the only academic member of the council.

Further information can be found here.

Webinar:  Multi-Tier Supply Chain Relationships
Date:  22nd January 2024

Buyer-supplier relationships are essential to the success of many businesses.  The analysis of these relationships has evolved, with traditional approaches such as transactional and relational models giving way to more complex, hybrid models that consider the dynamic and multifaceted nature of modern business environments.  The important research question is: how can buyer-supplier relationships be designed and managed to meet the demands of contemporary business contexts?

View the webinar video here.

MBDA UK Contracts ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç for Team Tempest Supply Chain Study
Date: December 2023

As part of its work with Team Tempest, MBDA has with ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç, supported by Rolls-Royce, to develop a solution to validate supply chain maturity.  

The aim of the project is to develop a new digital toolset that will provide a greater level of granularity on the state of readiness of a supply chain across the programme lifecycle, enabling earlier intervention in future potential supply chain risks.

Latest Issue of the Logistics, Procurement & Supply Chain Management Newsletter
Date: December 2023

Take a look at the Centre’s latest activities in our latest .

25th Anniversary Conference of the Agile Supply Chain Research Club
Date: 27th November 2023

On the 27th November 2023 we hosted the 25th Anniversary Conference of the Agile Supply Chain Research Club, which aims to improve supply chain practice through sharing the output of ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç's research and providing a cross sector, collaborative forum where promising supply chain practices can be shared.  The conference focussed on 'Supply Chain Challenges and Opportunities', and featured an impressive line-up of speakers including: Emeritus Professor Martin Christopher (Cranfield), Dr Thomas Schulte (Bosch, Senior VP, Head of Governance Supply Chain Management and Procurement), Kieron O'Connor (Sony Playstation, Senior Supply Chain Risk and Security Manager) to name just a few, covering the following themes:

  • Supply chain risk and resilience
  • People are our most important asset
  • Supply chain digitalisation
  • Sustainability and decarbonisation
  • Collaborative supply chains and relationship management

The conference was well attended by 75 representatives and an evening Gala Dinner was held where awards were made to those making the most enduring contribution to the club over its 25 year history: Emeritus Professor Martin Christopher OBE, Emeritus Professor Richard Wilding OBE, Visiting Professor Alan Waller OBE and Sean Culey (Head of Value Chain at the Manufacturing Technology Centre).  

If you are interested in the Agile Supply Chain Research Club please contact Sue Gregory.

Webinar: Green Logistics
Date: 13th October 2023

As logistics contributes considerably to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, addressing logistics environmental sustainability is a big concern for practitioners and policymakers.

View the webinar video here.

New Scholarship for the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc
Date: 2023/2024

Global Clinical Supplies Group and ÀÏ˾»ú¸£ÀûÉç have partnered to launch a new scholarship for the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc.

The scholarship will start in the next academic year, 2023/2024, and will run for 4 years.  Each year, one student will receive £5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Global Clinical Group annual conference for development and networking.  Read more here.

Industrial Forum at Cranfield Discusses the Future of Digital Twin Technologies
Date: June 2023

Last week, Cranfield hosted a workshop with 23 senior managers ranging from Food & Beverage, Aerospace, Automotive, Retail, Global Logistics Service Providers, E&HT, Rail and Technology consultancy to explore the scope and application of Digital Twins (DT's) in supply chain networks.

Following keynote presentations from Dr. Abhi Ghadge and Antony Lovell from Anaplan, Mike Bernon facilitated a workshop evaluating the wide range of potential applications associated with this exciting transformative technology.  However, as a nascent technology, the forum also deliberated the challenges involved with its adoption.

If you wish to be involved in future debates/workshops in relation to digital twins, please email Mike Bernon at m.p.bernon@cranfield.ac.uk

EFESO Best Thesis Award
Date: June 2023

Congratulations to Michael Sedgwick, our Executive MSc student, on being awarded the EFESO Consulting Prize for the Best Thesis 2022.  Michael was supervised by Dr Heather Skipworth, and the title of his thesis was 'An Investigation into the Measurement of Social Value during Construction Delivery'.   

Webinar: Humanitarian Supply Chain Management
Date: 7th July 2023

On the 7th July we ran a webinar which looked at how humanitarian supply chain operations help build efficient system designs for the delivery of goods and services to disaster- and conflict-stricken regions. The webinar provided an understanding of the challenges in building humanitarian systems while managing chaos and ensuring survival in insecure situations characterised by a lack of resources and a practitioner’s advice on how to overcome barriers in humanitarian relief operations was provided. You can view the video here.

Supply Chain Sustainability Workshop
Date: March 2023

The Centre recently ran a Supply Chain Sustainability Masterclass in conjunction with Inchainge at Cranfield which was huge success.

The 3 day workshop saw a diverse group of professionals experience dynamic learning filled with valuable insights and sustainable takeaways. This exclusive workshop was attended by employees of companies such as Manutan, Citwel, Argon & Co, Circular Clarity and Hitachi.

Read more

In the News: Food Shortages/Rationing 
Date: February 2023

The Centre for Logistics, Procurement & Supply Chain Management have been active this month after being invited to contribute in the media about the current food shortages for fresh foods.  Professor Aris Matapoulos and Associate Professor Abhi Ghadge have contributed to , BBC Three Counties, as well as a .

FT MSc Student - Finalist in CIPS Competition
Date: January 2023

Congratulations to our FT MSc in Logistics & Supply Chain Management student, Trisha Jain, who was recently selected as a CIPS competition finalist.  Trisha had to produce a 3-minute video about her thesis, a company project on disaster logistics.

CIPS first launched their CIPS Symposium in 2022 to celebrate students from more than 100 CIPS-accredited programmes across the globe. Students were given the chance to share their thoughts, discuss current challenges and engage with leading voices from the world of procurement and supply in some thought-provoking sessions. Those selected as finalists also had the opportunity to present their research. Ranging from lessons learned from the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic to the benefits of blockchain in procurement, there were a great number of entries from the profession’s rising stars.

Hosting a Cranfield MSc Thesis Project
Date: January 2023

If you or your organisation are interested in sponsoring 1 or multiple projects from May to August 2023 within the topic of logistics, procurement, transportation and supply chain management, please find out more here.

Webinar:  Digital Transformation in Supply Chains: Collaboration and Culture Change
Date: 27th January 2023

Labour availability constraints, rapidly rising labour costs and the residual impact of COVID-19 are compelling supply chain leaders to increase investment in digital technologies and systems to transform supply chains and address the current global environment. Digital technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, cloud/edge computing, AI and machine learning have demonstrated their ability to create new agile business processes at enterprise level. To fully leverage the benefits of digital technologies across supply chains, trusted collaboration is needed to secure information sharing that maximises the innovation capabilities of multiple tiers of the supply chain network. Digital transformation in supply chains requires the interplay of AI, advanced data analytics, digital culture change, trusted collaboration, data governance, and system interoperability.

This webinar will:

  • Demonstrate the benefits of digital transformation in supply chains
  • Discuss the challenges related to digital transformation in supply chains,
  • Discuss the importance of culture change and collaboration to digital transformation
  • Showcase the success of digital transformation achieved by R2-factory

For further information and to register for this event, click here.

Recent Projects
Date: 2022/2023

We currently have a number of research projects within the Centre:

Leonardo Project - research study to identify 'What the Art of the Possible' could be for their supply chain over a 5-to-10-year period.

Inchape PLC Project - the project will attempt to develop a thought leadership report consolidating the understanding of their global supply chain and potential future opportunities.

ECO-READY: New European Project - this project will develop a real-time surveillance system, an Observatory offered as an e-platform and as a mobile application aiming to provide real-time assessments for the food system, and update forecasts frequently and consistently.

Blockchain for Supply Chains: Research Developments - Exploring the true potential of this disruptive technology in the food supply chain.  

ReSChape (Reshaping Supply Chains for Positive Social Impact) - this project will analyse social (as well as economic and environmental) changes and disruptions impacting on supply chains at levels ranging from the relationships between countries to the impact on employment.