Current research

Temperature-controlled supply chains, commonly known as 'cold chains', are integral to global trade. Increased urbanisation and prosperity have led to explosive growth in demand for perishable food products. Yet, over a third of food production is lost to inefficient or ineffective supply chains. Optimising cold chains provides an economic advantage and a social benefit by reducing the wastage of essential goods.

This research explores the role of flexibility, usually a tool for risk management, within the cold chain in influencing the optimisation of storage and transport operations. The flexibility to store a product at different temperatures, change the temperature of a room or container and modify the space allocated to each temperature within a given area can contribute towards improved asset utilisation and reduced operating cost. This flexibility is the foundation of tactical optimisation to enhance the efficient utilisation of existing resources and strategic optimisation to recommend suitable investments in developing flexibility.

The vision of a circular economy inspires businesses and environmentalists alike. As part of their circular economy strategy, many businesses around the world trial take-back programmes. Take-back success depends on acquiring used products, sorting them and deciding what proportions should be reused, remanufactured or recycled for optimal benefit. Contamination is inevitable for any take-back scheme with public access. A high level of contamination may make recycling expensive and cause take-back schemes to fail entirely.

This research aims to inform businesses how to make the most effective decisions to minimise the total cost of their used product take-back system via involving the customer in the sorting process. A mathematical modelling approach will be utilised, using industry data on return quantities, error rates and consumer return behaviours.