Traditional supply chain decision tools help business strategists and policy makers run their organizations in an effective and efficient manner, minimizing costs (or maximizing profit) while at the same time maintaining a high level of customer service and adhering to the many constraints that apply to their operations.
Work module 5 aims to develop a set of improved decision tools that will additionally help businesses assess the effects of the use of modern supply chain strategies on sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including vehicle kilometres, operating costs and fuel consumption. We will develop a generic framework for this purpose within which such decision tools can be embedded.
Informed by the outputs of WM1 on the present uses of proprietary tools in UK industry, we propose to survey those that are currently available and determine the gaps that need to be filled by decision tool development later in the project.