This project aims to bring together an international team of researchers with a wide variety of skills in supply chain and logistics research of emergency resources management systems, and to tackle challenges faced by industry which require specialist knowledge and innovation. The proposed research will be developing an Emergency Resources Supply Chain (ERSC) framework with appropriate support models for application to the risk management, cold chain management, supply chain management, Big Data technology, and packaging, distribution and transport sectors.
The proposed ERSC framework plays a crucial role in promoting the effective application of disaster management, and differs from conventional supply chains in some explicit ways. ERSC operations have to analyse all demands in a very short period of time, using limited resources. The application of different technologies is strongly dependent on the kind of natural disaster, climate conditions, infrastructure, etc. There is currently no comprehensive emergency management methodology in existence that allows for rapid decision-making processes, sufficient to meet the needs of an emergency supply chain and to ensure product integrity in the event of different natural disasters. Therefore, an effective and efficient ERSC must be designed, constructed and maintained in order to support continuous and smooth material and information flows. This must include a diverse set of plans, resources, authorities, agencies, and their associated human resources.
The research contributes to European economic competitiveness by producing a group of highly creative researchers, with the expertise and skills that will allow them to become productive and insightful engineers and scientists. It also establishes collaborative mechanisms for long-term partnerships between European and Asian researchers and institutes, with expertise in supply chain and logistics research of emergency resources management. Similarly, this shall advance disaster management and decision making, in order to address the issues of technology changes and emerging uncertainties in the 21st century.
The project has 9 partners (6 EU members and 3 TC members) who have agreed for a program of extensive exchange of both Experienced Researchers (ERs) and Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) during four years from May 2019, in order to fully explore and exploit the complementary strengths and synergies within the consortium. The interdisciplinary nature of the proposed exchange programme offers a link for research and training of the involved ERs and ESRs, in a collaborative academic environment. This serves to support and reinforce the collaborations amongst the participants and helps establish a long-term research collaboration.
During the project period, we achieved a strong publication record with 47 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and 43 papers presented at national and international conferences, all focused on emergency supply chain management. This reflects the project’s significant contribution to advancing knowledge and practice in the field. In the past 12 months alone, we maintained this momentum with 16 journal publications and 10 conference presentations. Each of these outputs has acknowledged the support of the REMESH grant, ensuring visibility and recognition of the funding body. The breadth and consistency of these publications demonstrate the project’s sustained research productivity and impact. Full details of all publications are provided in technical report.
