This document discusses designing sustainable supply chains. It focuses on decarbonizing supply chain design through better logistics, management, technology and data analysis. Specific areas of research include end-to-end supply chains, logistics hubs and corridors, planning methods for massively connected systems, tracking and visibility, process improvement, and socioeconomic and environmental impact analysis in industries like consumer goods, food, offshore wind, and healthcare. Statistics are provided on transport emissions in the UK and challenges of moving more freight through northern ports. An ongoing project called LHOFT aims to increase freight to northern ports by 10% using a digital collaborative platform.

1. Designing Sustainable Supply
Chains
Amar Ramudhin
Oct 2020
UK-Finland virtual sustainability knowledge exchange

2. Main Areas of Research & Expertise
• Sustainable Trade through better Logistics
➢ Emphasis on Decarbonization of supply chain design through better
designs, management, technology and big data analysis
• Areas of focus
➢ End to end supply chain
➢ Design of Logistics Hubs and Corridors
➢ New planning and control methods under Massively Connected Systems
➢ Tracking and Visibility
➢ Process design and improvement for better services
➢ Socio-Economic & Environmental Impact Analysis
• Industries
➢ Consumer Packaged Good / Fast Moving Consumer Goods
➢ Food Logistics
➢ Off shore wind
➢ Healthcare Logistics
Shippers
Service
providers
Ports,
Customs &
Other
Agencies

3. Example of
On-going Projects

4. Some Statistics
• 33% of UK CO2 emissions is transport related
• 55% private cars
• 32% HGVs and vans
• Domestic Aviation and shipping < 5%
• 17% of transport emissions are HGV related
• But they make up just 5% of vehicle miles driven
• 30% of total domestic miles traveled is empty
• Closer to 50% for cross-border travels
• Average truck is only 60% laden
• 5.3 billion miles of wasted travel even if all HGVs were electrified

5. Freight Flows in England:
Dominance of Ports in the South
5
Fact 1:
The is a
misaligned in
freight flows
5151 5320 5369 5359
15,958 16,219 16,095 15,987
21,109
21,539 21,464 21,346
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
2015 2016 2017 2018
Unitised Freight North vs. South England
(in thousands)
North South & Channel Tunnel Total

6. Land Travel to Freight Destination
are Costly and High in Emissions
6
Fact 2:
England’s
Highways are
Congested

7. Challenges for Businesses in the
North
• Why can’t the Northern Businesses ship
more freight through the Northern Ports?
• What are the issues that need to be
overcome to change the current
paradigm:
• Infrastructure and intermodal connectivity?
• Logistics Services: rail, sea frequencies and
destinations?
25.1%
74.9%
Distribution of Freight between
North & South of England
North South & Channel Tunnel

8. Comparing Different Routes:
Kargowa (Poland) to York (UK)
8
Distance: 1589 km
CO2 Emissions: 6631 kg
Distance: 1255 km
CO2 Emissions: 4398 kg
Why not use the Rotterdam – Hull route?
Cost? Service?
Calais – Dover Route Rotterdam – Hull Route
Reduction
Distance: 21%
Emissions: 34%

9. The Liverpool-Humber Optimisation of Freight
Transport (LHOFT) project is bringing together
shared expertise from the ports, rail, and
logistics industries to make new routes a viable
alternative for cargo owners.

10. LHOFT -Liverpool Humber Optimization of
Freight Transportation
Objective: Increase freight to Northern ports by 10%
• The resulting impact could relieve the UK land transport
network of in excess of 100 million miles of freight transport
per year.
How?
• Identify the current barriers in multi-modal connectivity
• Road, Rail, Sea, Waterways
• Develop a digital collaborative platform to allow shippers to
collaborate with logistics service providers
Funded by Innovate UK (1.9M)
1
0

11. The Optimized Freight & Transport
(OFT) Platform
• Intermodal road-rail and sea network
allows planning across UK and
Europe
• Can be extended to other regions
• Routing freight trains on UK rail is
particularly challenging because of
varying gauges
• Solved by having a ‘digital twin’
representation of UK rail

12. Users and Technical Architecture
1
2
Shipper
Service Providers
- Shipping Line
- Rail operators
- Ports
- 3PL
Others
- Govt
- LA
- etc
LHOFT
Aggregated DB
LHOFT Apps &
Services
Tactical
Transportation
planning
Data Input
- Shippers:
- Supply chain
- Forecast of
transportation needs
- Logistics Service provides
- Rail services
- Road
- Shipping Services
- Information
- costs,
- capacity,
- emissions
- Others
Secure and private connections
Administrator
Services
Analysis
Strategic
Analysis

13. Quick Route Finder
1
3
Min Cost
£1231
25 hrs
1,585kg Co2
Min Time
£1367
21 hrs
1,536kg Co2
Min Emission
£1565
44 hrs
1,304kg Co2

14. Key Innovation: Horizontal Collaboration
Between Shippers for Finding
Return Flows or Consolidations
Consolidate
Return Flow

15. Key Benefit: Provides a Way to make Structural
Changes in the Supply Chain for the Benefit of
all Parties
Shippers/Freight Forwarders
• Tactical transportation planning & Optimisation
tool
• Better visibility of the transportation services
• Ability to consider alternative multi-modal
route options
• Ability to consolidated loads
• Ability to plan backhauls
• Horizontal collaboration for more opportunities
• Make effective decisions of costs vs time vs
emissions
Policy Makers / Society
• Allows visibility on infrastructure pinch points
and demand for transport
• Can be used for prioritising investments
• Better informed policies based on facts for
reduce CO2 emissions and congestions
Shipping lines/Intermodal services
- A tool to expose your services
- Better visibility of the market
- Ability to conduct what-if analysis to de-risks
investment in new services

16. Other Projects
• GOLF Project: Integration of Global and Local Agri-
Food Supply Chains Towards Sustainable Food
Security
• H2020-MSCA-RISE
• Partners in UK, China, Netherlands, Norway, Thailand &
Vietnam
• DSS for Plastic Waste Management in a Supply
Chain
• part of the EPSRC Evolving A Circular Plastic Economy
(ECPE) project
• Developed in collaboration with Morrisons, a major
retailer in the UK

17. Thank You