Panalpina World Transport Ltd (service optimisation)
Developing inventory control and 3D printing techniques for service optimization in additive manufacturing.
A grant of £285k has been awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK to support a two year project with Panalpina World Transport Ltd, a leading logistics service provider and freight forwarder with a global coverage.
The academic team who completed the successful KTP application are:
- Professor Aris Syntetos, Cardiff Business School
- Dr. Xun Wang, Cardiff Business School
- Dr Franck Lacan, School of Engineering.
Project aims
The project will enable Panalpina to develop and apply novel inventory control and 3D printing techniques for service optimization in additive manufacturing.
This will assist the strategic expansion of the company to 3D printing services and enable them to become the first global logistics company that can provide industrial level 3D printing on a global scale.
The project also aims to innovate the traditional supply chain structure by shifting it from a linear model to a more fragmented and distributed one, potentially benefitting many other relevant businesses across UK and Europe.
The academic team, who are experts in statistical forecasting, inventory control and 3D printing techniques, will have a unique opportunity to investigate the challenges of applying and suitably modifying state-of-the-art inventory control theory to additive manufacturing.
In addition to the impact of this research, Cardiff University will also benefit from the development of business case studies to be introduced in the postgraduate modules offered across Cardiff Business School.
Funder
The project is co funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK.
