Tower Cold Chain and Cardiff Business School collaborative study reveals the key to enhancing operational efficiency.
November 27, 2023 – Logistics – Cardiff Business School, Tower Cold Chain, logistics
21 November 2023 — Reading, UK — A study conducted by Cardiff University’s Business School has shed light on ways to model the logistics of ensuring the availability of temperature controlled shipping containers against the backdrop of a complex and dynamic global pharmaceutical transportation demand.
The government grant supported initiative, enlisted the expertise of scholars within Cardiff Business School’s Logistics and Operations Management section, whose objective was to test the feasibility of a decision support system (DSS) for Tower’s global distribution network using cutting edge modelling algorithms. Examining Tower’s historical shipment data, Cardiff Business School managed to construct a mathematical model which can show how the system can function holistically highlighting how containers might ‘flow’ around the global network of existing or even new hubs. This can help to ensure empty movements and over-stocking are minimised – critical goals for Tower’s sustainability journey. This would also lead to a corresponding benefit of reducing operational costs.
“Over the past two and a half years, our three-strong team of academics has worked with Tower Cold Chain to identify data-derived strategies to reduce carbon emissions caused by non-value-added movements in cold chain distribution,” says Dr Danny Mogale, a lecturer in Logistics and Operations Management. “This has been a ground-breaking opportunity to challenge important research to provide tangible and impactful implementations.”
Since published, the research has been presented at international conferences in 2023, including the 27th Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) and the International Symposium on Logistics (ISL).
“Managing the movement of our passive containers within our global network of hubs presents a highly intricate challenge,” says Kevin Doran, head of Global Supply Chain at Tower Cold Chain.
“Cardiff Business School’s study demonstrated the feasibility of creating a decision support system. On the success of this, Cardiff business School and Tower have agreed to embark on a multi-year collaboration to mature this methodology to revolutionise Tower’s processes; to create Smart stock-management and ultimately improve the availability of our containers for Tower’s customers, while simultaneously ensuring sustainable operations.”
About Tower
Tower delivers proven physical and temperature protection for pharmaceutical and life science products and our robust, reliable and reusable containers are the essential link in the stability of the cold chain. Headquartered in the UK, we operate a global network ensuring availability and easy access to our products for all customers. We are trusted by global pharmaceutical, logistics and airline companies and our experienced team, supported by a centralised quality-management system, reinforces customer confidence that our shipping facilities will meet requirements throughout the supply chain. Our patented design technology ensures our solutions meet the pharmaceutical industry performance standard, providing a minimum of 120 hours temperature compliance in any environment, anywhere in the world. We work closely with our customers, realising their requirements and how we can address emerging needs. and to deliver customer-focused innovation in temperature-controlled protection. Visit: www.towercoldchain.com.
