Welcome to our new students who started earlier this year in our MSc full time and part-time programmes.

We have very good numbers of students for our courses that started in October this year including 181 students in the MSc Logistics & Supply Chain Management / MSc Procurement & Supply Chain Management (full-time) and 21 students on our MSc Executive programme (part-time).

The team has been busy working on different projects and hosting executive development courses. We are also launching our new online MSc programme which starts in February 2024 and our newly revised Supply Chain Management Programme now known as Leading Supply Chain Transformation. Further details of these programmes are below.

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Professor Michael Bourlakis
Director of Research, Head of Logistics, Procurement & Supply Chain Management Group

Celebrations

Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Martin Christopher OBE who has been presented as the Distinguished Fellow by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

For Immediate Release: CSCMP Presents the 2023 Distinguished Fellows Program and Honors Academic Partners

Congratulations to Dr Hendrik Reefke, for receiving the student choice award for Best Research Supervisor in the Cranfield Students Association - Student Choice Awards 2023. The nomination said “Hendrik has been a wonderful supervisor. He understands the peculiarity of my research and guides my thought towards the academic inclination. Having come from industry, he has helped me appreciate the balance between academic expectation and professional life. He has also constantly asked about my welfare and family life and our relationship has so far been very cordial and professional”.

25th Anniversary Conference of the Agile Supply Chain Research Club (ASCRC)

The ASCRC aims to improve the practice of supply chain management through providing Cranfield research output and sharing promising supply chain practices. Following our 25-year track record of thought leadership in Supply Chain Management, we had a unique, free-of-charge conference on Monday 27th November where we covered the following enduring themes:

• Supply chain risk and resilience
• People are our most important asset
• Supply chain digitalisation
• Sustainability and decarbonisation
• Collaborative supply chains and relationship management

Speakers included leading academics and industrialists with presentations from Bosch, Sony PlayStation, DHL Supply Chain and Odgers Berndtson. The conference was held at Cranfield Management Development Centre (CMDC) and senior managers and Directors in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Logistics and Manufacturing participated. The full day programme was followed by a Celebration Evening Gala dinner.

Scholarships

Global Clinical Supplies
Global Clinical Supplies group have teamed up with Cranfield to launch a new scholarship for the MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. We are combining academic excellence with real-world industry expertise to provide practical experiences that will help scholarship students to navigate the complexities of pharmaceutical logistics. 
https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/press/news-2023/global-clinical-supplies-group-and-cranfield-university-launch-new-supply-chain-scholarship

Rolls Royce 50-50% matched funded PhD Scholarship
We are pleased that our colleague Professor Aris Matopoulos has been awarded a new PhD match funded scholarship by Cranfield School of Management and Rolls-Royce. This research will focus on developing and deploying agile procurement methodologies for managing complex manufacturing supply chains for advanced engineering systems. This scholarship will be funded 50% by Rolls-Royce and the remaining 50% by Cranfield School of Management and major results will emanate from this work which will support and shape Rolls-Royce future activities.

Projects

Port of Dover
We are delighted that Professor Ying Xie is working on an AI-enhanced digital twin with the Port of Dover to achieve digital transformation with the ultimate aim of reducing energy use and carbon emissions from port operations. You can read more here: 
https://www.portofdover.com/news/port-of-dover-work-with-vanguard-universities/ 

Atkins Highways Project
Professor Emel Aktas was among the lead advisors for a project on the Future of Freight Logistics. National Highways commissioned Atkins and Jacobs to produce a Freight and Logistics Study Report with support from Lichfields, MDS Transmodal, and Cushman & Wakefield. This report included an overview of the freight system, market actors, and infrastructure. It provided an analysis of freight demand as well as the economic contribution of freight and logistics. Professor Aktas provided specialist professional and technical advisory input to the project from 2022 to 2023 in a number of workshops held online and in person. The freight and logistics study has demonstrated the criticality of the Strategic Road Network to the national economy as it is the physical backbone of the UK’s freight and logistics sector. The sector supports 1.3 - 3.8 million jobs and generates £48-£232 billion GVA per annum. Almost all the freight moved in the UK uses the road network at some point, and 70% of all Heavy Goods Vehicle kilometres are carried out on the Strategic Road Network. The work is being used to inform future investments in the Strategic Road Network as well as current government approaches to freight including on the role of the planning system in supporting the freight and logistics sector.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with an Events management Company 
Professor Ying Xie is working on a KTP funded by Innovate UK collaborating with an events management company developing a  novel events environmental sustainability platform. This project will  last 20 months and it will make recommendations to stakeholders in  events management supply chains to reduce environmental impact  and will verify event-based greenhouse gas emission levels and align these with sector standards.

Maritime Research Hub 
Professor Ying Xie has been successful with a new EPSRC grant which is led by Durham University and involves 12 other universities. The project will establish a UK National Clean Maritime Research (UK-MaRes) Hub to deliver a disruptive programme of activity that will accelerate the decarbonisation and elimination of harmful air pollution for the maritime sector. As well as environmental impacts, the Hub also aims to feed into a clean maritime strategy that can adapt to place-based challenges and provide targeted technical and socio-economic interventions through a novel co-innovation methodology. The Hub was announced by the UK’s Maritime Minister during the London International Shipping Week and it will receive £7.4m from EPSRC and DfT, with an additional £13.9M from industry. The project duration is 43 months.

Programmes

Full-time MScs in Logistics & Supply Chain Management & MSc in Procurement & Supply Chain Management 

Our full-time MSc programmes (Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Procurement & Supply Chain Management) are thriving. In the last 2 years, our student community has expanded, reflecting the programmes’ growing popularity.
One aspect we are especially proud of is the increasing diversity within our student body. We've welcomed individuals from nearly 30 different nationalities, creating a vibrant mix of perspectives in our classrooms. While a significant number of students come from India and China, our programmes’ global appeal extends far and wide.
This diverse representation enriches the academic experience and equips our students for a globalized workforce. As we continue to uphold the highest educational standards, our commitment to fostering an inclusive and dynamic learning environment remains unwavering. At Cranfield, we're not just educating students; we're shaping future leaders who thrive in the world of Logistics, Procurement, and Supply Chain Management.

Executive MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Update

We are delighted to welcome to Cranfield our new part-time Executive MSc in Logistics and Supply Chain Management students.  The group of 22 students started the programme in October and we wish them all success with their studies. The group includes some international students whilst the majority of the UK students undertake the additional study route of the Senior Leader 7 apprenticeship.
Many of the students are sponsored by their employers representing some of the following sectors:  aerospace, automotive, biopharma, defence, electronics products manufacturer, energy services, food manufacturing, healthcare, logistics services, regeneration, retail and technical.

Applications are now being received for our part-time MSc which starts 26th February 2024. 

Our live Online MSc Executive Logistics and Supply Chain Management offers you the opportunity to study for an internationally recognised Master's qualification. This part-time supply chain postgraduate course is designed to nurture your practical business skills and confidence.

This new variant of our part-time MSc is aimed at supply chain, logistics or procurement managers who want to enhance their skills, knowledge and confidence to take on more demanding executive roles in the future. It is also relevant to individuals with business or organisational experience in a non-supply chain area who are intending to move into the supply chain field or have recently had a change in career track. Ambitious professionals who are keen to develop themselves and want a "real-world" education will be taught by our logistics faculty members who are actively engaged with business and can bring their knowledge to the programme.

The next start date is 26th February 2024

For more information about this course please contact either Dr Ismail Abushaikha Ismail.abushaikha@cranfield.ac.uk or Noreen Munnelly, Business Development Executive: n.munnelly@cranfield.ac.uk

Supply Chain Open Programme

We are dedicated to delivering an exceptional learning experience to our delegates. As industry leaders, we are constantly striving to stay ahead of the curve and set new standards. This commitment has inspired us to introduce exciting improvements to our Supply Chain Management programme.

We are proud to announce the re-launch of the programme, now known as Leading Supply Chain Transformation. This transformation goes beyond a mere name change; it's a significant step towards delivering an enriched and impactful learning experience for our learners. Leading Supply Chain Transformation Programme (cranfield.ac.uk)

The newly designed Leading Supply Chain Transformation programme, under the direction of Professor Emel Aktas and Dr Abhijeet Ghadge is designed to inspire supply chain professionals from all sectors to rejuvenate their operations and business practices.

The key themes covered include:

• Supply Chain Strategy
• End-to-End Supply Chain
• Sustainable Supply Chains
• Performance and Profitability
• Future of your Supply Chain
• Supply Chain Strategy

We look forward to the arrival of the
March 2024 cohort, which will be treated
to an enhanced and cutting-edge
programme in the new year! 

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year

Professor Michael Bourlakis

Contact Us
T: +44 (0) 1234 758561
E: m.bourlakis@cranfield.ac.uk
W: www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/clpscm

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