Digitalisation & Supply Chains

This seminar was organised by RMIT University. Acknowledgement to the OpenInnoTrain Project, Consortium Partner the University of Vaasa, Global Business Innovation Enabling Capability Platform, RMIT.

Petri brilliantly and visually shared many insights into where innovation is occurring in supply chain from both local and international perspectives. His presentation focused on 5 of the enabling technologies on digitalisation and supply chain: Complexity of planning – optimisation; Dynamic route planning; Digital twins and SCM; Smart products and IoT; and Sustainable supply chains / blockchain.

Some of the prominent take-aways of the seminar were around the areas of:

• Better utilization of container ships through new emerging software;
• Examples of diverse innovations around onshore supply chain optimisation;
• Digital twins as a way to simulate experience, evaluate outcomes to identify those changes which are beneficial and quickly, (at low cost), eliminate those that are not likely to have a beneficial outcome;
• Sustainability through the lens of visibility and transparency of supply chains and how signatures within blockchains present an opportunity for accurate and non-reputable record keeping as well as guarantee of authenticity of products.

Petri’s presentation generated some enthusiastic comments and insightful questions.

Participant feedback – Carlos Andres Diaz Valdivia at RMIT University, PhD Candidate (Business and Law) – Blockchain Governance and Law in Peer-to-peer Energy Transitions:

Thanks to Petri and the Global Business Innovation ECP for organizing such a great presentation. It helped me get a clearer picture of the digitalization process in the supply-chain sector through data visualization techniques from different applications. The visual experience greatly complemented the literature research. Also, I was introduced to the OpenInoTrain Project, which I found it incredibly interesting and fruitful. I would definitely like to participate.

About the Seminar Host: Associate Professor Vinh Thai, School of Accounting, Information Systems and Supply Chain, RMIT University. Dr Vinh Thai is an associate professor at the School of Accounting, Information Systems and Supply Chain of RMIT University. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Asian Journal of Shipping and Logistics (Q1 journal) and is known internationally for his research in logistics and supply chain management in general and maritime logistics in particular. His work has been widely cited in academic journals as well as in industry magazines, newspapers, radio etc. Vinh is the founder of the Australian Maritime Logistics Research Network (AMLRN), established in 2019, connecting maritime academics and industry professionals in Australia and overseas. He has also been a consultant in numerous consultancy projects. Prior to joining academia, he worked for various companies in the maritime logistics industry.