Technology-enabled Optimization in Food Supply Chains

Zoom Research Seminar

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Past event — 18 August 2021
12:0013:00 

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Tim Schlaich

PhD Candidate

Kühne Logistics University - KLU

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Abstract

The agriculture & food sector is undergoing profound changes and needs to find adequate answers to pressing issues like food safety, food waste and environmental concerns. Those dynamics combined with increasingly demanding customers and technological innovation have led to the emergence of new food industries such as for plant-based meat alternatives. At the same technological advancements like the Internet-of-Things are affecting established food supply structures. With the growing diversity of data, it is less and less the availability of data that is a challenge, but rather its handling and interpretation. Therefore, operations techniques such as statistics, machine learning and optimization are required to transform raw data into business-relevant insights. My research is dedicated to how firms can capitalize on novel data sources and information sharing across supply chain stages. In addition, I am interested in how organizational structures in technology-enabled food industries arise and evolve over time. As such, the dynamics and transcendence of (virtual) organizational boundaries, as well as technology as an enabler for improvement are dominant motives that guide my research.

Bio

Tim Schlaich started his PhD program at Kühne Logistics University in May 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Kai Hoberg and Prof. Dr. Sandra Transchel. His research focuses on the optimization of food supply chains through information sharing and technological advancements. He conducts his research in cooperation with Peter Cremer Holding GmbH & Co. KG, a family-owned trading and production company based in Hamburg. Tim already joined KLU in 2017 for his Master of Science in Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He was awarded the Best Student Award Class Master of Global Logistics and SCM 2019 and received the BVL Thesis Award for his master thesis on consumer mobility in the context of traceback models for food-borne diseases. After graduation, he worked as a research associate and co-authored a joint paper entitled "A Gravity-Based Food Flow Model to Identify the Source of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks", which was published by the International Journal of Environmental Health and Public Research (2020). Before joining KLU, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University. During his Bachelor studies, he was employed by the Evonik Industries AG and gained work experience in several departments.

 

Organizer

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Bärbel Wegener

Assistant to Resident Faculty