From the Director's desk December 2021

Welcome to the last edition of Supply Chain Link for another challenging year. And another “interesting” year for the supply chain field. We didn’t have as many events as we’d originally planned this year; let’s hope we’ll manage to host more next year. Please note that the University of Auckland has introduced a vaccine mandate for all staff, students and visitors to come onto campus, so our on-campus events in 2022 will require vaccination certificates for attendance.

In this edition, Nicolas Ganivet, Supply Chain Network Manager at Napier Port, tells us about their new logistics service and the power of collaboration in supply chains. Moreover, Aadhaar Chaturvedi, Senior Lecturer at ISOM, helps us explore the promising terrain of sharing economy platforms (SEPs) and the physical internet for supply chains. He also discusses the economic, legal, and operational challenges SEPs have to deal with on their road to success.

Next, Felicity Lawrence, Manager at Executive and Professional Development, gives us an overview of our Strategic Supply Chain Management Programme (SSCMP) and its vision to develop supply chain executive leaders in Aotearoa in collaboration with industry leaders and top researchers. As part of the SSCMP, each participant is required to lead a strategic project in their organisation. We also have an interview with Denise Mayhew-Leat, International Trade Manager at Tatua dairy company, about her project for the SSCMP, which will give you a better understanding of the program and its benefits.

Furthermore, Sunny Kareem, PhD student in the ISOM department, explains his research proposal on VUCA-ready (i.e. ready to cope with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) sustainable supply chains. We also have a report on our October online panel discussion Food Waste Minimisation in New Zealand Supply Chains. The three panellists, Karen Titulaer, Head of Legal, Risk and Sustainability at Villa Maria, Gavin Findlay, CEO at NZ Food Network (NZFN), and Michal Garvey, founder and director at Foodprint, talked about food waste minimisation from the perspective of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers respectively.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the whole supply chain team for all their hard work this year. Thanks to Felicity, for always stepping above and beyond, and Aida and Alisha for keeping everything ticking over so smoothly. Finally, I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas, a happy new year, and a well-deserved break!