Manufacturing logistics and procurement – January 2025

Sustainability in logistics
A study (1.92 MB) by the University of Michigan entitled ‘Adoption of reusable transit packaging in US industries: a framework for enhanced sustainability’ has been published in Review of Managerial Science. The research offers a strategic roadmap for enhancing the legislative and operational environment to support reusable packaging by ranking these mechanisms based on business impact and feasibility of implementation.
A study (890 kB) by the University of Surabaya published in the Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development aims to understand how plastic packaging companies implement TQM and its environmental impact, and how these companies are taking steps towards green manufacturing.
To better understand the growing prioritisation of sustainability across the supply chain operations, DHL conducted the Global Sustainability Survey 2024 (1.29 MB). Sustainability is a top priority for SMEs and a necessity to drive growth, attract customers and secure long-term investment.

Supply chain developments
McKinsey has published an article about digital twins. In their eyes digital twinning is the key to unlocking end-to-end supply chain growth.
VIL (in Dutch) has kicked off the Start2Twin project. This initiative wants companies in Flanders to discover how digital twin technology can strengthen the logistics sector and support them in its implementation.
Eurostat and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) have published a new set of 12 macroeconomic globalisation indicators that measure the participation of the EU and individual EU countries in global value chains.
Everstream Analytics has unveiled its 2025 Annual Risk Report, identifying the five most likely supply chain events that will impact supply chain operations in 2025. You can download the report after filling in your details.

AI developments
Deloitte’s annual ‘Tech Trends’ report (7.08 MB) shows that AI is quickly becoming foundational to the modern enterprise. The report details six AI-fuelled trends shaping business operations, growth and transformation.
The PPMI white paper ‘2024 Data Acquisition, Sharing and Utilization’ explores both the obstacles and benefits of integrating growing levels of digital connectivity and data utilisation into manufacturing operations to enhance operational efficiency. You can download the white paper after filling in your details.

Robotics in packaging
euRobotics has shared their vision (2.21 MB) for unified European robotics, a new strategy for innovation, growth and societal impact. This vision of the European Robotics community draws on multiple sources of information from within Europe and beyond.
A study (573 kB) by the Namangan Institute of Engineering Technology investigates the application of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to optimise the operations of packaging robots. Specifically, the study focuses on trajectory planning, real-time object detection, and system adaptability.
 

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