The Competence Centre sees itself as a hub between research and teaching on one hand, and business, politics and institutions on the other, with the aim of developing a comprehensive and holistic view of the physical and digital supply chain.
In the context of globalisation, digitalisation and automation, the focus lies on a holistic examination of the vulnerability of the supply chain and its networks (basic, supply and public networks) as the sum of primary and auxiliary processes (particularly storage and transport of goods, information and money), taking into account their integration into transnational and international supply systems (energy, raw materials, food, medical consumables, information, etc.) that can lead to supply interruptions and bottlenecks due to political, legal, economic, civil, technical, as well as natural/biological and environmental events, both "man-made" and "non man-made".
The development of risk-reducing strategies and resilience strategies requires innovations in qualitative and quantitative concepts, models, methods and tools in the area of risk assessment as well as modelling and simulation, in order to determine the degree of required resilience (stockpiling, in-house production, raw material self-sufficiency) at both state and enterprise level.
Technologies in supply chain are increasingly of strategic importance as the backbone for optimising supply chains to ensure efficiency, security and cost-effectiveness. To this end, technologies (e.g. DLT/blockchain) or applications for supply chain processes shall be identified, particularly those required for synchronisation within and between supply chains, from raw material suppliers to end customers.
Attention to supply chain sustainability (ecological, economic and social aspects, as a departure from the single-criterion design principle of minimum possible costs) and thus to the circular economy as well as steady state economy is a further important and integrated component of the area of activity.
The tasks of the Competence Centre are:
- Positioning the Competence Centre as a visible, accessible, reliable and credible source of information on supply chain topics.
- Method development for and analysis of threats, vulnerabilities as well as development of resilience strategies
- Identifying (new) technologies and evaluating them for supply chain applications
- Development of concepts for circular/steady state economy.
- Developing and disseminating best practice on a scientific basis through research, publication and organising/participating in congresses, symposia, seminars as well as the "Science Cloud"
