Instant Insights: Optimising Agri-Food Supply Chains

Professor Sander de Leeuw is Chair in Operations Research and Logistics at Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands. He is also Adjunct Professor of Supply Chain Management at Nottingham Trent University, UK. Professor de Leeuw is European Editor for the Journal of Business Logistics and has over 20 years of experience, including management consultancy for companies such as KPMG. He is internationally known for his research on online retail logistics as well as his work with NGOs on humanitarian aid supply chains. Dr Rodrigo Romero Silva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Operations Research and Logistics at Wageningen University and Research. He is also Assistant Professor in Industrial Engineering at Universidad Panamericana, Mexico. Dr Romero Silva formerly conducted research in operations analytics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Amongst other responsibilities, he is on the Scientific Committee EUROSIM 2023. His expertise is in simulating resource use in food supply chains and other production systems. Dr Louise Manning is Professor of Sustainable Agri-food Systems at the Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology at the University of Lincoln, UK. With over 30 years of experience in both industry and research, and over 125 peer-reviewed publications, Professor Manning is internationally-renowned for both her research and consultancy work on food safety and quality, agri-food systems, food integrity and crime. She is an Associate Editor for the British Food Journal and is a member of the Board of Trustees for Rothamsted Research. Professor Manning has previously edited Developing smart agri-food supply chains: Using technology to improve safety and quality, published by Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing in 2021.

Chapter 1 - Studying agri-food supply chains: an analytical framework: Sander de Leeuw, Renzo Akkerman and Rodrigo Romero Silva, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands;

1 Introduction
2 Agri-food supply chains (AFSCs): a brief review
3 The development of the concept of ‘supply chains’
4 Food systems versus food supply chains
5 Designing AFSCs: a framework
6 The structure of this book
7 References


Chapter 2 - Advances in traceability systems in agri-food supply chains: Samantha Islam, University of Cambridge, UK; Louise Manning, Royal Agricultural University, UK; and Jonathan M. Cullen, University of Cambridge, UK;

1 Introduction
2 Traceability drivers
3 Food traceability in theory
4 Food traceability system
5 Traceability technologies
6 Barriers in implementation of effective food traceability systems
7 Improvement pathways
8 Where to look for further information
9 References


Chapter 3 - The role of technology in crisis management and product recall in food supply chains: Louise Manning, Royal Agricultural University, UK; and Aleksandra Kowalska, Maria Curie- Skłodowska University, Poland;

1 Introduction
2 Food supply chain governance
3 Information asymmetry
4 Data sharing as a mechanism to underpin public-private partnerships (PPPs)
5 Concluding thoughts
6 Where to look for further information
7 References


Chapter 4 - Improving supply chains to prevent food losses and waste: an overview: Hamid El Bilali, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria;

1 Introduction
2 Food losses and waste along the supply chain: main causes and reduction strategies
3 Reducing food wastage along the food supply chain: the need for a systems approach
4 Future trends and conclusion
5 Where to look for further information
6 References


Chapter 5 - Developing decision support systems for improving data management in agricultural supply chains: Gerhard Schiefer, University of Bonn, Germany;

1 Introduction
2 Decisions in supporting data management
3 Decision tools
4 Principal case studies
5 Conclusion and future trends
6 References