Cardiff University has signed a strategic partnership with DSV - the Danish transport and logistics company.
The agreement paves the way for closer cooperation around innovation, research, staff development, student futures and international business development.
The University welcomed senior executives from Denmark and the Netherlands to a signing ceremony and a tour of Cardiff's leading-edge innovation facilities, including sbarc |spark and RemakerSpace.
Co-located since 2016 at the Cardiff Business School, Professor Aris Syntetos from Cardiff University and Mike Wilson from DSV co-founded the PARC Institute of Manufacturing, Logistics, and Inventory. DSV has also invested human resources in the University's new Innovation Campus via RemakerSpace, located within sbarc I spark.
Brian Ejsing, CEO, DSV Solutions, said: "Signing the strategic partnership with Cardiff not only cements a long-term friendship but offers new ground to explore together as we strive to find cleaner, greener ways of working. Thanks to Cardiff's business expertise, the partnership will allow us to focus on four key areas: Future Global Supply Chains; Sustainability, Circular and Green Economy; Data and AI, and Advanced Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Logistics, reinforcing our commitment to help the industry transition to greener, more environmentally friendly practices."
During the visit, DSV executives toured a range of Cardiff facilities including the PARC Institute of Manufacturing, Logistics and Inventory, and the Logistics and Operations Management (LOM) section of Cardiff Business School. They also met with experts from the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Systems at Cardiff (CAMSAC), the High-value Manufacturing Research Group, and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Human-Machine Systems, together with representatives from the Data Transformation Innovation Institute and Net Zero Innovation Institute.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damian Walford Davies, and Professor Roger Whitaker, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise, said the alliance chimed with the goals of the University's new Innovation and Research Institutes, dedicated to tackling global challenges.
"Our institutes and the associate research groups focus on real-world, applicable solutions that are driven by collaboration and partnership, and complement DSV's aims to reach Net Zero by 2050 in both its operations and across the value chain," said Professor Whitaker.
Professor Walford Davies added: 'This Strategic Partnership clinches a rich, longstanding relationship between Cardiff University and DSV. As well as new collaborative activity in areas key to university research and to DSV's operations, the partnership offers exciting opportunities – excellent logistics, one might say -- for our students and graduates."
The strategic partnership builds on well-established relationships forged by Cardiff Business School, and is another step on the journey the two organisations have enjoyed together over the last ten years.
Mike Wilson, Executive Vice President, Logistics Manufacturing Services and Latin America, and Visiting Professor at Cardiff Business School, said: "'The successful collaboration has already encompassed award winning research, innovation, new perspectives on market developments and access to shared knowledge and learning. This now prepares the way for deeper relationships that will continue to bring benefit for both organisations, internal and external stakeholders as well as society in general."
Professor Aris Syntetos, Distinguished Research Professor and DSV Chair at Cardiff University, said: "Cardiff Business School's decade-long collaboration with DSV is an outstanding example of how industry and academia can grow together to develop new products and processes that not only bring benefits to both parties but support societal sustainability and a global transition to circular economy. We are proud to have developed research with a true impact to the economy, environment and society."
The partnership will enable the University to explore further international opportunities, including student and staff mobility, and opportunities to promote and enhance Cardiff University's international reputation and links with other international HEIs.
It is also well placed to support relevant ecosystems and clusters, create global significance through research excellence, capacity building, and reputational benefits.
