Challenges and developments in integrated container supply chains: A research agenda for the Europe-China Research Network on Integrated Container Supply Chains (ENRICH) project

Since the start of the current century the world has experienced uncertainties in the form of climate change, epidemics, terrorism threats and increasing economic upheaval. These uncertainties create risks for the proper functioning of logistics management and have stimulated research into the development of resilient and sustainable container supply chains (CSCs). The purpose of this study is to examine the research challenges facing the development of resilient and sustainable CSCs and, more specifically, to identify opportunities and provide recommendations for future studies into the operational research, safety, security and resilience, climate change, ICT and intermodal transportation aspects of CSCs. The work will highlight the most difficult research problems in the engineering, operations and management of CSC systems. The proposed research will have a significant impact on our understanding of how the resilience and sustainability of CSC systems can be enhanced through the gathering and exchange of knowledge and expertise in different aspects of CSCs in a newly established consortium funded by the EU (i.e. ENRICH-EC-ChiNa Research Network on Integrated Container Supply Chains, 2013-2017). The success of the research project will provide vital information on how to improve the resilience of CSCs more effectively and how to enhance the sustainability of supply chains in an ever-changing environment where new technologies are developed and introduced. To achieve this objective, this work reviews the major research challenges for, and developments in, integrated CSCs and demonstrates the major uncertainties in CSC operations due to climate change, terrorist threats and increasing economic upheaval. It will also provide insights into the research directions and agenda necessary for tackling these uncertainties in a holistic way at the level of the entire chain, through the use of ICT and intermodal logistics management techniques.