Study on Improving Efficiency of Store Logistics Wins 2015 RELEX Supply Chain Award for Best Master’s Thesis

Two researchers from Linköping University in Southern Sweden have been named the winners of RELEX Supply Chain Award 2015 for research in the field.

Catarina Svensson and Anna Johansson impressed the jury with their master’s thesis: ‘Effektivisering av varuflöde inom detaljhantering – en fallstudie utförd på ett detaljhandelsföretag’ which translates to: ‘Improving efficiency of store logistics – a case study based on a retail company.’

On behalf of the award jury Timo Ala-Risku, Country Manager of RELEX Solutions in Germany, praised Svensson and Johansson’s submission.

“Anna and Catarina’s work stood out in its thoroughness,” Ala-Risku said. “They looked in detail at the current state of the retail company they studied, and explored a range of options for improvements.”

“We particularly liked the fact that they have looked at multiple cost effects and multiple potential improvements and tried to quantify their impact from several angles,” he said.

It’s an excellent blueprint for retailers looking to carry out a systematic analysis of their store and supply chain costs

“It’s an excellent blueprint for retailers looking to carry out a systematic analysis of their store and supply chain costs, one that encompasses benchmarking their stores and seeking out potential improvements.”

The jury noted the high quality of submissions from universities across Europe. “RELEX is a research-driven company and encouraging outstanding researchers is important to us,” said Ala-Risku. “After all we were those researchers just a few years ago.”

“It also gives us great pleasure to make the award this year to two female researchers. There’s huge awareness globally of the need to nurture supply chain talent. Anna and Catarina’s win reminds us that the supply chain leaders of the future will be a far more diverse group than those of the past.”

Svensson and Johansson will be presenting their research at RELEX’s Stockholm seminar on 21st April, 2016. “We’re very grateful to the jury for choosing our thesis as this year’s winner,” Svensson and Johansson said.

“We’re looking forward to bringing it before an audience of supply chain professionals and being able to get their feedback on the work we’ve done.”