Inaugural Address: Are we Connected?

On Friday, the 13th of November 2015, <link people rob-zuidwijk>Rob Zuidwijk,  Endowed Professor of Ports in Global Networks will present his inaugural address entitled ‘Are we Connected?’.

About the Inaugural Address

Global supply chains are built on organizational, information, and logistics networks. Ports are connected via these networks and also need to connect these networks. Synchromodality is an innovative concept for container transportation, and the port plays an important role in connecting the various transportation networks. The large number of global supply chains that use the port as a hub require added value, and this can be provided by interconnecting the three types of networks, for example via the port community system. Global supply chains can be more sustainable when interconnected networks create visibility, together with the proper mechanisms to support value creation, not just monetary value, but also other values such as security and environmental footprint. The research required to further develop these topics make use of quantitative modeling from the field of operations management. This inaugural speech touches upon a number of these research challenges. The ambitions and plans of the chair “Ports in Global Networks” concern three interrelated research topics: (1) Synchronizing transportation networks; (2) Connecting sea ports to global supply chains; and (3) Coordinating global supply chains for sustainability. The educational program involves both the RSM MSc program Supply Chain Management, but also the Executive Master Customs and Supply Chain Compliance. The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus center Metropolis & Mainport fosters the interuniversity collaboration. The SmartPort initiative enables substantial collaboration with the port of Rotterdam. The chair has the ambition to play a key role in both Metropolis & Mainport and SmartPort.

About Rob Zuidwijk

Rob Zuidwijk is professor of Ports in Global Networks at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus  University (RSM). The chair, endowed by the Erasmus Trust Fund and created on 1 December 2014, focuses on three topics: co-ordination for sustainable global supply chains, synchromodal transport networks (a flexible and integral deployment of different modes of transport on a network to better meet customer demand and sustainability objectives), and inter-organisational systems in logistics.

Rob Zuidwijk received a PhD from Erasmus University in Mathematics. He has held a one-year visiting position at University of California at Los Angeles in 2009/2010. He presently supervises a number of PhD students on port related research.His work has been published in journals like California Management Review, Transportation Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Communications of the ACM, and Production and Operations Management. He has participated and coordinated funded research projects in the area of international logistics and container transport.

He teaches freight transport systems, intermodal transportation, international logistics and supply chain management, and inter-organizational systems in logistics to BSc, MSc, and PhD students, and he is also involved in post-experience courses.

Professor Rob Zuidwijk makes a significant contribution to Smartport, a strong research community in port-related research for which RSM and EUR are one of the main stakeholders. He is also Academic Director of RSM’s Executive Master in Customs and Supply Chain Compliance programme, a new part-time master degree programme to increase knowledge about European customs law, international supply and logistics chains and information management which starts at RSM in March. Further, he is Academic Director of the Master in Maritime Economics and Logistics.

He has participated and coordinated (ongoing) funded research projects in the area of international logistics and container transport, including FP7 projects INTEGRITY and CASSANDRA, and Dinalog projects ULTIMATE and Cargo Driven Intermodal Transport, and he has been involved in research projects with individual companies, for example the Port of Rotterdam, IBM, and IHC.

5 recent publications:

  1. Rob Zuidwijk and Albert Veenstra (2015). The Value of Information in Container Transport. Transportation Science 49(2): 675-685.
  2. Leo G. Kroon, Leon W.P. Peeters, Joris C. Wagenaar, Rob A. Zuidwijk (2014). Flexible connections in PESP models for cyclic passenger railway timetabling. Transportation Science 48(1): 136-154.
  3. Felipe Caro, Charles Corbett, Tarkan Tan, Rob Zuidwijk (2013). Double-Counting in Supply Chain Carbon Footprinting. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 15(4): 545-558.
  4. Albert Veenstra, Rob Zuidwijk and Eelco van Asperen (2012). The extended gate concept for container terminals: Expanding the notion of dry ports. Maritime Economics and Logistics 14: 14-32.
  5.  Tamas Mahr, Jordan Srour, Mathijs M. de Weerdt, and Rob Zuidwijk (2010). Can agents measure up? A comparative study of an agent-based and on-line optimization approach for a drayage problem with uncertainty. Transportation Research: Part C 18(1): 99–119.

The Smartport initiative mentioned earlier is a collaboration between Erasmus University, Technical University of Delft, and the Port of Rotterdam, municipality of Rotterdam, and the port industry association Deltalinqs. Next to these partners, sample companies involved in research projects are Europe Combined Terminals, APM Terminals, Brabant Intermodal, and Maersk line.

Photos: Chris Gorzeman / Capital Images