The Centre for International Manufacturing (CIM) has won a major new grant from EPSRC and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of India in response to a research call facilitated by Research Councils UK and the UK Science and Innovation Network.

The project Engineering Driven Sustainable Supply Networks - A UK/India Collaborative Study is in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and Indian Institute of Management Lucknow.

The project will start in January 2014 and will investigate engineering-driven sustainable supply networks in four industries of national importance – Aerospace, Automotive, Pharmaceutical and Food Processing. The unit of analysis will be specific product categories in both discrete (automotive and aerospace) and process (pharmaceuticals, food processing) industries located in the UK and India and reflects the Centre's unique expertise in supply chain analysis and configuration.

Qualitative and quantitative methodologies will be used to explore the optimal usage of key resources including energy, materials, water and other inputs, while minimising the generation of waste. Outputs are designed to support trade-off analysis between sustainability practices, whilst simultaneously meeting the cost, quality and responsiveness related requirements.

Cambridge research team includes: CIM Centre Head Dr Jag Srai; Project Co-ordinators Dr Mukesh Kumar and Dr Tomás Harrington; and IfM Director Professor Sir Mike Gregory. Key industrial partners for this project include the UK and India subsidiaries of Rolls Royce and several Indian Pharma MSEs, as well as the UK network of major Pharma OEMs. Major global automotive and food manufacturing companies have expressed interest in joining this project. This grant provides an international platform for further cooperation between the participating institutes and other research groups exploring industrial sustainability.

Dr Devi Singh, Director of IIM Lucknow visited IfM on 25 March 2013 and welcomed the award which provides an opportunity to establish close research collaboration with Cambridge University. Professor Gregory highlighted that the award is another milestone in IfM's growing links with India.