Researchers from the Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory visited YH Global in China for a two-week field trip in June as part of the ITALI project.

Senior research associate, Dr Philip Woodall, research associate, Dr Vaggelis Giannikas and doctoral researcher, Wenrong Lu, visited and observed the operations of three warehouses of YH Global in Beijing and Suzhou as well as the warehouses of two more Chinese logistics companies. The aim of the visit was to observe and document specific problems related to the three main themes of ITALI:

a) mismatches between physical and data processes,
b) integration between warehouse operations and transportation and
c) operational and IT requirements dealing with the challenges posed by B2C and B2C-like commerce.

During the visit, Phil, Vaggelis and Wenrong also conducted an impact assessment for the identified problems and studied how the existing IT systems and operations of YH Global manage these problems.

For more information, please contact Dr Vaggelis Giannikas E: eg366@cam.ac.uk