Brightlands Institute for Supply Chain Innovation
The Brightlands Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (BISCI) develops smart and sustainable innovations in supply chain management. Set up by Maastricht University and the Province of Limburg in early 2019, BISCI seeks to apply the latest results of logistics research to address the challenges of service providers in the region and beyond. In addition, the institute trains the next generation of professionals who can contribute to supply chain innovation in the industry. BISCI derives its strength from closely collaborating with partners in the public, private and community sectors.
Fast facts
- Focusing on digital and sustainable supply chains
- Aiming for triple helix collaborations
- Located at the Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo (Villa Flora)
The BISCI expertise and innovation centre is to start operations this summer. It will be part of the 'ecosystem' of Brightlands Greenport Campus Venlo, in which the business community, academics, students and representatives from various governments work together through open innovation and co-creation.
In this way, BISCI contributes directly to the innovation and competitiveness of individual companies and organisations in various sectors and helps strengthen the region’s economic infrastructure.
BISCI was set up by UM and Limburg province to help boost the regional economy.
A Brightlands institute
Brightlands is an open innovation community in a global context, connecting four campuses in the province of Limburg: in Maastricht, Heerlen, Sittard-Geleen and Venlo. The campuses provide entrepreneurs, scientists and students state-of-the-art facilities to support development, education, innovation and growth. Naturally, there are close links between all four Brightlands campuses, and together they enable Limburg to serve as an innovation region where researchers and entrepreneurs take on the major challenges in the areas of materials, health, food and smart services.
Research themes
BISCI is closely connected to the department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management of the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics. The department offers an established team of scholars and an existing infrastructure that facilitates high-quality research relevant to industry.
The “triple bottom line” is a key concept within smart and sustainable supply chain management. It holds that organisations should commit to focus on social and environmental concerns, just as they do on economic gains. For every company, there should be a harmonious balance between "profit, people, and the planet" to obtain long term value creation and corporate social responsibility.
Research at BISCI is driven by new technological developments, the use of digitalisation and big data, the scarcity of resources and the role of people within the supply chain.
Education
Currently, BISCI is connected to two MSc programmes in Supply Chain Management:
- Global Supply Chain Management and Change (in Venlo)
- International Business / Supply Chain Management (in Maastricht)
Exemplary research topics include:
- Augmented reality (AR) in warehouses
- Autonomous vehicles and platooning
- Smart sensors in containers
- Drones for last-mile delivery
- Developing stronger but lighter packaging
- Supplier-enabled logistics services innovation
- Traceability of CO2 emissions throughout supply chain
- Digital technologies in logistics activities
News
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The rise of compliance reporting to make the lucrative coffee and cocoa trade more sustainable means millions of smallholder farmers generating valuable data. Who owns this data and who should benefit? SBE’s Fair & Smart Data Spearhead Sidi Amar and his team have developed some principles.
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Over the past two months, two student teams from SBE participated in the finals of the ISM Global Case Competition. Out of the 8 final teams, the ISM jury selected the team from our Master GSCMC in Venlo as the winner!
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After eighteen months of preparation, the Brightlands Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (BISCI) in Venlo can continue with the implementation of logistics projects. With BISCI, the logistics region North Limburg has a knowledge center in which knowledge institutions, companies and government...
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A recent study states that for women in procurement, the pay gap is 21% and that even increases to 35% for higher procurement positions. With no difference in performance in terms of quality, companies need to mind this gap!
Events
We're open to collaboration
