The Centre for Sustainable Operations and Resilient Supply Chains (CSORSC) will focus on improving resilience and adaptability in Australia’s supply chains.

Professor Kannan Govindan, who is leading the centre alongside associate professor Devika Kannan, said supply chains were “crucial to our prosperity and wellbeing”.

“The impacts of sudden or unforeseen events such as pandemics, extreme weather, armed conflicts, and economic crises reveal just how fragile our systems can be,” Govindan said.

Supply chain disruptions have been estimated to cost $1.1 trillion annually in revenue growth opportunity globally, according to estimates by research and advisory firm IHL Group.

In February 2022, 28 per cent of businesses experiencing supply chain disruptions reported their business was being affected to a great extent, while the Ai Group CEO Survey for 2023 identified supply chain disruptions as one of the two main challenges impacting Australian industry.

The same survey indicated 88 per cent of businesses planned to invest in supply chain resilience in 2023, through improving logistics, the cultivation of new suppliers and an adjustment of products on offer.

Govindan said the centre would provide the “know-how for industries and governments to transition to better and greener manufacturing and supply chains”.

“[They] will be more dependable while supporting our net-zero emissions ambitions and the goal of a truly circular economy,” Govindan said.

The centre will work with engineering, management and computer science in developing solutions to supply chain issues while minimising environmental impact.

“CSORSC will demonstrate the potential for big data and the digitisation of systems where real-time information will be used to smooth out the bumps of supply, demand, and transportation,” Govindan said.

The CSORSC will work to support and build activities in areas including tourism, mining, agriculture, food and wine, renewable energy, defence, space, and medicine.

The centre would help address challenges faced by “policymakers and businesses relating to the sustainable transition into modernised supply chains”.

“The coordination of new industries and the supply of their products to markets requires the kind of multidisciplinary modelling and analysis that CSORSC will provide,” Govindan said.

The CSORC involves a partnership with government and communities at state, national and international levels.

Graduates, workers, and researchers will all receive further training and education at the centre.

The centre is supported by the University’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Resources and is located in the Adelaide Business School.