About OASIS

This research centre was created in 2008 with a mission to undertake rigorous and relevant research into all aspects of Operations Management, Supply Chain Management and related areas. Our work involves operations management, supply chain management, logistics and information systems knowledge and approaches, in order to evaluate operations and to generate product and service based models and perspectives within public and private industry sectors.

OASIS provides a nexus for academic and applied practitioner research, effectively looking at the interplay between these topical areas within both product and service-oriented organisations.

The research foci of the centre provide a basis for multi-disciplinary perspectives on common themes within Operations and Supply Chain Management, including but not limited to organisational, managerial and analytical components.

• Logistics & distribution management
• Supply chain management / marketing interface
• Agile supply chains
• Total quality management
• Food supply chain management
• Knowledge management
• Healthcare management
• Risk management
• Information systems evaluation
• Operations research
• Meta-heuristic search, optimisation and scheduling
• Discrete event simulation
• Business process workflow
• Retail logistics
• Humanitarian operations and disaster management
• Manufacturing operations
• Agent-process simulation

Research from OASIS members has appeared in leading journals  such as Management Science, European  Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Production Economics,  International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International  Journal of Production Research, Supply Chain Management: An International  Journal, Journal of the Operational Research Society, European Journal of  Information Systems, International Journal of Logistics: Research and  Applications, International Journal of Logistics Management, Journal of  Enterprise Information Management.

OASIS  members are involved in various projects from funding bodies such as European  Union, DEFRA, ESRC, Food Standards Agency, Regional Development Agencies,  Knowledge Transfer Partnership. Specifically, EU FP7 Projects include LiveCity, OASIS, I-MEET and UBIPOL.

OASIS comprises academics and practitioners who  come together to investigate, evaluate and communicate solutions to the  aforementioned systemic and managerial components within modern business  contexts and scenarios.

OASIS hosts various research seminars by renowned speakers  from the academia and the industry. Recent seminars focused on structures of  logistics and supply chain research by Professor Herbert Kotzab (University of  Bremen); on-shelf availability and out-of-stocks by Professor David Grant (Hull  University); operations strategy in packaging industry by Mr Philippe Dume  (Alstom Transport).

Currently we have 26 PhD students. On 21 May 2012, the  Centre held a PhD Symposium where our students had an opportunity to receive  feedback on their research from Professor Chandra Lalwani (Hull University).

DEFRA Research on “Understanding the impact  of decisions humans must make: Shaping the UK Greenhouse Gas policy to 2025” by  Professors Irani and Sharif
Research conducted  and published over 10 years at Brunel, by Professors Irani and Sharif, has been  shared and has initiated a stream of research with the Department of the  Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the development of the UK  government’s environmental policy. This impact has directly supported the  review and evolution of greenhouse gas abatement (GHG-A) policy as it relates  to the UK agribusiness sector. DEFRA has engaged with Brunel researchers to  transfer knowledge to the department’s economists, statisticians, operations  researchers and project managers based upon previously published work, in order  to develop scenario planning / “systems thinking” capability for the benefit of  the UK government, but also for society as a whole.

CILT Research on “foot and mouth logistics”  by Professor Michael Bourlakis
This research was  funded by the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (UK). It showed  the role and importance of animal movements during the foot and mouth logistics  outbreak in the UK in 2001. It also exhibited the structure of the sheep supply  chain during the outbreak and the role of various members in this chain. This research  work was discussed during European Union policy meetings and influenced  European Union policy development. It was also featured in the national media  (BBC and ITV television, Radio 4) and was published in leading U.K. newspapers  such as the Guardian and the Scotsman.

ESRC Research on  Humanitarian Supply Chain Management: Towards A Framework for Disaster Relief  in Iran by Dr Afshin Mansouri (www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/Grants/RES-067-27-0027/read).
Natural disasters  are common in Iran. More than 10 million habitants of Tehran are subject to a  potential earthquake. Increasing resilience of the city is of prime importance.  Research at Brunel on Humanitarian Supply Chain Management for disaster relief  in Iran, partly funded by ESRC has contributed to an improved relief network in  Tehran which is capable of satisfying 24% more demand after an earthquake. It  also raised awareness of local authorities and relief organisations on  transferability of knowledge from commercial supply chain to humanitarian  supply chain domain.  It further built  capacity at the University of Tehran for applied research on of humanitarian  operations alongside with local beneficiaries.