The Centre for Heuristics and Logistics Optimisation (CHLO) has just embarked on a 30 month Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project with Canterbury based company Parker Steel. Dr Lina Simeonova has been recruited as the KTP Associate to help deliver the project, under the supervision of CHLO, and is thrilled to be working with Parker Steel on such a significant project.
The KTP project, part funded by Innovate UK, will develop a robust and intelligent scheduling tool and evaluate strategic logistical scenarios. Routing and locational analysis expertise will be provided from a team of five academics within CHLO, enabling Parker Steel to gain a more efficient logistics operation. This much needed expertise is pivotal to the expansion of Parker Steel’s business enabling the company to reach new geographical areas within the UK.
Guy Parker, Chairman of Parker Steel remarked:
“We are delighted that we have the support of the University of Kent, Innovate UK and CHLO and that Lina has chosen to join us in this KTP project. As a distribution business handling over 250,000 tonnes of steel per annum logistics is an area of major expense and effort. The opportunities this scheme affords us are expected to result in significant saving across all of our businesses, reducing our carbon footprint and vehicle movements on public roads whilst improving our service levels to our customers.”
Parker Steel, a family run business, is one of the UK’s leading steel stockholders and processors and has sites in various locations across the South East. Their processing facilities have grown significantly with over 30 state of the art machines across their sites, as well a fleet of over 60 strong purpose built vehicles and arctic trailers, travelling over 30,000Km every day transporting steel across England and Wales.