Supply Chain Mapping in the Automotive Industry

This three-month research project invites four motivated undergraduate students to explore the concept of supply chain mapping within the automotive industry. Supply chain mapping involves creating a visual representation of a firm's entire supply network, identifying who the suppliers are, how they are interconnected, and where they are located geographically. It captures the flow of materials, components, and services from multiple tiers of suppliers, including raw material providers, manufacturers, and logistics partners, through to the final assembly and distribution stages.
By mapping the supply chain, firms can gain visibility into complex networks, uncover hidden risks, such as reliance on suppliers in politically unstable regions or those with poor environmental practices, and improve coordination across the supply chain. This project will focus on supply chain mapping for sustainability in the automotive industry. Given the increasing pressure from regulators, customers, and stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices, automotive companies must understand the sustainability risks embedded within their supply chains, such as carbon emissions, conflict minerals, and labor conditions.
In this project, students will first conduct a comprehensive literature review, analyzing academic articles, industry reports, and consultancy studies to identify key aspects of supply chain mapping and its application in sustainability. Students will then investigate existing supply chain mapping solutions, including software tools and platforms used by automotive companies, and assess their effectiveness in addressing sustainability challenges. Finally, students will develop a practical supply chain mapping tool that can be used to collect relevant data from suppliers, such as name/location/tier of supplier, environmental impact, social compliance, and ethical sourcing practices. 
As part of this project, there might be a possibility to collaborate with a large, international automotive company (OEM).
The contributions of this project will be both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, it will advance knowledge on supply chain mapping by integrating insights from diverse sources, such as academic research, industry practices, and consultancy reports, to provide a comprehensive understanding of how mapping can address sustainability challenges in the automotive sector. This work will help to identify gaps in the existing literature and suggest new avenues for research on sustainable supply chain management. Practically, the project will deliver actionable tools and guidelines for automotive firms to collect and analyze supplier data related to sustainability, improving their decision-making and risk management processes.