Hi, Patrik Jonsson, you and Stig Arne Mattsson received the “Best paper” award at this year’s NOFOMA conference. What is the paper about?
The title is “The value of sharing different planning information types in supply chains”. The study sets out from an often expressed “truth" that the sharing of information in supply chains is always valuable. From a research literature point of view, this is in many respects diffuse and do not clearly indicate what information ought to be beneficial to share in different situations. Using simulations, we show that information sharing can be value creating but also value damaging. A framework is also developed that shows in which situations it is suitable to share different types of information.

Why do you think you won the award?
I think we won the award as the article questioned some common “truths” about the sharing of information and we give clear and concrete guidelines as to how and when different types of information should be exchanged and used.

What does the award mean to you and how will you proceed?
The award is a sign that we work with the right issues, I think. This paper was one of several ongoing projects on design and the use of planning processes, methods and information that we carry out at Chalmers. The next step will be to continue with this work.

What are your impressions from NOFOMA 2012?
As an international logistics research conference, NOFOMA is an important meeting and network place for us logistics researchers. It was so this year and will also be next year.

Next year NOFOMA celebrates its 25th anniversary, is it correct that it will be Gothenburg´s  turn to arrange the conference?
That's correct and it means that we get yet another important logistics research activity in Gothenburg.

Vendela Santén won the ”Best PhD paper” award

Well done Vendela, your article “Increased load factor and sustainable logistics –mapping actions and effects from a transport buyer’s perspective” won the award for the “Best PhD paper”, what is the paper about?
It's about how a transport buying company can work with increasing the load factor in their transports, that is, how to better utilize the cargo space in a vehicle or load unit. I have carried out a case study where I studied a number of actions and their effect on the load factor. The article presents a framework which includes load factor indicators at three levels and how different logistic variables affect these. The load factor indicators are further coupled to indicator measurements. The logistics variables can be explained as setting the bounds or limitations for acting within the framework. I have identified three variables that, to a great extent, affect the load factor in this particular case study; these are product characteristics, order variation and lead time.

Why do you think you won and what will the prize mean to you?
I think I managed to present a sound logic in the article and that my framework contributes to clarifying the term; load factor. It was really nice to get attention in this way. Also, it is the first step towards publication, as the paper is invited to a special issue of The International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. The article will now be further reviewed and I will carry on working with it. Then, I hope it will have a good possibility to be published.

What happens next?
I will start to write the summarizing chapter for my licentiate thesis which I hope will be ready in winter 2012/2013.

You have a successful sailing career behind you. Is it just as fun to win prizes within the academic world as winning European and World championships and Olympic medals?
This award came as a complete surprise for me. It obviously feels really good to get an award and attention for the “Best PhD paper” at the conference.

What are your impressions from NOFOMA 2012?
It was a really good conference with many interesting presentations and the possibility for social contacts within the area of logistics.

Daniel Ekwall’s doctoral thesis was praised

One person who knows how it feels to get the “Best PhD paper” award is Daniel Ekwall, who received the same award in 2008. But at NOFOMA 2012 he participated for other reasons. His doctoral thesis from 2009 – “Managing the Risk for Antagonistic Threats against the Transport Network“ – was earlier this year chosen for the “Highly Commended Award of the 2011 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards in the Logistics and Supply Chain Management category” and Daniel attended the conference to receive the prize.