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Will Bushell, Head of Marketing – Dog Business Unit of IPN, said: “We believe the key to developing more sustainable business practices is data. By better understanding the environmental impact of our full supply chain we will be able to set better targets, make better decisions and measure their impact more effectively so we can show our customers, our shoppers and our employees that we are making a positive impact and walking the talk.”

The KTP will begin with the recruitment of a full-time KTP Associate, who will be an experienced graduate, and will be embedded as a full-time member of the IPN team for the duration of the two-year project. The Associate will lead the project, with the full support and input from the academic team at Leeds Beckett.

The team will begin by capturing exactly where the energy use is within IPN’s supply chain – and then apply sophisticated data analysis techniques to monitor and evaluate this and determine which areas IPN need to prioritise to gain the biggest energy savings. The techniques will be developed throughout the project to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

This value chain evaluation will enable IPN to make strategic decisions about their choice of ingredients and suppliers. A key part of the project will be to work with smaller suppliers to assist them in measuring their own carbon emissions and become more sustainable. The university team will fully embed the new skills into IPN to create a sustainable, resilient, whole systems approach to evaluating their energy sources and select the best suppliers for high value, environmentally-friendly products – now and in the future.

Professor Gorse added: “IPN are a very progressive company – not many companies are doing so much to commit to achieving net zero carbon, and really look at their supply chain and work with people outside of their organisation to make energy savings. It is very exciting to be embarking on this very advanced project.

“It is so important for us at LSI to create examples of how a company can transfer to be a net zero carbon company, and maintain quality and competitiveness, at a time when energy costs are rising. There is a green economy now and companies need to respond, or they will be left behind.

“This will be a strong partnership between IPN and Leeds Beckett going forwards, and it is an example of what we can do as a university with similar companies with the ambition to meet net zero carbon by 2030 or sooner. We are in a strong position to support other organisations in a similar way.”

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) aim to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills within the UK knowledge base.

The Leeds Beckett KTP team is led by Professor Chris Gorse and includes Dr Alfred Chinta, Course Director at Leeds Business School, with more than 20 years’ experience of working in supply chain management; and Dr Jim Parker, Reader in the Leeds Sustainability Institute, specialising in building energy modelling and the urban environment.

The role of Sustainable Supply Chain and Lifecycle Analyst is now open for applications via the Leeds Beckett University jobs page, with the closing date of Thursday 29 September.

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